Page 62 of Riding A Cock-Horse
“I can go, too,” Harry offers, but my uncle quickly refuses because, well, the crazy arse might not be the best representation.
“No,” Jude agrees with my Laird. “You should go with Jack—find Belle.” He turns to Nestor, “Go getourmate.”
The significance of his words is not lost on me. Jude is acknowledging Nestor’s bond to Belle. As well as all of ours.Our mate.The words fill me with so much conflicting joy and despair—the only way to right my world is to get Belle back.
Jude gets into the helicopter; it quickly lifts up and flies away to the hospital. I send a quick prayer that the women will be ok. Somewhere in the insanity, the three-headed pup shifts into his human form. I hear Elise call him‘Cerberus’and think it's absolutely fitting. The Chief Constable suggests that Elise, Sian, Gryff, and Cerebus be taken into custody for safety.
The humans might know our secret, but that doesn’t mean we trust them explicitly. I know I’m the one who jumped into this situation with both feet, but desperate times call for desperate measures. This doesn’t mean we can’t still be smart and cautious. The birds and babies definitely need to be somewhere safer, though. Thankfully, Dageus and Harry have the foresight to go with them, leaving Theo, Jack, Nestor, and me to find our sweet Yank mate.
“Promise me you'll bring her back,” Sian sobs as I hug her goodbye.
I kiss little Gryff on the forehead before turning to the dark-haired Cerberus and ruffle his silky head. He coos at me, and my heart melts to goop.
“I promise we'll bring her back,” I finally answer Sian. “You take care of these little guys and Elise. We’ll be back before you know it.”
I watch the six of them leave and hope I didn’t just lie to one of my best friends. Turning to Jack, I raise a brow.
“It’s time to call your connections again,” I murmur.
Quicker than lightning, he nods and pulls out his phone. My hands twitch in agitation. Every second that passes feels like hours. Who knows what the dean and his scientist are doing to Belle—I swiftly shut down these thoughts. I can’t afford to play the what-if game right now. The guys need me to be focused—Belle needs me to be focused.Everything is at stake right now.
And time is running out.
Being covered in dire wolf slobber is not nearly as sexy as it sounds.
In fact, now that I think about it, it's not sexy at all—it's downright disturbing and disgusting. Then again, it could be my own vomit and pee water. So, I suppose this time around I'm ahead of myself, right? I look around and find that I'm on a luxury yacht.
Of course, I am.
Where else would Dean Stiffdick be?
“Take her down to the clinic,” he commands nonchalantly to Dr. Fuckface.
A doctor's clinic on a yacht?
Wow.
It takes hoity-toityanddisturbing to a whole new level, but what do I expect with Dean Stiffdick?
“You mean the sick bay?” I sniff, trying to match his level of entitled superiority.
I must miss my mark because the assclown doesn’t even answer. Dr. Fuckface comes over to escort meto the clinic, and I kick him in the shins. In retrospect, it probably should have been the dick. When I try this, he shifts his leg up in protection.
“Don't push it!” he growls at me.
“No!” I snarl with anger, feeling a familiar tingle under my skin.
“It'syouwho shouldn't pushme!”
As if I’d done it a thousand times, I easily and effortlessly shift into my chimera. Pride—and something a little more savage—courses through me. I open my mouth and roar ferociously.
My lion bares its sharp teeth.
My mamba hisses menacingly, ready to inject peeps with deadly venom.
My goat…well, it’s just an idiot that I try to ignore.
At least two-thirds of me is terrifying, right?
