Ace
It had been a perfect moment. The moment filled with promise … the small cups of coffee, low rumbles of happy people talking nearby, and Emma’s beautiful green eyes widening in response to his question.
Even though she clearly struggled with how to answer his question, he found even the anticipation to be perfect. Ace also found it nerve-racking, to be sure, especially because he didn’t know what he wanted to hear, but it was a moment of normalcy in an otherwise violent life.
Until the vehicle slowed nearby. He didn’t need to see the gun poking out the window or hear the shots … he could tell by the movement of the vehicle that this was going to be a drive-by shooting.
He barely grabbed Emma in time. The shots tore through the air, the booming sound following just behind the bullets themselves. He snatched Emma and hurled her to the ground, throwing himself on top of her.
Four shots were fired before the vehicle’s engine roared, and it peeled away from the curb. He jumped up, crouching on his hands and knees, ready to run.
“Are you all right?” Ace muttered. His voice was a heavy, low growl because he was already partially shifted. He wasn’t going to let these fuckers get away … whoever it was.
“Yes,” Emma gasped. “I’m okay.”
Ace didn’t wait. He shifted mid-stride, and then he was charging down the street.
The vehicle he was chasing was a white van with an obscured license plate. He would never be able to track it. That meant he had to catch it.
At first, it looked like the guys thought they had gotten away clean because they stopped at a red light like everything was normal. Ace couldn’t believe his luck and ran up alongside, leaping up to grab the edge of the open driver’s side window.
The driver shrieked as several pounds of cheetah forced its way through the small gap and landed on his lap in a mess of teeth, claws, and sinewy muscle. Ace thought he was home free … all he had to do was maul the driver to death and then take out the passenger.
But the other person twisted in his seat and kicked Ace square in the ribs. He roared and tried to swing around, but the passenger now had both legs up and kicked him relentlessly until he was shoved straight out of the window to land on the street.
He growled as he picked himself up, hearing the tires squealing right by his ear as the van pulled away. Ace leapt after it, throwing on all the speed he had in him to keep pace.
The van wove through traffic, sending cars hurtling in all directions as it swerved dangerously back and forth. Ace had to dart between cars and eventually began jumping across the roofs to keep the van in sight.
He had almost caught up with it when he saw the van reach an intersection and swerve onto a quiet side street. It would be even harder to catch now that it could put on speed.
He exploded in another burst of speed, but it was no good. Now that the van was on a stretch of an empty street, he was falling behind. Cheetahs were fast, but they didn’t have eternal stamina.
He had to think of something quickly. He calculated that if they were heading away from the main city, one of the side streets on his left should intersect with them. It was a risk, but it was better than fruitlessly chasing them down and losing them.
He picked a street and loped down it at an easy pace. He didn’t want to exhaust himself. Ace kept his ears pricked, listening for the sound of the van’s engine. Luckily, it was in need of repair and making a knocking noise, as well as having nasty exhaust. He could probably recognize it.
Ace slowed as he came to a cross street. This road definitely met up to the one the van had taken. But did they come this way?
Satisfaction flowed through him as he heard the creaky engine. They were coming his way.
As the van drove past, he leapt for the roof. One of the guys saw him and pointed a gun out the window, firing blindly. A bullet shot right past his flank, and he had to let go. He hit the ground with too much momentum and rolled, his breath blasting out of him in the process.
Ace was really fucking pissed now. He wasn’t letting these fuckers get away, not for anything. He sprang up and chased the van as it headed back into traffic. He drew on the deep well of power within himself, asking for more and still more from his cheetah.
Emma.
Strength flooded him as the vision of her green eyes, and sweet smile came into his mind. His muscles revived, his breath flowed easier, and his heartbeat steadied. He roared in the glory of his power and lengthened his stride, beginning to gain on the van.
As he came up behind it, someone opened the back door and shot at him. He weaved side to side, trying to dodge the bullets. Cars swerved crazily around him as innocent people tried to avoid the carnage. Ace kept his eyes focused on the van and did not slow down.
Ace got close enough to leap into the back and gathered himself on the next stride. As he launched forward, the guard slammed the door shut, but there was no way to stop.
Ace hit the door with a jarring crash and fell back onto the road. Even though he had literally taken a beating, he wasn’t done. With even more determination than before, he sprang up and charged.
They couldn’t shoot him, even though they kept trying. They’d thrown him off the vehicle several times, but he just kept coming. Ace roared as he ran after the van, feeling his entire focus narrowing to catching his prey.
An ancient drive set into his bones, running in his blood.