Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 100(@200wpm)___ 80(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
“Jayden, Angie, I’m going after your mother. I’ll bring her home safely. I’m going to call someone from my pack to come over and stay with you. Answer my call if this rings, understand?” I hand Jayden a tablet that I can call him on. “You can download games and play on that, if you want, or just keep watching TV.”
Jayden nods. Angie just watches me with big eyes. “I’m scared,” she says.
“Oh baby.” I kneel down in front of her and draw her into a hug. “I’m going to make sure you’re safe.”
“What about Momma?”
“I’m going to get her now.” I kiss the top of her head. “We’ll be back.”
I wish I felt half as sure as I sound. I run out to my SUV and jump in, starting it and backing up before I even have my seat belt on. As I drive, I punch in the number for Meagan that Colleen left me.
“Hello?” The female voice that answers sounds alarmed.
“Meagan? This is Mark Ruhl, I’m—”
“Colleen’s mate. Where is she? Is she all right?”
“I’m on my way to her now. I put a tracker in her phone.”
“Oh, thank Fate.”
“Do you know what she’s planning?”
“I suspect she’s trying to draw Dirk away from you and the Denver pack. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her.”
“She’s trying to protect me.” I curse, gunning the vehicle forward, racing far above the speed limit.
“Dirk’s a real piece of work, Mark. He told everyone your pack kidnapped her. It would’ve been better if she’d let you mark her, but she was afraid he’d tear you both to pieces if that happened.”
I bare my teeth, a savage growl ripping from my throat. My mate had to live with this psychopath. “I’m going to tear him to pieces if he even touches her,” I vow.
“Be careful. Please keep me posted?”
“Yeah.” I end the call.
Colleen. My chest constricts tightly. She hadn’t been unsure of me. She’d been protecting me. My foolish little mate. Doesn’t she know I’d rather die than ever let her get hurt again?
Colleen
My palms sweat as I sit on the concrete bench near the lake to wait.
I texted Dirk when I got here and added my dad to the thread to make sure there was a witness. Your story about me being kidnapped by the Denver pack is ludicrous. I left you because I refuse to allow me or our pups to be your punching bag any longer. Tell your pack to turn around and go home.
He must’ve been too angry to notice my dad was on the thread, or maybe he didn’t care any more because he responded, I will kill you all.
My heart pounded as I texted, Leave the Denver pack out of it. I am not with them.
I will find you.
Lave the Denver pack alone. I’ll meet you at Evergreen Lake.
Neither he nor my father replied after that, but I’m certain Dirk’s on his way. So I wait, trying not to think about Mark and how upset he’ll be when he discovers what I’ve done. Or the pups and what might happen to them if I don’t succeed. Instead, I focus on my breath. In. Out. Steady. Fate’s on my side. She brought me to my mate. Now all I have to do is finish this.
I know the moment he arrives. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my skin prickles with goosebumps as the unfamiliar car—no doubt a rental—pulls into the parking area. I reach back instinctively and touch the pistol in my waistband.
He gets out and slams the door before storming toward me.
I don’t stand. I just wait for him to stalk my way. Even across the field I read the anger radiating from him, his violence close to the surface, prepped to deliver. Of course, it triggers me. Adrenaline flushes my system so fast I nearly shift to run into the woods. But I already know how that scenario goes. He’d catch me, and I’d suffer for it.
No, this time I’m not going to run. I’m going to fight back.
So I get up and walk toward him, chin lifted high, my molars clenched. I pull the gun when he’s five feet away and point it at him. My hand trembles, but that doesn’t stop me from taking off the safety. “You get any closer, and I’ll kill you,” I tell him.
He sneers. “You think a gun will stop me?” He lunges for me.
I shoot. Dirk’s body jerks with the impact.
I register the arrival of two more cars in the parking lot and the attention I’ve drawn with the gunshot.
Fuck. Witnesses.
And double-fuck. My aim was off.
The bullet caught him in the shoulder, not the heart. He staggers back, eyes turning amber, lips peeling back in a snarl. “Silver.” He recognizes the damaging properties of the only substance that can harm shifters.