___________________

A rage that made no sense to Duke.  Even as he prowled around the vampire, struggling against the urge to pounce, there was a saner part of his mind that kept demanding, What in the hell is your problem?

Ana wasn’t hurt—nobody would have let it go that far.  He didn’t even waste time trying to convince himself that he’d be this pissed no matter who the woman had been.  Of course he’d been pissed.  Ready to rip a throat out.

Except he knew his reaction wouldn’t be this extreme.

Ana—that bastard had put his hands on Ana.

“You put your hands on her—after she made it clear she didn’t want you touching her.  But you want us to buy that you wouldn’t hurt her?” he asked quietly, pacing in a tight circle around Neal.

Neal echoed Duke’s movements, keeping the shifter in his sight.  Baffled, he said, “You make her sound like some kindergarten teacher, like I was going to grab her, rape her and drain her dry, just for breathing.  She’s not some damned innocent.  She’s not some helpless victim. She’s not—”

“She’s mortal.”  Duke closed the distance between them and reached out.  Vamps were quick.  Shifters?  Quicker.  Neal didn’t have time to evade as Duke grabbed him and whirled.  Slamming the vamp back into the wall, Duke repeated, “She’s mortal—she’s got psychic gifts, but her power is all in the mind.  She’s got no offensive powers, she’s no stronger than some kindergarten teacher.  She gets hurt, she’ll take just as long to heal as any other mortal.  You cut her, she’ll bleed like any other mortal.”

Neal shoved Duke back, but he was still caught in the grip of that inexplicable rage and he snarled at the younger man, flashing incisors that had already begun to lengthen.  His gray eyes swirled and pinwheeled, glowing with ominous warning.  Rage—hot, thick and potent, spiraled inside him, straining against his skin, fighting to tear past the confines of his self-control.

Over her—

Ana…

The man inside him struggled with it, fought to understand it.  The animal inside him didn’t care.

___________________

Just a quick reminder on the contest:

• Runs through 12/1.
• Read the complete rules here.
• Comment @ my blog (Not via facebook, amazon, myspace, etc) to enter. Each comment gets you one entry. You can enter via blog comments once each day.
• If you post a link to the contest and then email me @ contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com, that will get you an additional ten entries. Put link in the subject line.
• If you preorder and forward the receipt to contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com, that will get you an additional twenty entries. Put receipt in subject line. Please remove all sensitive personal data.
• You can enter each way-if you post a link, comment and preorder, that is 30 entries, as well as one entry for each day you visit the blog to comment. You could get up to fifty entries for the grand prize.
• Names will not be shared/sold/traded/spraypainted on a billboard.
• Please note, to enter for the small daily giveaways done during the week, you must comment @ my blog.
• Daily giveaways will be Monday-Friday. Winners will either be posted here or notified via email so please make sure you check back often.
• Please do not cheat-trying to comment more than once a day, using different names/emails, is cheating and you’ll likely end up disqualified and barred from entering future contests.
• Do not post to sweepstakes sites. These contests are for current and potential readers and I do not want to them to be posted at sweepstakes sites. Should this contest end up at sweepstakes sites, I reserve the right to end the contest without warning and without giving away the rest of the prizes in the contest.
• Each (daily) contest thread will be closed within a day or two of its original posting.  So enter while it’s open!