Page 127 of Hawke

He tsked, looking me up and down. “Shift, mutt, or the woman on the phone won’t last much longer.”

Chad entered and sat in the chair like he was the one that had done all the fighting outside. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and stuck it back into his pocket.

I let out a deep, growling noise, unable to decide my next move.

“Please, Hawke,” Delilah whispered. “She helped me escape from Shane.”

Shane let out a chuckle that echoed in the room. “That she did. Tiny thing she is. Took me a while to find the culprit who kept sneaking away all the good help, but when I did, off to solitary confinement she went. Now, shift.” Shane’s hand tightened on Delilah’s throat.

She didn’t show any fear, instead her lip curled, her nose twitched and her nails that laid delicately at her side grew into claws.

“She wants to shift,”Tyr said, as he retracted our fur.“But her wolf is scared.”

“Why would she be? It’s a shift. She shouldn’t be nervous. If she is that connected to Delilah already, then this shift should be a walk in the park.”

“She’s shifted before. She failed her first shift. This is her second attempt.”

“How is that possible?”

“You are even more disgusting in your human form.” Shane sneered. “Now, you are going to stay here while I take Delilah back to New York. If you behave, I’ll keep Delilah’s friend alive and let you have a swift death once this unholy bond between you is eradicated. The warlock will die in peace.”

Bram remained frozen in place, the only sign of life, the slow and steady drops of his blood falling onto the floor.

Like hell, he was taking my mate anywhere.

“No, I don’t think so.” I stepped forward, letting the fucker get a good look at my cock.

I cracked my neck, reaching for my mate until Delilah told me to stop.

“I’m going with Shane,” she stated.

We both stared at her in disbelief until it quickly turned to anger, and I clenched my hands into tight fists.

“I don’t want her to die. I don’t even know her name.”She glanced at the phone on the other side of the room. “She said she was going to leave right after me. After all this time—”She swallowed. Guilt filled her. I felt it drowning inside her.

Delilah turned to Shane. “I need your promise that you will let her go.”

Shane petted her hair, smiling down at her. “I’ve never broken a promise, have I?”

Delila pursed her lips.

She can’t possibly think about doing this.

“Delilah, I can’t let you do this. You can’t do this. You ran away from me once, and I won’t let you do it again,”I pleaded.

My mate stared at me with understanding, her head nodding, but her heart was unyielding. I could feel it in the bond we shared. She was selfless to a fault; I knew that.

“I can’t let someone innocent suffer, Hawke. You saw her. For all I know, she has spent two years in a room while I’ve been free. She sacrificed herself for me. I can’t live my life knowing she’s there.”

Her claws pierced the palms of her hands.“Get our family. Come get us both?”

Tyr howled, crying for anyone to hear us. If we had a pack to connect us, they would have heard us all the way back home and come to find us, to save us. Because shit, we needed a pack.

“Fuck, Delilah.” I ran my hand through my hair, pulling until I swore I was ripping my scalp.

A thick fog of uncertainty surrounded me.

The Iron Fang was built on the foundation of helping those who were helpless. Delilah was close to shifting. She could protect herself from Shane once she shifted, but who knew when that would be? Her wolf was frightened.

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