Page 73 of Fae Devoted
Tucker’s heart thumped while Ethan’s ears turned red. They’d all been at the club the night of the attack. Had seen Jo face down a blood-crazed vampire to save a human woman. She hadn’t been reckless, just determined to do what needed to be done.
Jowassmart. She wouldn’t place herself in danger without good cause.
He should have known that.
Tucker reopened the bond, and the chunk of his heart torn out after leaving Jo behind turned into a fucking crater.
His she-wolf wasn’t just angry. She was furious. But that wasn’t what had him crawling out of his skin, his wolf rising. Herrage was mixed with a sense of urgency and fear. Why was his mate afraid? Where was Kincaid?
Samuel jumped to his feet, sensing his beta’s worry—his panic. “Tucker, what’s wrong?”
“Jo—” He closed his eyes and braced his hands on the edge of the table.
Remington flared his nostrils again and stood up slowly. “What do you need?”
Tucker blocked out the voices, his booming heart, the ringing in his ears, and the howl of his frantic wolf, concentrating solely on the bond. The cabin was too far away to get an accurate location on Jo, but he’d be able to tell if she’d been moved farther away. If someone had taken her from the park grounds.
His heart stopped, and his eyes popped open, staring at the door. A moment later, the queen cocked her head, and every Ferwyn turned to the muffled commotion taking place outside the conference room. The tattoo underneath Ethan’s left ear blazed to life.
“What’s going on?” Lydia asked, the only one still in the dark. The grandmaster didn’t have the rune for enhanced hearing. It didn’t matter as the doors burst open, and his mate stumbled in. She was followed by a pair of harried-looking Ferwyn guards and the king’s Anwyll secretary.
“Alpha,” Jo gasped, her beautiful hazel eyes cutting to Tucker for less than an instant and then back to Samuel. “Alpha, I have to speak with you right now. It can’t wait, I—”
“I’m sorry, milord.” The petite witch wrung her inked hands. “I explained that Príoh Walker was in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed, but she insisted. Quite vehemently, I might add. Said it was a matter of life and death.”
“It is.” Jo’s face was flushed, her cheeks smeared with old blood and dried mud. “I think it really is. I hope it isn’t, but…I’mafraid it might be.” Her hand covered her trembling mouth, eyes filling. “We have to do something before—”
“Jo, breathe.” Relief knocked the air from Tucker’s lungs and the strength from his knees. He hadn’t moved since she barreled into the room.
She inhaled through her nose and out through her mouth but didn’t glance at him.
“So you’re Beta Tucker’s female?” Remington asked Jo, bypassing the Mating Dance’s tradition of introductions. Tucker could hardly take offense under the circumstances.
The king waved the flustered guards and secretary away while inspecting Jo’s disheveled appearance. He grinned, the first one to appear on the gruff male’s face since they’d arrived.
That stubborn chin Tucker adored lifted high, her freckled nose wrinkling. “That remains to be seen, milord.”
Well, shit.
Jo gathered herself together, then approached the king with a confidence and grace that made Tucker’s heart overflow with pride.
Covered from head to toe in muck, she executed an abridged curtesy, the filth caked on her shoes leaving streaks on the braided rug. Johnnie brushed her messy hair from her face and plucked free the thickest strands clinging to her neck before shoving them behind her ear and formally greeted the king.
“Joan Long, Walker Pack. Clan Walker, East South Central, milord. But everyone calls me Johnnie. I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s an emergency.”
“Where’s Kincaid?” Tucker asked carefully, sensing his female was on the verge of breaking down despite the brave front.
Jo bit her cheek yet still wouldn’t look at him.
“How did you get here, Johnnie?” Samuel used his most soothing tone. A focused Alpha bond would read her heightened distress as keenly as Tucker’s more intimate one.
“I drove.” Her voice small, chin quivering.
“Alone?” Tucker’s knuckles went white where he gripped the table.
Her jaw firmed.
“Jo—”
