Page 113 of Mated
In the distance, I am vaguely aware of several shapes pouring from the rec hall and the cabins. There is a familiar shock of dark hair among them.
Callus runs up the drive, his eyes gold and his teeth long. “What the fuck happened?” he demands.
“The fucker tried to take us off the road,” I say back. “I needed room to get us out.”
His arms cord, but he nods. “Pack.”
The shifters span out, circling the vehicle and boxing whoever is inside in place. I start to pull away from Nisha, to ask her to stay. But her hands grip my arm, holding fast.
My eyes track over her pale face. I hold my free hand out to her and we walk slowly toward the cars, fingers interlocked.
Callus is tight on my other side, his claws already out and his expression feral. At the side of the car, the pack waits in a guarding formation Anything tries to run and they will be on them.
Ebony and her thetas are among those present, and with a glance from me, she grips the driver’s side door. I nod.
The whole gods-damn panel comes off in her hand and she slings it across the lot.
A dark haired man is slumped over the steering wheel, his forehead bleeding and his eyes closed.
“Eb?”
She leans down and inhales. “It’s the fucking human from the woods.”
That sense of unease in my gut grows. “Get him out.”
Her thetas reach in and haul the man out onto the stone. He comes to, his eyes opening and his body jerking.
The dark abyss of his gaze is creepy. Frozen. He snarls and twists in their hold.
Ebony’s hand flies out like an extension of my body, wrapping those long, dark fingers around his windpipe and squeezing. I want it to be my hand around his fucking throat, but hers works too.
I urge Nisha next to Callus and stalk to the human male. “Who the fuck are you?”
His teeth bare. “Go to hell, cat.”
Hellfire fills my nose and a burst of red light flashes behind the cars. “That is my line.” Caine’s voice rips through the air as he and Gage walk toward us.
The demon crowds my spine, eyeing the human in disgust. “You?”
Another snarl is his only answer.
“Alpha, do you have somewhere for us to work?” Gage asks from my other side.
“I’m sure we can make a place,” Callus calls, his voice hard. Deadly.
The man looks angrily between us.
I smile and know it is all tooth. “Good.”
The thetas tighten their hold on the man and Ebony slips behind him, her long black claws resting over the pale column of his throat as we march him bodily down the drive.
Chapter 48
Nisha
Callus offers me a cup of hot tea. I take the coffee mug in my hands and blow on the scalding liquid before taking a small sip. Warmth and sweet peppermint flows to me, easing some of the shaking. “Thanks.”
He nods and leans back against his desk. “I’d offer T one …” He falls silent and glances at me.
