Chapter Sixteen
ALEX DIDN’T THINK he’d be able to take much more. Not because he couldn’t handle the pain, but his beast didn’t like not knowing what had happened to Kennedy.
I was so stupid to bring her with me. Should have come alone.
His beast agreed. Despite being warned she’d go anyway, he’d known it was a bad idea. He could have had Eli sit on her while he looked things over with Gideon and Carter. But no. Alex justhadto get a shot at Myers and Yates. Nothing could come before that. Not even Kennedy’s life.
I’m a poor excuse for a mate.
Yes, you are.His beast growled at him, letting him feel the pain of Smith’s torturous scalpel instead of toughening his skin to repel the cut.
“My, you were substantially weakened by your altercation with Myers, weren’t you?” Smith shook his head. “You’d have been better off if you’d stayed, Alex. The B series has been improving by leaps and bounds.”
“Yeah, I noticed how improved Myers was there at the end. Loved how his spine was nearly bent in half, making walking a chore. And his brain seemed to shut down altogether. Yep. Awesome strides in science you made, Doctor—Oh, that’s right. You’renota doctor, are you?”
Smith shoved the blade deeper into his forearm, slicing along his median nerve.Shit, that hurts.
Stop it, you idiot. You’re going to get yourself killed.
He looked up, shocked. Kennedy wiped her eyes and gave him a tremulous smile. His beast wanted to purr, the man sagged with relief.
When she would have moved to him, Yates stopped her.
“Kennedy.” His beast forced the scalpel out of his skin and repaired his recent injuries. The ones in his sides he’d been working on healing since taking them from Myers, then Lang and now Smith, were slower to knit.
“Interesting.” Lang’s voice from the intercom overhead blasted through the room. “You see how quickly he heals from her presence? Let’s see how he fares with a new choice.”
Smith nodded at Charlie, who sighed and limped over to Alex.
Damn.Kennedy’s cousin looked awful. Already a slight woman with a petite frame, left in Lang’s care, she appeared underweight. Her skin looked washed out, though she was still pretty. Delicate features, a button nose and bow-shaped lips were overshadowed by large eyes slightly tilted at the corners, a beautiful gray-green in color that would make her stand out from the crowd. She didn’t have Kennedy’s curves, but she was appealing in her own right.
She was also family.
Distant pack,his beast thought.
He didn’t know what he might have said or done, but strapped to the table as he was, he could do little but watch her approach. Smith pressed a button, and the table shifted. Alex gradually moved from lying down to a vertical position.
Better able to see everything, he took note of the two Circ guards at the door, both men armed. Sheer stood against the wall, smirking, needing to be killed. Yates held onto Kennedy as if he owned her.
Alex would have been more bothered about that, but except for a few light scratches on her skin, she looked as good as he could hope in this place.
He wondered if Eli and the guys had arrived yet. Had they found him?
Charlie touched his face, bringing his attention to focus keenly on her. “You did this,” she whispered. She glanced over her shoulder at her cousin. He couldn’t see what she did, but Kennedy looked furious.
Kennedy?He sent her. She didn’t respond.
Charlie looked back at him, took a deep breath, then let it out, feathered over his mouth.
He smelled sweetness and felt a sense of calm, as if they stood in the eye of this particular storm. Then her lips followed, settled over his, and drew forth a response he didn’t want to make but couldn’t help. Arousal felt heavy between his legs.
His beast liked her and thought about taking two mates.
No, damn it. We love Kennedy, not this one.
It seemed to consider that, wondered what Gideon would think of this slight female trying to steal Alex for her own, then backed quickly away, tucking into Alex’s subconscious.
Alex let his body go, not into the kiss as anything more than a physical stimulant.
