Page 74 of Protected By Her Mate

I have to cut Edie off before she can make it to the bridge. If she throws Luke off before I can stop her, he’ll die.

Charlie’s scream of fear echoes through my mind so loud it makes my head ring and nearly stops me. My wolf is torn. He wants to go after the child, but protecting our mate is his number one priority and she’s in distress.

Charlie says through her connection,I’m sorry, I’ll shut up. Please, keep going, Lennox. I’ll die if anything happens to Luke.

And I’ll die if anything happens to Charlie. I have no choice but to do everything in my power to keep them both alive.

I push myself harder and faster, my heart exploding in my chest, my paws burning from the sharp gravel and rough cement as I leap and jump through the city. I hear a shout from below but ignore it. I’m not being careful to conceal myself. My only goal is to get to Edie and save Luke.

Finally, after several more blocks, I see them. Luke is dangling from Edie’s mouth by his shoulder. He’s conscious, crying and injured where her teeth have dug into his tender flesh.

Fury rips through me and every protective instinct I have zeroes in on the woman harming my mate’s offspring. If it wasn’t before, her death has now become a foregone conclusion.

Edie’s nearing the building line where she’ll have to make her way down to street level before climbing the bridge. Before she can get there, I let out a deep howl, drawing her attention.

She stops, turns on the spot to stare at me, and hesitates, her eyes flitting around, assessing what to do next. Does she confront me here on the rooftops of New York, or does she draw me to the bridge?

I stalk closer, moving slow so I don’t alarm her into dropping Luke.

Her glittering eyes track me and when I reach the edge of the building next to the one she and Luke are on, she turns human.

She grips Luke by his injured arm, ignoring his cry of pain as she holds him over the edge of the roof. “Come any closer and I drop him!” Her voice echoes between the buildings.

Chapter 28

Fight in Progress

LENNOX

No!Charlie’s cry echoes through my mind as she sees her son through my eyes, dangling off the side of a building, his terrified shout tearing at her sanity. I ruthlessly shove her out, narrowing my concentration on Edie and Luke.

If I’m to save Luke, I have to give my wolf free rein, allow his instincts to guide us. Not something I’ve done since the Human-Shifter war. Even in my wolf body, I always maintain some level of control over him.

Not this time.

He knows what needs to be done and will be far more effective than his human counterpart.

Go, I tell him, allowing my human mind to sink into the shadows of his mind.

He zeroes in on Edie, marking her.

I push off, my paws grinding on the concrete roof as I jump onto the ledge of the next building, Edie is now forty feet away from me across a rooftop terrace.

“Stop or I’ll drop him!” Edie screams, shaking Luke.

It’s too late, there’s no stopping a wolf whose mate’s precious world has been threatened. I race toward Edie, my gaze never swerving from my prey.

“I mean it!” Edie steps onto the ledge with Luke, lifting him off his feet and holding him over the edge. The drop is over a hundred feet. He won’t survive it. “Tell your mate this was your choice!” she screams, rage twisting her features.

She opens her hand, letting go of Luke.

He plunges toward the street below, his scream of terror echoing against the surrounding buildings as he falls.

As I narrow in on Edie, for one heart-stopping second, I worry my wolf won’t make the right choice, is too focused on his prey. As I take the final jump, lunging toward Edie, I swerve, leaping off the building after Luke. Air rushes past my fur as I head straight for him, my body straight as an arrow whizzing toward my target.

We’re around 40 feet off the ground when I reach him, wrapping my body around his. The moment I touch him, something inside me alters, my essence reaching for his, wrapping it protectively inside me, holding it safe. I refuse to let his spark go out.

I twist in the air, hurling my body toward a balcony, hitting the metal railing hard with my back before rolling onto the grated floor. Pain radiates through me, but I ignore it, unfurling my body from Luke’s and looking him over.

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