Page 60 of Purrfectly Kissed

I love you, Brayden. Sorry, so sorry.

She pictured her Bear in her mind. She’d die happy with him in her thoughts and in her heart. She only wished she could see him one last time to tell him face to face.

The young Tiger squeezed the trigger and time seemed to slow down. She watched the bullet rocketing towards her until it hit her.

The impact made her fly backwards, and the scent of gunpowder mixed with a fresh spray of her blood burned her nostrils.

Fuck was she angry. Her shoulder throbbed, and she felt lightheaded. She really wanted to tear the throat out of that asshole. He wasn’t even a good shot.

Someone should tell people with guns that shooting is something that requires practice. Fucking jerks couldn’t even do that right.

Her anger was silly, she knew. She should be happy he was a lousy shot. But she was angry and hurt. She wanted Brayden. And she wanted to beat the crap out of the piece of shit who shot her.

Before she could retaliate, the doors to the shop burst open and a big, beautiful, and really fucking angry Black Bear charged the bastard with the gun.

Fangs, claws, and pure muscle slammed into the weaker male in a fury of motion that left her dizzy. Or maybe that was the blood loss.

Mate.

Jessica’s last thought was of her gorgeous mate before she let the blackness take her.

Love you.

ChapterTwenty

When they’d left the forest and the evidence of the streak behind, something in the back of Brayden’s mind urged him to go faster and he pressed down on the gas like never before.

He knew Hunter had ordered them to return to the Pride House, but something told him to passJessica’s Closetfirst.

The second he’d jumped into his truck with Reg and Mikey dressing in the back, he’d changed direction. He was going to drive by his mate’s shop before he headed to the Pride House.

It was like something was calling him there. The closer he got, the clearer it became. Something was wrong. It was Jessica. His mate was scared. Hurt maybe.

His Bear nearly erupted out of his skin before he could put the truck in park. The second he did, he jumped out of the driver’s seat and into the store with his Bear bursting forth.

The scent of Jessica’s blood in the air sent his Bear into a frenzy. He turned his huge, ursine head and saw the culprit. That was one sorry ass excuse for a Tiger Shifter. He just stood shaking in his boots with a gun in his hand while Brayden’s Bear zeroed in on him.

This soon-to-be dead man had touched his mate. That was all the reminder his animal needed to spring into action. Saliva dripped from his fangs as he bellowed his fury. With one savage swipe of his enormous claws, he slapped the gun out of the Shifter’s hands and sliced through skin and muscle like a hot knife through butter all the way to the bone.

The Tiger screamed and fell to his knees. Only the sound of Jessica’s pained whimper saved him from a gory death. Instead, Brayden shifted focus onto his mate.

It would take only one move, one twist of his hands to snap the fucker’s neck like a dried twig, but he threw him to the ground instead.

Reg and Mikey had the other three rounded up and cuffed already. The Pride healer was currently tending to a Shifter female with short blonde hair.

A glance told him Elissa, his Nari, remained uninjured. She was currently kneeling over his own wounded mate, pressing a wad of material against Jessica’s Tiger’s shoulder.

Brayden’s Bear pushed forward cautiously. With his nose, he nudged her soft reddish gold fur, breathing past the blood and pain to the ginger spiced scent he loved so much.

Please, be alright. Wake up, love.

He begged through the Pride link and their matebond.

Her Tiger was so gorgeous. But that was Jessica, a beauty in any form. Her sleek, powerful she-Cat was just as lovely as the human side of her, but he had no time to admire her.

Worry and fear pushed at him, his Bear whined and growled anxiously. He bellowed for Mikey, the Pride healer.

The Tiger did not dawdle. He ran across the store and checked over Jessica’s wound. Brayden’s Bear growled at the unmated male and the big man rolled his eyes.

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