He reached over to touch her. left her scarred. His wolf glare turns icy silver, and the rage within it charges the space like electricity. "The fucker dies tonight."He is not the one to make that decision. Here, he's not the alpha, but nevertheless Jade and Dan look at me as if they're waiting for my contribution.Is she yours? I'm not sure.But in this case, she's made a shift. Not only in Jade, who delighted in soaking his dick in a woman's pussy and immersing himself in alcohol. But also in Dan. And me? Who knows?Since everyone has strengths, and since I'm the alpha, it's my responsibility to identify them, I turn to Dan. "How much bomb knowledge do you have?"Ever since Jade and I rescued Dan from the streets, he has seized every chance to acquire knowledge. His mind is like a sponge, and he is constantly ready to take in information.I see that same wisdom reflected back at me, that same unwavering hunger to grow, even in spite of his fatigue. If anything, it has gotten bigger
"Yes," Dan responds, clearly not expecting such a thing from his smile.But his smile disappears as he looks back at me. "When I'm gone, you and Jade won't try to kill each other."A gentle thud captures our attention. With his laptop resting on his lap and his fingertips caressing the keyboard, Jade settles himself on the counter. "You are aware of my fondness for an audience." He raises his head and winks. "We'll hold out for you. I enjoy the focus.After Leandro and Dan depart, I lean my back against the wall and watch Jade to see whether he pulls up the addresses we need to visit this morning.He looks at his laptop and murmurs, "So, a mate, huh?"I stay silent. I discuss some topics and I don't talk about other others.With serious grey eyes, he glances up at me. Tell me something, please. Does she irritate you as much as your brother did?I fold my arms across my torso."Well, if she is," Jade says, his lips quivering. "It could help explain why you're usually such a stiff, infl
East leads into a rough community. We parked there, knowing full well that it won't be there when we're through cleaning out Darius's pack, but from everything we've read about Darius—a guy born with a silver spoon shoved down his throat—it doesn't seem like he would want to mix it up with the dealers and pimps that frequent the area.Therefore, the quickest option for him to flee when things get out of hand is for him to drive up from the south and arrive via the minor road that branches off the main city street. Which is precisely why Dan is positioned with a rifle high in a tree to stop it from happening.We will be waiting for Darius Treveiler and his pack as they thunder into the patch of grass under us in a few minutes. We've been helpful enough to position ourselves so near that, should Darius sense he's about to step into a trap, he only needs to take a deep breath, smell the smells of three males, and he won't think twice about sending his pack after us.Most things are cover
I jerk my eyes away from Darius and meet Finn's wolf-like stare.Even though he doesn't say anything, I can still read the order in his fixed gaze. Stay put."I assume she's to blame for all of this drama." The stillness is broken by Darius's stern voice. You've just thrown away your life, I have to tell you that. I own her.He scans the landscape with his pale blue vision before focusing it narrowly on the fire that is consuming his pricey woodland. He then makes this cut to his eyes. A smirk curls his lips, and his nostrils flare.I will know then that we have him committed. After giving it some sniffing, he's realized that, in contrast to his pack of dogs, there are only three of us. I quickly count...eighteen?How the fuck did the other two end up?It makes no difference as long as they don't surprise us from behind. And should they give it a shot?That will be their final error.He now realizes that there are only the three of us on the tree, and he will not go back in the automo
My back is to the glass wall as he turns me. I wait for him to kiss me while I look into his face. I've tried to kiss him before, but he keeps me there by swiping his hand over my nape. He says to me, "No, Amanda." "An alpha takes the lead."He is the boss everywhere, not only in the bedroom. Because he is more experienced in this world than I am, he enjoys placing orders for me that include food, clothes, and other items. He's right, coming from a dingy flat with empty cabinets. I have no idea how to place an order at a restaurant without looking foolish, and if something caught on fire, I would have no idea what was in style. I thus don't gripe. Why would I do that?His fingertips dance over my cheek as he looks at me with warm, gratifying delight. His eyes find my throat and the thin scar there, and I start to become wary.He gives a light back-and-forth stroke.Darius has smooth calluses on his fingertips. Callouses need manual labour, menial tasks, and physical exertion.I am the
DanI stifle the cough that threatens to burst out of me by pressing my mouth against my arm and tilting my face away from the worst of the smoke. One thing is certain: This fire is going far out of control.My eyes are burning from the smoke, and the fumes are irritating my throat and impairing my vision.Fun, Jade had mentioned. Enjoyable.I understood why I should have been anxious.I'm going to burn myself out of this tree with his concept of fun.My rifle and my sight are drawn to my right by a sudden movement. My photographs now are more about feeling my way than looking because I'm so far up and there's smoke pouring below.A wolf appears from behind a tree, its fur coloured reddish-brown. I pull the trigger.I have a split second to compose myself; the shot seems nice, but the wolf has moved from where it was just a moment before.B*tch.I look for my next objective. It's harder now that the wolves are aware that I'm up here and that I'm not just capable of firing, but also ai
Choke.I can't breathe because of the object in my throat.I struggle, whimpering, but no part of me wants to move.I need to notify someone that something is suffocating me in my throat, but I can't move.My right arm is lightly squeezed by a hand. "It's okay," says a masculine voice.It's not acceptable! Something is scratching my throat, and I want to scream. And it's suffocating me.Hands press against my back, talking to me in a voice I should recognize. The black hole returns to take me away before I can connect the voice to a face.* * * "...for observation." Her arm..."The monster in my throat has vanished, but the mask clamped tightly around my mouth is blowingcool, strange-tasting air into me.I shift my attention away from the mask and onto what is genuinely important: the people in my room, because the doctor must be speaking to someone, and that someone is not me.The masculine voice is sharp and unusual. It's not one I've heard before, but the confidence and assurance
"So, you have him doing what, exactly?" I lock my gaze on him.He notices my expression and pauses. "We needed another pair of eyes."My wolf is gritting his teeth. "You have him watching her.""We didn't know you were even still alive." He lowers his head and moves his gaze away. It was always the idea, but two days later, he's still feeling guilty about it. "So we—"My wolf growls. "Tell me you didn't have Leandro watching Amanda?"SilenceThey abandoned Leandro in a room with Amanda.I walked in alone with the brother to find fucking my mate since she liked a pair of shoes and her father wouldn't buy them for her.Amanda.While she was sleeping.Helpless."Finn."Dan's wariness brings my attention to my low growl filling the room."Oh, hey there, beautiful." Leandro's voice is full with astonishment. "Going somewhere?"Because we intended to be nearby when we bought this house, all of our bedrooms are on the same floor. After living literally in each other's pockets in tiny flats,
Also, if you bite Dan already and someone asks you to fill up the release paperwork at the door, well.I mumble, "We might not get him out of the hospital before he shifts.""Regular individuals don't just heal themselves; he'll start healing himself. Finn adds, turning away from me, "If we stay, we expose ourselves in addition to him.If there was one rule in Fight Club, it would be that no one should be aware that shifters exist. The government would eliminate them all if people were aware of them and what they were capable of.When Darius informed me that certain disparities are so great that people would turn against you if they understood what they were, I felt like he was exaggerating. There is nothing you could do or say that would ever lead them to believe you are anything other than a threat that has to be eliminated.Until I recalled my school days following Mom's death and my transformation into the girl with the drunken father. I changed and evolved. Something to be mocked
"They're far too violent for you," he explained. "Bed. "Let's go, squirt." He'd discovered me after I'd snuck down the stairs to peer through the bannisters at the TV."But the men take too long to fall down and sometimes they grab the wrong place on their front, so they can't be dead." I let out a sigh.As he carried me back up to bed, he chuckled. "Waiting too long to fall, huh?" How long have you been looking?"I denied ever seeing anything. He snorted at my obvious deception, kissed the top of my head, put me into bed, and then told me a tale."You sound like you might be smiling, angel," Jade adds, restoring my attention to the present."Well, I'm not," I tell myself. "You're just hearing things."He sighs once more, brings me in closer, and inhales. "Fuck, angel, I thought we'd lost you today."They should have discovered my body in the attic.Darius lost his cool over little matters such as the white wine at dinner not being cold enough. He'd lash out at one of his packmates fo
If this surgeon is still sniffing about Amanda once Dan is better, it will be the last thing he does."You're quiet," Finn remarks as we come to a halt in front of the vending machine, releasing my arm."Please tell me you're not working out how to kill the doctor and get away with it."I cast a casual glance at the machine. I'm not interested in crappy coffee or tea. My eyes widen when I see peppermint tea.Amanda could use one of them. Also, sleep. She appeared weary, with black bags under her eyes. Still lovely, but ready to go."I'm thinking," I say quietly.The second Amanda turns her back, she plans on tearing the good surgeon apart.Finn rummages in his pocket with his hand. "I repeat myself. Please don't tell me you're plotting the doctor's demise."I cast a peek across at him. He must have just realised that the only things we stopped to get before following the ambulance to the hospital were his clothing and vehicle keys. We weren't planning on getting cash for the vending m
I examine him again, unsure if I should believe that smile—or him. "That you were a decent guy in spite of it."He laughs from the bottom of his heart, throwing his head back. All unaffected and... genuine. It makes me want to laugh along with him just to see how it feels. "I will most definitely need to have words with Olivia."I cock my head, forgetting about the desire to scream for Jade to return. "Words? Is that a polite way of saying—""No euphemism." He wriggles his fingers again as if requesting permission.After a little moment, I nod once, and he takes a step forward.He's so near that the tip of my nose brushes against his chest as my knees kiss his thighs. I can't help but inhale his aroma.He smells better than I'd imagine a surgeon to smell just after surgery. Clean, with a woodsy note that might nearly be cologne."While one or two doctors in this hospital have married nurses, I have no plans for the lovely Olivia," he adds as he begins his inspection.How on earth did
"Despite its miraculous abilities, the heart is a delicate thing." There's a reason we have ribs to defend ourselves." He lowers his voice and frowns. "I know what injured your guy and brought him here. He was fortunate to have survived."Most individuals would not survive a wolf attack, in my opinion.Harley pauses for a beat as if waiting for an explanation. Nobody offers one.When he doesn't receive one, he keeps going. "With all of the damage we discovered in surgery, his recovery will be a long process, and there will be complications." I'm here to go over some of the upcoming events in the following days, weeks, and months."My fingers tighten in Jade's sweatpants as all my anxiety returns. "Months?""His heart stopped on the operating table, Jane." He stops and looks at her. "Twice."My mouth is parched. "However, you were able to save him?"Harley gives a single nod. "We have a great team in this hospital.""What complications can we anticipate?" Jade asks, less hostilely than
"Dan had died. Exactly like me. "I think the door hit us." I blink, and I'm back in the attic, watching Dan scramble for the rifle as a wolf rushes at him. "I thought I was going to watch Darius rip out his throat like—" I swallow my words.Nathan did the same thing to Simon Trevor.Simon was one of those rare treasures that a girl couldn't believe existed. A truly kind person. Someone who refused to assist me because he desired something in return. But he did it because he could. He did exactly that. And he paid with his life.I try again, clearing my throat. "I believe he wanted to make Dan suffer as much as he wanted to make me suffer." He cut Dan's breast open before leaping out the upstairs window."But not before he murmured the eight words into my ear that will haunt me for the rest of my life."You belong to no one but me, Amanda."Finn gives a blink. "He didn't take you."My head shakes. "Like I said, he likes to punish people."Finn cocks his head, his gaze narrowing. "You k
We tripped over each other to follow as they rushed him out of the attic, the house, and finally into a flashing ambulance waiting outside.“Sorry, no room,” they said when we moved to follow.None of us dared argue. Not when Dan’s heart could stop again any second.So we let the bland-faced EMTs who’d shocked Dan’s heart into beating call out a hasty direction for the hospital, slam the door shut, and then they were just…gone.A hand closes high on my right arm.I startle, whipping my head that way."Angel?” Jade’s gray eyes search my face as I search his.Dan once said he looked like a brawler, and he does. I study him, taking my time. Shaved dark hair. Intent gray eyes which dare you to look away first. A nose with a tiny bump on the slope from a break that didn’t heal right. His raw strength makes me feel stronger in a way that shouldn’t make sense, yet it does.“He’s a fighter. Like you. Like all of us. He will survive this.”I wish I could believe you.“Darius is a killer.” I an
On my left, there is some movement.With a snarl, I spin around, swiping my claw at a wolf with a piercing blue gaze who hisses in agony and bounds back, the copper tang of his blood strong in the air.Behind.I'm not sure if that was my warning or my wolf's.It makes no difference.We've already whirled around to confront the danger.The door behind me means I'm not in danger of injuring anybody who matters anything to me, so I stop battling my wolf the way I've been doing for years and start fighting with him.And our adversaries perish one by one beneath our jaws and claws.It makes no difference that others are rushing into the room, assaulting in pairs, one at a moment.It makes no difference if they pierce my flesh with their fangs or cut open my back with their claws.All that matters is that they perish.The floor is slippery with my adversary's and my own blood, but the pain is a distant second—or is it third?—to the wrath erupting within me.Then it's only me, my breathing r
"What makes breathing so important?" I inquire, disregarding the aching in my left arm. It's only been a minute, yet I'm already trying to stay up."You could have lined up the most perfect shot in the world, but what if you get excited and your breathing changes?"I thought for a moment, but I didn't have a response for him. "No."He takes two deep, leisurely breaths. But his third breath is a bit faster, and the cannon slips to the left by about half an inch. "Did you notice that?"I nod. "Breathing made you move.""Move it just enough to throw off your shot." With a body shot, you can get away with it, but with a headshot, you can miss it entirely. "Calm and control will save the day here.""Are you not angry?" I inquire, intrigued by this aspect of Dan. I had no clue he knew how to shoot, much alone be so enthusiastic about it."There is a time for rage." Isn't it when you have a pistol in your hand?" He softly presses down on my finger. "This is exactly how it should feel. Breath