Beautiful Creatures Series

Melissa sat at the bar in the Mausoleum, drowning her sorrows and fuming about the encounter she had with Gordon and his girlfriends. She was still infuriated that Mackenzie had dared to strike her. She was not going to let this go unanswered. Mackenzie would pay for what she did, and Gordon would suffer.

A dark-haired man in a black suit took the barstool next to her and ordered a drink from the bartender. Then he turned to Melissa. “Can I buy you a drink?”

She scoffed as she lifted her beer to her lips. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Well, aren’t you a pleasant one? No wonder your husband left you.”

She turned and looked at this man with great interest. “How did you know my husband left me?”

“I know more about you than you think… Melissa.”

She had an uneasy feeling. Was his man a hunter? He did not seem like the usual hunter type. He claimed to know a lot about her. Did he know she was a Lycanthrope? If he did, was he trying to blackmail her? If he was, he had a big surprise coming. With the mood she was in, she would not mind killing him.

Melissa looked over the man closely, trying to decide if he was a threat. His clothes looked slept in, and his square jaw was shabby and unshaven. No, she decided, she doubted he was a hunter. He did not look like one, and she was pretty good at spotting hunters.

“Ok, you have my attention. You know me. Who the hell are you?”

“Special Agent Lenard Meskler, FBI,” he introduced himself, offering her his hand. Suspicious, she shook his hand. “You came up in my investigation of your husband, Gordon Wilder.”

“Why is the FBI investigating Gordon? He is an incredibly boring man.”

“I’m not interested in Gordon. I’m interested in Mackenzie Starr, the woman he is living with.”

“Are you now?”

“You and I have the same problem.”

“Mackenzie?” He nodded. She knew her reasons for hating Mackenzie, but she was curious about what this man’s beef was with the young woman. “What do you want with Mackenzie?”

“I need her dead.”

violent death was extremely appealing.

***

Gordon once more, and as usual, she was bored. She was tired. Mackenzie stood up, which drew Gordon’s attention from the man he was working on. “I’m going to go

an hour, and I’ll

want to wait an hour. I’m just going to walk over to the grocery store and visit with Aurora a little. I’ll

wandering

How much trouble can I possibly get into? The grocery store

join you when I finish up here. Please don’t go any

the tattoo studio. She started the walk to the grocery store and stopped halfway when she saw a dark car pull up next to her, the tires screeching. It stopped right next to her and out hopped Agent Meskler and Melissa. Agent Meskler opened the trunk of the car, and Melissa punched Mackenzie in the face, and while she was dazed, dragged Mackenzie off the sidewalk and forced

had no idea if he could hear her. Agent Meskler punched her, knocking her head

***

not wanting to compromise the quality of his work. He knew Mackenzie got bored sitting here all day, but he had to work, and he did not want her home alone. She had stopped taking clients on when she found out she was pregnant. She had simply been too sick and irritable to deal with couples. Mackenzie had not walked out the door more than a minute ago when

did only seconds later. Gordon dropped his tattoo machine and left his client in the chair.

both jumped into the car and sped off. Gordon took off running after them. Even at his top speed, Gordon simply could not keep up with a speeding car. As he ran past each shop, the others stepped out to see what was going on. He would never catch them as a man. His eye lit up, and Gordon let the change take him. In seconds he was on all fours and faster than he had. His torn close already miles behind him. As soon as the other saw Gordon chasing a car while transitioning,

up to the speeding car, Gordon came up alongside it and slammed his shoulder into the driver’s door, throwing his full weight against it. The impact sent the car swerving out of control and slamming into the side of the mountain, caving the front end of the vehicle. Gordon ripped

ran out of bullets, Gordon clamped his jaws down hard on Meskler’s leg and dragged the screaming man from the car. Gordon shook his head violently, ripping Meskler’s left leg clear off, tearing it from the socket. Then he did the same with the left leg and both arms. Covered in blood, Gordon left Meskler in pieces all over the highway. Then he turned to go after Melissa, but she had run off, and the others had gone after her. Gordon was conflicted

and he found it difficult to get a grip on the hood. Summoning all his strength, he lifted the hood breaking the latch and tearing the heavy lid clean off the car. He threw it aside and reached in for Mackenzie. She was crying as she sat up and allowed

fell away, no longer holding her. He became dizzy and then collapsed on his side in the middle of the road. He could hear Mackenzie screaming for help, but her voice was getting

***

chest, and a pool of blood was forming beneath him. She recalled hearing gunfire, but she had thought Gordon had been missed. Mackenzie looked

back had come when she called. The shared looks as if communicating by thought. A tanned wolf laid down on its belly right next to Gordon’s body while a pair of brown and grey wolves nudged at Gordon’s body until he was draped over the tanned ones back. The tanned wolf rose then took off down the road toward Feral. The white wolf next to Mackenzie nudged her with its nose. Mackenzie assumed the wolf wanted her to ride it back to Feral. She climbed onto the wolf’s back and

to the dining room, where they laid him on his back on the dining room table. Mackenzie hopped off the white wolf that had carried her back and watched as the wolf was replaced by Aurora. Mackenzie was awkwardly aware that

they could use in Gordon’s care, Mackenzie ran up to the bedroom and came down with five pairs of Gordon’s pants and one of her dresses and a shirt from the linen closet. Returning to the dining room, she offered each man a pair of pants and Aurora the dress. They each thanked her as they put on the clothes. She assumed they dressed for her comfort, not theirs. Mackenzie draped the sheet around Gordon’s waist to

over Gordon and pushed the tip of the knife into one of the bullet wounds, and began to cut the flesh, opening the wound wider. “What are you doing?” Mackenzie

don’t get the bullets out,