Heart of the Guardians: Adoring Destiny by Adrianna Adore (best books to read for self improvement txt) 📕

Dimitri started stripping out of his leather jacket as James shifted, his own specially constructed clothes separating at the seams and falling to the ground. When he switched back to his human form, the Velcro and snaps could be put back and the clothes made whole again. He dropped down on all fours and started towards the cave but a big, black wolf darted in ahead of him. The snarl and answering screech of something from another world echoed out as the massive bear shouldered his way through the entrance. It opened up once he was inside into a cavernous, damp room with dripping stalactites and a shallow pool of water. Dimitri leapt at the monstrosity and it met him with a lunge, a flash of claws and tossed him aside. The wolf yelped and crashed into a wall as James charged, his own claws ripping through red demon flesh. The thing screeched again and slashed at the bear as he sunk long fangs into the demons neck. They stood on hind legs, raked at each other, ripped flesh and hide as the wolf dove in and shredded its ankles, tore chunks of meat away and ripped at the tendons behind its knees. Snarls and growls and the sounds of savage fury were loud in the cave as the thing fell backward and snapped off the long, hanging stalactites. The screams of the hell spawn were cut short when James tore out its throat but it fought on, an unnatural being that had to have its heart separated from its body before it would finally die. Dimitri half shifted, formed furry hands and grabbed a chunk of the long stone with a sharp point and drove it into the beasts mouth. It plunged through the plating at the back of its head, snapped off teeth that tried to bite and choked off the last of its cries. His hands changed again as James dug in his claws and grabbed a mouthful of shoulder to rip into. Dimitri slammed his half human half wolf fingers into its chest, the sharp animal claws ripping through the flesh just under its ribcage. It fought and bucked, tried to throw the bloody bear off but its legs were useless where the tendons had been severed. Dimitri found the thudding heart, curled his hands around it and jerked it free. The monster shuddered and stopped its struggles.

He shifted again, become all wolf and pawed the slowly beating heart away, into the pool of dark water. Spurts of blackened blood pumped out as it beat its last. He nosed around other bodies, his giant form padding noiselessly, his shoulders hunched, his yellow eyes glittering. He found parts of his friends and other people. The demons had been able to run free for a day before they’d been found chased down and trapped. If the guardians hadn’t cornered them, there would have been a long series of unsolved and gruesome murders. The more human like of them would have mated with human women, it was their greatest desire. All manner of half breed children would have been born. Most stillborn but enough would have survived to bring in more unnatural creatures. It would have taken generations for them to become civilized and sane. In the ancient world, it could happen. There were enough empty lands, enough secret places to hide but not now. Not in the modern world. Even in the wilds of the vast, empty spaces in Dimitri’s home country, they were tracking them down. They were eliminating them. Most of them, anyway.

James squeezed back through the opening, shifted to his human form and gingerly pulled on his clothes. He had a series of slashes across his chest and one of his arms bled freely from a deep gash.

“There’s another.” Dimitri said as he ducked through the opening, his chiseled, naked body flawless and unblemished. He may have some bruising from the vicious bashing against the wall but it wasn’t showing on his tanned skin.

“You think one is still out there?” James asked “What makes you think that?”

“That was a female we just killed,” he replied. “She recently gave birth and there aren’t any baby demons in the cave.”

“Maybe she ate it,” James replied then added, “you want to get some clothes on? You’re naked, you know.”

“No.” he said and sniffed the air. “More killing to do. Go tend your wounds, I’ll take care of it.”

Before James could answer, he shifted to the huge black wolf and was racing down the hillside.

“Wait!” he yelled but the black streak disappeared in the thick woods.

James took on his bear form, shed the clothes and bounded down the hillside after him. He took great, leaping strides and caught up quickly as Dimitri slowed to sniff and follow the trail. He caught signs of the unnatural, a clawed footprint in the dirt and a broken branch from a tree. It was fast and big for a newborn, it had been feasting on the butchered guards. He caught a smell of Frank, too. His friend and advisor was chasing the creature down. Scrimson said he thought he was dead, James was relieved to see the occasional footprint and pick up traces of his distinctive scent.

They sprinted down the mountain, the black wolf leading the way, a tawny brown bear thundering behind him, plowing through the brush and small trees rather than dodge around them.

They were gaining ground, they saw occasional splotches of blood. Frank was attacking the creature and sometimes it turned and fought, other times it ran. They heard the splash of the water as they broke through the thick woods, saw the roiling lake and didn’t hesitate. The creature could disappear in the water if it got out of their sight. It couldn’t be tracked in the vast lake and could come up anywhere. They plunged in and followed the sounds of battle, the other worldly screeches and the cries of Frank as he grappled