Page 55 of Act of Passion

“W-what?” he asked, his voice so low it was barelyaudible.

She knew he’d react badly to the news that Elm had found her, but she couldn’t lie to him. “Johnson led the team that came and then shortly after, Elmarrived.”

Gram’s blue eyes swirled to a deep brown as a huge growl sounded fromhim.

Brooke grabbed his hands. “No. Don’t give in to the change. I’mokay.”

It was clear that Gram was fighting his wolf. “Brooke, he’s nae a normal supernatural male. He’s unlike anything any of us have ever gone up against. From what Armand and I have found, he’s thousands of years old. And he has powers the likes of which I’ve never seen a Fae have. How did you manage to get away from him? I know we spent a long time teaching you to protect yerself, but that willnae stop a man likeElm.”

Brooke started to tell him everything that happened but he gasped and grabbed her, sniffingher.

“I smell him on you—and I smell shifter and vampire onyou.”

“Campbell, I do nae like you much. If you do nae take yer hands off the lass while yer angry, I willnae stop Malik from tearing you to bits,” saidStriker.

It was then Brooke noticed Boomer and Striker holding Malik back as Malik’s eyes burned withamber.

Gram’s brows drew together. “What’s going on? Why are you all withher?”

“Malik protected me. So did his friend Auberi,” said Brooke, doing her best to diffuse the situation. “And then a bunch of their friendscame.”

“Andthenthey came?” asked Gram, eyeing her. “As in Malik and Auberi were with you to startwith?”

“You’ve no idea just how much one of them beat you to the punch,” said Striker, earning him a grunt from Boomer. He shrugged. “Let’s be honest here. Malik is the one with a right to be angry. NaeCampbell.”

Gram growled. “Tut was at the club, wasn’t he? It’s nae enough he beds a different woman nightly. He has to pay for the pleasure of their companytoo?”

Brooke felt as if someone had hit her in the chest with a bat. “I know what type of man he is. For a brief moment, I thought I’d judged him wrong. I didn’t. I was young and naïve. I believed in happily ever after then. I believed in love at firstsight.”

Gram tipped his head, confusion coating hisface.

She stayed close to him. “Don’t be mad at him for being who he is. He’s a womanizer. It’s his thing. As much as that killed me inside, it is what it is. And yes, he was at the club tonight. Does it matter why? In the end, he kept them from taking me. I’d used too much power to stop Elm and the others with him. And then when I was shot and fell, I had too much damage that needed to be healed to be able to run or protect myself. Because Malik was there, I didn’t haveto.”

Gram paled. “You used enough magik to stop Elm and you wereshot?”

She gave a smallnod.

He narrowed his gaze. “How are you upright? I know you, Brooke. I know how yer gifts work and what they need when tapped into.” He took a step back and ran his hands over his face. “You did it. You finally gave in to that short chick’s requests for you to do more than just pour drinks for men. You slept with one, didn’t you? Malik? It was him, wasn’tit?”

“Gram, stop,” she said, keeping her voice even. “It’s not like that. I met him yearsago.”

Gram sucked in a big breath. “He’s the one, isn’t he? He’s Bethany’s father. I knew her shifter side smelled familiar to me. I couldnae place it. It’s him,right?”

“Yes.”

Snarling, Gram pointed at Malik, and Brooke threw herself in front of the wolf-shifter as he began to shout. “Yer nae coming in here and taking the family I built! You left a young woman pregnant with yer babe and you dinnae come for her when she needed you most. Yer a shite mate,Nasser!”

“Stop!” she said, pushing on Gram’s chest. “It’s not likethat!”

“So he dinnae plant his seed in you and do nothing when you were taken by sick bastards?” asked Gram, his neck musclespopping.

“Aye, ’tis as you said,” addedStriker.

“Not helping here,” pressedBoomer.

“I know, but Tut did as Gram said, and he’s nae said a word about his wee one. Speak up dumbarse or yer going to lose her, Tut. You’ve got to be the one to tell her the truth. It means nothing coming fromus.”

Brooke teared up and pressed a partial smile to her face as she stared at Striker. “I shouldn’t have said what I did to him. I was hurt and angry but it wasn’t his fault I was taken. And it’s okay that he didn’t want me. I’ve accepted that. Bethany doesn’t know anything about him, and when she’s older and asks, I’ll tell her something that paints Malik in a good light. There’s no need for her to know he didn’t want her either.” She did her best to remain calm. “Gram is here now. We’ll go with him and we’ll all be fine. Thank you foreverything.”

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