Animal Heat: A Paranormal Romance (The Animal Sagas) by Susan G. Charles Page A

them. That’s when she’d gasped.
    “What is it?” Sonya asked, not surprised at her sisters aggravation.
    “Prints,” she answered. “I told you.”
    The sounds of leaves crackling emerged from the east. Lynda grabbed her shotgun, rose to her feet, and both girls stared in the direction the sound originated.
    “Don’t be alarmed ladies,” came a charming voice from the shadows. “Please don’t shoot.”
    “Show yourselves… Who are you?” Lynda asked.
    “My name is Ben… Ben Wilder,” the voice called out before the man stepped out of the dark and into the sun’s light out in the em;
text-align: hag siopen grove, “and I am on the hunt for a wild animal known to be stealing livestock from properties all through these lands. I was hoping you might be able to assist me and my men ―”
    “He was here just last night!” Lynda excited and lowered her firearm. “I almost got him. He’s been stealing our food for close to a month now. Our stock is getting low and we’re quite tired of it.”
    “There are tracks over there!” Sonya pointed.
    Ben made his move toward the tracks and followed the trail to the edge of the woods. He turned back and said to them, “If you ladies would like, I can send some of my men here to watch over you in the chance this feral beast returns.”
    “No thanks… we’d just appreciate it if we never see the wretched creature again,” Lynda growled.
    “I will do what I can to accommodate you. If we do not capture him tonight, then you will soon see me again, fair ladies. Farewell.” he said, and then took his first step into the mystery of nature.
    Damn. It all took place so fast the girls never thought to ask of the man’s order, if he had any. He seemed to be a hunter too but his likes have never been seen before anywhere near or on their land for that matter. Who was this mysterious hunter and from where did he hail? Who were these men of his that he spoke of, and how did he find the sisters lair?
    “Wilder!” Lynda called out, as she took a step away from the house. “Wilder!” she called again, and then three more times before she had given up.
    “He’s gone,” the younger sister said. “If he doesn’t catch the animal I’m sure he’ll return later.”
    Lynda had sat up through the night. With her firearm nestled in her lap she sat in a sandalwood rocking chair that she had positioned right beside the shattered window, staring out into the bleak darkness as the chair lightly swung to and fro. The constant hoot of a nearby owl had begun to sound as if the bird was actually asking the question to the animal that prowled their territory. The owl’s hoot slowly became mesmerizing, as would soon the welcoming breeze would come to be comforting enough for Lynda’s eyes to vanish beneath their covers. It wasn’t long after that before the chair ceased all movement and she dreamt the night away.
    Whoosh!
    A heavy gust of wind compelled the rocking chair to sway back and forward, its strength woke Lynda up almost instantly. She grabbed her gun and raised it with surprised eyes and a wide open, speechless mouth as she leaped up from her seat, into the air. The chair stopped moving as she landed in just the right place on the armrests, looking for a target outside the window with the gun following her eyes. She snickered aloud before taking a seat, realizing it was just a figment of her imagination. Only the wind, she thought, before springing back into the air, landing on the hardwood floor and lowering her hind parts back into her guards post the right way.
    She sniffed at the air but by that time it was too late. She heard a muffled panting sound and the footfalls of human feet, inside the house. Sonya, she thought, as she once again rose from her seat, this time rushing out the room and into the hallway. She looked toward the main living area and caught a glimpse of two shadows. It was two men in the nude and… “Sonya!” she screamed.
    Without time to