The Shifter's Conspiracy (Paranormal BBW Werewolf Romance Novella) by Cassie Laurent Page A

turned, my feet moving, my legs starting up into a jog that would turn into a die-hard sprint. I didn’t know where I was going. It didn’t matter at this point; any place was safer than here. I had to get as far away as I could and as fast as possible.
    I heard several more gunshots and turned around for a brief instant, crouching behind a car parked about a hundred yards down the street. The back windows of the limo were blown out; I wasn’t sure if a bullet had shattered them or if it was an effect of the force of the wolf’s blows. But I didn’t stop to think about it for more than a second; something inside me told me to keep running, to get to somewhere safe. So I kept running, but I still didn’t know where my final destination would be.

—Elias—
    Elias could sense where Tess was headed before she even knew it herself. He knew that when all this was over, that once he’d dealt with Mr. Cipriano once and for all, that he would find her in the hotel. He knew she’d be scared, waiting for his comfort, waiting for him to tell her that everything was OK, that it was all over. What bothered Elias was that he didn’t know if he’d be able to tell her that. As far as he knew, he might not make it out of this situation alive. Who knew what was in store for him?
    Elias paced around the car. He knew that Mr. Cipriano was inside reloading his gun. He glanced sideways, his large furry head turning just in time to glimpse Tess as she ran beneath the bright light of a streetlamp. Then her beautiful body slipped back into the shadows and he lost sight of her.
    He heard Mr. Cipriano’s gun go off, but his supernatural spatial sense allowed him to dodge any bullets sent his way, at least in this instance. He heard the hollow click of an empty cartridge and knew Mr. Cipriano would be forced to reload again. This was his chance to make a move.
    Elias slammed his huge frame into the side of the limo, toppling it onto its side. Then he crunched down on it with his enormous fangs, their absolute sharpness piercing the metal of the car frame. With all the strength he could summon he lifted the full weight of the limo with his powerful neck muscles and gave it a vicious shake, forcing Mr. Cipriano to fall out of the hole in the car’s side and onto the sidewalk. Now the unrepentant mobster would be forced to confront him.
    Mr. Cipriano lifted the gun up toward Elias, but it was quickly swatted away by Elias’s enormous paw, it’s sharp nails cutting the skin on Mr. Cipriano’s arms. He screamed in agony, holding the open wound with his unwounded hand.
    Seeing that the threat was no longer eminent, Elias shifted back into his human form, quickly retrieving the loaded gun that he’d just knocked to the curb. He walked back calmly to face Mr. Cipriano, whose arm was now bleeding substantially.
    “Paul, your game is up. I want to know what you’re hiding,” said Elias, forcing the cold metal of the gun up to his neck.
    “Fuck you,” said. Mr. Cipriano. “You’re a dead man. As soon as my men hear about this, your days are numbered.”
    “I thought you were shifter, too,” said Elias.
    Mr. Cipriano laughed cynically.
    “Me? No, I’m not a freak,” he said, a sick smile crossing his face.
    “So you made a deal with my kind?”
    “A deal? That’s pretty naïve.”
    “I may be naïve, but I’m the one with the gun. So you better start talking.”
    “I’ve been doing deals with shifters for the past decade. I’ve had them working directly for me for almost as long,” said Mr. Cipriano, gasping for air as Elias forced the neck of the gun against his throat.
    “Doing what?”
    “They’re enforcers usually. Tough guys. They make sure the deals fall through.”
    “What about the deals you’re doing with them?”
    “What do you want to know?”
    “Everything.”
    “If you want to know anything else, you better get me to a hospital. I’m losing a lot of blood here,” he said, his voice starting to sound