A sudden crackling of static caught the attention of the bald-headed leader. He glanced to his right, where one of the soldiers was holding a hand to his earpiece.

“The Beta Team are having problems,” the soldier reported to his comrades. “The other monster girl has already inflicted two casualties.”

Other monster girl?

Did that mean there was some Outworlder woman other than Astrid in the woods? It sounded like there was another team of soldiers trying to capture the other woman as well. And what did he mean by ’two casualties’? I wasn’t stupid, so I had a pretty good idea. That didn’t mean I wanted to believe it. Damn. What was I getting myself into?

“Then it’s time we finished up here so we can help out Beta Team,” the bald soldier said to his comrade.

The bald leader raised his rifle again and pointed it at Astrid, and the other soldiers followed his lead. I held my breath, looking around at their faces.

I was just waiting for them to fire their weapons at us, but none of them did. It seemed like neither Astrid nor the soldiers wanted to be the one to make the first move. I knew that as soon as either the lycan or the soldiers made any threatening move, shit was going to hit the fan.

I had to buy some time.

”Right, it’s time for everyone to just calm down,” I said, doing my best to sound like the terrified twenty-five-year old I should have been. I couldn’t perform the mudras required for casting either spell without them seeing me.

”You’re new to this, aren’t you?” Astrid asked the leader. I figured she’d guessed what I was up to, and was going to play along. ”I can even smell your fear. It’s quite delicious, actually. Luckily for you, I don’t eat humans. Too much gristle.”

One of the other soldiers took a step back, and I could see his hands shaking as they gripped his rifle. He was definitely considering pulling the trigger, and his companions seemed equally trigger-happy.

Maybe the lightning spells inside their rifles would simply render Astrid unconscious, but then what? What would they do with her once they took her to whoever paid their salaries? And what would a lightning spell do to me? I didn’t think they were going to be keen on keeping me around.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Astrid’s body begin to shudder, then it started to change. In a flash, her nails transformed into long talons, and thick, silver fur burst through her skin-tight suit to coat her rippling muscles. She was at least six-feet-five tall now, and her once beautiful face had morphed into a terrifying lupine visage, complete with an elongated snout, huge teeth, and raging yellow eyes.