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 You! Jack yelled.  I thought I smelled your stench yesterday. Leave her. You re
not good enough for her!
Kelvin s hand dropped from her shoulder. In an instant he had reverted to the
beast. Serena flung herself away from him and scrambled toward Jack s voice.
To her horror Jack was no longer there. In his place, standing within a heap of
ripped and discarded clothes, was a beast.
Mikala Ash A Political Animal - 79 -
With a murderous snarl it leapt to meet Kelvin who was running full pelt toward
him.
Serena screamed.
The beasts paused in mid-run, stopped and eyed each other suspiciously before
turning their feral eyes to her.
 Stop it! she yelled.
The beasts cast each other rancorous glares. A moment stretched into an eternity
as they sized each other up. Serena sensed their muscles tensing, preparing to attack.
She couldn t let that happen.
She summoned up whatever strength she still possessed.  Stop it. I can t deal
with this. Turn back so I can talk to you and sort this out.
They growled at each other but made no move to obey.
 Now! she commanded.
The looks they both shot her would have been funny had she not been so
terrified. They both wore those sheepish expressions dogs have when their master
chastises them.
 That s better, she managed to say before it all fell apart.
She wasn t sure which one made the false move, but in the blink of a terrified
eye, they were at each other s throats.
Serena couldn t bear it any longer. She ran.
Chapter 11
Serena ran until the sound of their fight had faded into silence. She didn t care
where she ran she just had to put distance between her and the nightmare her life had
become.
Kelvin was a werewolf.
Jack was a werewolf.
If that wasn t enough of a mind-numbing shock, the fact that she loved Kelvin
and had made love to Jack overrode the terror she knew she should be feeling.
Serena stopped dead. Oh, my God! I ve made love to a werewolf!
Oh, my God.
The thought hammered at her brain.
There was stirring in the bushes behind her. They d tracked her down. She fled
into the scrub. Serena had no plan except getting away from them. Maybe she could
talk to them if they were men, but not as animals.
The flat, manicured grounds surrounding the house had given way to a scrubby
slope which now had become a steep hill. She was struggling to keep up the pace she
had set herself but she was determined to go somewhere quiet.
In the distance, lightning flashed and a moment later, rolling peals of thunder
reverberated off the surrounding hills. This was just great. She was going to get
drenched.
She ran between the spindly eucalypts and short spiky shrubs until the ground
suddenly gave out.
She skidded to a halt and stood for a moment, mesmerized, on the edge of an
abyss, a hundred meter drop to jagged rocks below. She turned to retrace her steps.
 Kelvin? Jack?
Mikala Ash A Political Animal - 81 -
The beast that barred her path growled. Its fur, she realized, with fear stabbing at
her chest, was darker than either Jack s or Kelvin s. Then she noticed that around its
shoulder was a leather harness. It was a gun holster.
 Who are you?
The beast transformed into a naked man. A singularly ugly naked man. He gave
an open mouthed smile, revealing jagged broken teeth. He took a purposeful step
toward her, drawing the pistol from its holster with practiced ease.
Serna took an involuntary step backward that took her to the very edge.
 Who are you? she repeated.
 A hunter, he said, his lips pulled back away from those yellow canines.  I m
hunting you.
 Hunting me?
 Have been for a couple of days.
 Why?
 You know he is a wolfen.
 Kelvin?
 He shouldn t have told you.
 So what if I know?
 You cannot live.
 Because I know? Trust me, I won t tell. No one would believe me.
He eyed the empty space behind her and reached out as if to push her over the
abyss.
She screamed and batted away his outstretched hand.
The bush around her erupted in angry growls. She looked over the hunter s
shoulder to see Jack and Kelvin, in beast form, crouching in preparation to attack.
The hunter grabbed her by the shoulder and, pulling her onto his naked chest, he
put the pistol s barrel to her temple.
Jack and Kelvin separated to surround him.
 I suppose that has silver bullets too? she asked the hunter.
Mikala Ash A Political Animal - 82 -
 Yes, it does, he replied without any emotion at all.
She thanked Hollywood for getting something right, and hoped that piece of
intelligence helped Jack and Kelvin decide not to do anything stupid. Her mind was
racing and yet a strange calmness settled over her. Resignation perhaps, because, no
matter what she did, what else could go wrong?
 I m sure we can settle this without violence, she said, surprised how strong her
voice sounded despite her stomach that seemed to have twisted into a tight painful
knot.
No one spoke. Jack and Kelvin were emitting low menacing growls. The hunter
tightened his grip on her shoulder.
 Now, boys, she said.  You re only making him nervous. Why don t we all
become human and talk this through?
Without looking at each other they both transformed into human form. Standing
like that, she marveled at what wonderful physical specimens they were.
 My orders are to kill the human, the hunter said.
 I won t permit that, Jack said.
 We won t permit that, Kelvin corrected him.
In a flash of brilliance Serena had the solution.  This guy is worried I ll spill the
beans about you being a werewolf, she said quickly.  Why don t you make me a
werewolf? That way you won t have to kill me and we can all live happily ever after.
The hunter laughed.  It is not permitted to make new wolfen.
 There ll be a vacancy after we kill you, Jack said ominously.
 My mission is to kill the human.
 There s no need, Kelvin said.  She has agreed to keep our secret and we ll
apply to turn her as we normally would when a vacancy occurs.
 The Council has decided. I have my orders.
 If you harm her, we will destroy you, Jack said.
 You ll try.
 We are pack leaders, Kelvin said.  You will obey us.
Mikala Ash A Political Animal - 83 -
 I obey only the Council. They are my pack.
Serena was losing patience with this macho crap. They seemed to have forgotten
her presence completely. They were concentrating on posturing with slow, purposeful
movements, baring their human canines and growling. It was all silly and pointless.
And it would get her killed.
The hunter had to know his only chance for survival in the short term would be
to keep her alive. His threat to kill her while the boys were near was an empty one.
But eventually, the boys would attack. His only solution, given that releasing her
was not an option, would be to halve the threat. Kill one of the boys first, and then kill
the other one. He had the gun with the silver bullets. The only thing that held him back,
she decided, was that he had no orders to kill anyone else but her. As soon as he
worked his way out of that procedural conflict, they d all die because he held all the
aces.
His big ace was her, and it was only a matter of time until the hunter would
shoot one and then take his chances with the other. Serena couldn t bear the thought of
losing either Jack or Kelvin.
It was simple. If she died, the boys would be safe.
She had to do something. If she could distract him for just a moment to wrestle
free. She recalled her martial arts instructor s words.  Keep it simple, was his mantra.
Once the decision was made, she hesitated no longer. She jabbed the hunter in
the ribs, wincing as her elbow jarred against his rock-hard rib cage. He doubled up, just
enough for her to twist in his arms and slip out. With a growl, he grabbed for her.
She paused on the edge for just a moment.  You don t have to kill them! she
cried. With a despairing look at Jack and Kelvin who, both oblivious to the hunter, had
lunged toward her, she took a single, fateful step.
A brush of finger tips, an anguished cry and then only the wind.
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