Buck Naked Read online

  “Look at that,” Samantha said in her ear. “Some fool shot a hole right in the ceiling! This is ridiculous—when are we ever going to get stricter gun laws in this country?”

  “Moonlight!” someone in the crowd shouted. “Watch out—he’s Shifting!”

  To her mingled horror and fascination, Sadie saw they were right. Mathis’s big body was jerking and changing, the muscles and bones beginning to rearrange themselves under his olive-toned skin.

  “God,” she heard Samantha whisper beside her. “What’s wrong with him? Is he seizing? Do you know if he has a history of epilepsy, Sadie? Or any kind of temporal lobe trauma?”

  Sadie didn’t answer her twin—she didn’t need to.

  At that moment, Mathis lost the battle he’d been clearly fighting not to change. His clothes ripped apart and suddenly the entire process she’d seen the night before—bones lengthening, knees bending backward, fur flowing to cover the suddenly massive form—all happened again. Only this time, it seemed to happen in fast forward—so quickly Sadie could barely follow it all. Almost before she could blink, a massive Buck stood before them. Last of all, the enormous rack of antlers popped out of his forehead, taking up what seemed to be all of the available space in the already crowded bar.

  “Get back! Get away!” she heard people shouting and beside her Samantha sounded like she was hyperventilating.

  “Oh my God . . . oh God, what just happened to him? Where did he go and how did that thing get in here?” she gasped.

  But Sadie wasn’t paying attention to her sister or the crowd or even Mathis in his Buck form. Her eyes were glued to Keller—he was changing too.

  His Shift was at least as fast as Mathis’s, though somehow more graceful. His face elongated, his ears moved to the top of his head, and his pale green eyes grew huge. He was down on all fours, ripping out of his expensive designer clothes almost before Sadie could blink and then tawny, dappled fur flowed over his body.

  “My God,” Samantha whispered hoarsely. “Look at the size of that thing! I thought Keller said he turned into a Cougar—not a freaking horse! And look at those teeth. What the hell? I thought only saber-toothed tigers had fangs like that!”

  It was true, Sadie saw with a sinking heart. Keller’s animal form had long, curving, almost tusklike fangs that protruded from his snarling mouth. Not only that—he really was as big as a horse. Mathis’s Buck was still bigger but Keller’s Cougar appeared to be well equipped to take him on.

  The two huge animals began to circle each other as everyone cleared out of the way. From somewhere on the fringes of the crowd, Sadie could hear Fiona shouting orders. Something about clearing any Betas who couldn’t hold back their urge to Shift out of the bar.

  Sadie supposed it made sense—if everyone started Shifting the one-on-one fight would become a free-for-all. Not that it wasn’t already. People were shouting and whooping and struggling to get farther away from the Shifter battle that was now taking up considerably more space than before.

  It was surreal to see two huge animals, which belonged back in the Stone Age, facing off in the prosaic setting of a local tavern. The neon lights from the COORS LIGHT sign above the bar gleamed off the Buck’s hooves and horns and the Cougar stepped delicately around a spilled puddle of beer on the hardwood floor. Sadie felt like she must be dreaming, but it was all too real.

  It’s Clan of the Cave Bear right here in Cougarville, she thought deliriously. Oh my God, this is insane!

  Mathis’s Buck snorted and tossed his head, stamping one hoof on the wooden floor. Keller’s Cougar snarled and crouched, the tip of his tail twitching like a cat about to pounce.

  “Oh, Mathis,” Sadie couldn’t help whispering to herself. “Please be careful—please!”

  And then everything seemed to happen at once. The huge Cougar sprang, clearly aiming for the Buck’s throat. The Buck tossed his head, bringing his enormous rack of antlers into play. With a single swipe, he tossed the heavy Cougar across the room—and right into the bars of the cage.

  “Oh!” Sadie and Samantha gasped together, jumping back. Neither had been hurt but the thick iron bars were now bent, Sadie saw, and the massive Cougar was lying on the floor, shaking his head as though dazed by the impact.

  For a moment she thought he would stay down. Then, with an angry snarl, the Cougar launched himself from the floor straight onto the Buck’s back.

  Mathis’s Buck threw back his head and snorted, sweeping his antlers from side to side, clearly hoping to catch the Cougar and toss him again. But this time the big Cat was keeping low, under the swinging rack. Ears laid back to his skull, he bent his head and sank the six-inch razor-sharp fangs into the side of the Buck’s throat.

  “No!” Sadie gasped—she was sure it must be a killing blow. And for another, smaller animal it surely would have been. But Mathis’s Buck was truly huge and his skin and pelt were thick and shaggy, providing some protection. With an angry snort he bucked upward, like a bronco trying to rid himself of an unwanted rider.

  The Cougar lost his grip on the Buck’s neck but still he held on, his long, cruel claws digging into the other animal’s shaggy coat. The Buck went wild—stamping and twisting, trying anything to shake the Cougar off. His huge antlers swept from side to side, clattering against the low ceiling and knocking bottles of premium scotch and bourbon from the shelves of the bar. They burst like bombs, spraying their contents and filling the air with an alcoholic reek as the Buck’s hooves made deep scars in the wooden floor. But still Keller’s Cougar clung to his back.

  Sadie looked around wildly for a weapon—anything at all she could use to help dislodge the Cougar. The only thing in the cage with them was a beer bottle some former drunk had left as a souvenir. Grabbing it, Sadie took aim through the bent section of the cage, which gave her a little more clearance.

  Once upon a time, she’d been a pitcher in her high school softball league. Of course, that was mostly underhand pitching but she’d practiced a fair amount of overhand as well for speed and accuracy. Sadie knew she would need both to pull off what she was hoping to do, especially with both huge animals thrashing around like crazy in the center of the room.

  Are you crazy? whispered a little voice in her head. Sure you were a pitcher but that was over twenty years ago. The last time you held a ball was when you played catch with the twins back when they were ten.

  It didn’t matter though—she wasn’t the old Sadie anymore. As she hefted the beer bottle, she could feel the muscle memory returning to her pitching arm. The Rejuvenation process that had given her back her youth had also given her confidence to go with it. She could do this, damn it—she was sure of it.

  Samantha clearly understood what she was trying.

  “Go, Sadie,” she whispered fiercely. “You’ve got this—brain that bastard!”

  With a low cry, Sadie threw the heavy glass bottle as hard as she could. Whistling, it flew end over end, flashing like a deadly, glinting missile through the bar’s smoky air.

  Thwack! To her satisfaction, it hit the Cougar right in the side of the head, just as he was bending down to try and get another bite.

  The blow, while not as hard as she would have liked, was enough to startle the big Cat. Sadie laughed in relief at the almost comical look on his feline face as he lost his grip and fell off the Buck’s back onto the hardwood floor.

  Mathis’s Buck didn’t waste any time. Before the Cougar could get up again, he was trampling the huge Cat—sharp hooves stabbing down with lethal force.

  There was a low, feline yowl and Sadie shuddered to hear bones snapping along with the heavy jabbing blows of the Buck’s hooves coming down over and over and over again. He was just one animal but the wooden floor shook with his weight and it sounded like a herd of buffalo had decided to run through the bar.

  “He’ll kill him,” Samantha whispered in a horrified voice. “I think he’s actually going to kill Keller!”

  “Why do you care?” Sadie demanded. But at the same ti