Page 5 of Claimed

I breathe a little sigh of relief. I should have known he wouldn’t give me up to some random guy in a suit. Nobody else will either. I can feel everybody closing ranks. One of the guys pulls me up behind him, creating a human shield.

“I know she is here. I have news about her mother.”

He says the one thing that will always bring me out of hiding.

I knew from the beginning he had something to do with Mom. His accent was the final piece of the puzzle, but even before he spoke, I felt his significance. I can feel his energy reaching out for me even before I move. It feels as though he is somehow speaking to me without words, pulling at me though he cannot possibly be sure I am actually here.

I step out from behind my guard, approaching curiously through the pack. Trent reaches out with a hand, makes a gesture to indicate I should stay behind him. I do as he wishes, stopping a few yards away from the Russian man.

“I’m Anya,” I say.

He looks at me, and I feel a wave of energy rush over me. This man is a complete stranger, and his aura is foreign too. There’s something about him that makes the muscles in my belly clench tight, my pulse spike, my adrenaline flow. I suddenly want to run, but I don’t know whether it is away from him, or toward him.

“I need you to come with me,” he says.

“Uh. No?” Trent cuts in. “What do you want, man?”

The stranger looks at me, ignoring Trent entirely. “Your mother is dead, Anya.”

I take a step back, as those shocking, horrible, awful words wash over me, leaving me cold.

“My mother isn’t dead. She’s in Houston.”

“She got sick. Sometimes these things don’t take long.”

He is Russian, and he is blunt. His words shock me deeply. My first thought is that he’s trying to play some kind of game with me, trick me somehow.

“I don’t believe you. I’m going to call my mom.”

I can’t call her from here. I need to go into town. Someone needs to take me to the nearest reception spot.

“I am going to take you to her, so you do not have to believe me.”

“You’re not taking me anywhere. I’m not going with you.”

I am freaking out now. There are tears in my eyes. Even the idea of my mom being gone is too much to bear. I hate this guy, whoever the fuck he is. What an absolute asshole to come here and fucking lie to me.

“Leave her alone, man,” Trent says.

The boys are circling us. I might not mated to any of them, but I am part of the pack. They will protect me with their bodies, and maybe with their lives. I don’t want that to happen, but I also don’t want to go with this terrifying stranger.

“Please, just go,” I tell him. “If you stay, you’ll be hurt.”

The stranger laughs as if I’ve made a joke.

“I am not going to get hurt. You will be, if you don’t listen and come with me.”

That threat pisses the boys off even more. They snarl and step up to him even more. They haven’t shifted as yet, but I know that’s not far away. This man in front of me doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. He deserves what’s coming for trying to freak me out, but still, I feel a little sorry for him.

I know my mother had a hard time when she was in Russia. She knew a lot of bad people. Obviously one of them has come all this way to fuck with her, and with me. But he’s not counting on my friends.

“Get out of here,” Trent growls. “You’re not welcome.”

“I’ll leave when I have what’s mine,” the Russian says, his eyes still fixed on me.

He is brutally handsome, but the things he has said and done in the few moments I have known him turn that handsomeness into a mask to be feared. My entire body is in turmoil, so many emotions going in so many different directions.

I take several steps back as I am pulled away from him. Every single male and several females of the pack are coming forward. Nobody likes this man’s energy. Everybody recognizes him as a threat.

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