“Don’t you think Bowie will get ideas?”
Kari frowned. “Ideas of what?” he asked, confused.
Kodi scowled and stomped in front of Kari’s desk. “Wanting to have a child,” he snapped.
Two things registered.
Kodi was acting strangely about babies—the PAs wanting babies—when it hadn’t been something his brother had ever mentioned before, in any conversation they’d had.
The baby question had Kari also register something about Bowie. They had lived together for months, and to date, Bowie hadn’t had a heat. Shouldn’t he have had? Bowie hadn’t so much as mentioned it. Was that because he was taking heat blockers? If he was, had that been at Rex’s instigation?
An unpleasant sensation unfurled in his gut. He hadn’t asked whether Bowie and Rex had sex, and he had no intention of doing so. Yet…
His phone ringing distracted him, and he tugged it out of his suit jacket to see Bowie’s name on the screen. He grinned at Bowie’s impatience and hit accept. “Babycakes—"
“You think someone's gonna save your sniffling fucking ass. I know what you did, texting my boyfriend those pictures. You’re gonna tell him what a damn liar you are, do you hear me?”
Kari had not realized he was running until he had to stop to open the door to the stairway that led to the fire exit, he leapt down three steps at a time, anger and terror in charge.
Behind him, he heard voices. Not just Kodi, but Laken and Jupiter too. But Kari didn’t stop. He couldn’t when Bowie wasin trouble. His heart thundered at the familiar-sounding voice screaming at Bowie.
Multiple shoes hit the stairs right behind him.
There was the sound of a clatter, a cry of pain coming from Bowie, then silence, which was Kari’s undoing.
“I’ll fucking kill him.” Sounding inhuman, Kari’s wolf was in full agreement and surged inside him, his clothes ripping as his wolf emerged. They shook off the remnants of his expensive suit, leaving it in shreds, the shoes left on the stairs as they leapt down the stairwell.
“We’ve got your back,” Kodi shouted as Kari’s wolf hit the bottom and used its full body weight to force the fire exit open. Alarms rang out as they burst outside, scenting Bowie’s blood. They charged in the scent's direction, howling in anguish at the sight of Rex on top of Bowie.
Bowie’s scream for his daddy broke the leash on any semblance of control Kari might have had of his wolf. They charged, snarling rapidly, knocking Rex off Bowie with a headbutt that came with so much rage they didn’t feel the impact. Teeth bared, they went for the hands that dared to touch and hurt their mate. Dared to mark him once more.
Rex’s furious pain-fueled curses shot adrenaline through them with each attempt to get him to release the hands he bit indiscriminately at, before they clamped their teeth into one. Blood coated their mouth as he tore at the flesh, teeth grinding into bone, driven by pure, unadulterated rage.
“Kari. Kari, fuck,stop! Bowie needs you.” It was Bowie’s name spoken in panic that had Kari push to get his wolf side to listen.
Stop, Bowie needs us.
His wolf let go, tossing its head in fury, eyes flashing a warning, its muzzle dripping with blood. They ignored the cursing, crying man on the ground and stepped back cautiously, searching for Bowie.
Jupiter and Laken were stationed on either side of Bowie, holding him up.
Protecting him, Kari reiterated when his animal snarled at his brothers. Bowie, pale and shaking, had more marks on his throat, and it cut at their heart better than a scalpel. Big, terrified doe eyes engulfed his face as he stared at Kari. Was he scared of them?
Let me shift.
I need to get the smell off him, scent mark him.
I get it, and we will, but you can’t do it here, covered in this fuckwit's blood.
His wolf tossed its head at Rex and snarled dangerously in warning when the man was clearly stupid, struggling to a standing position, shouting obscenities.
“Fucking crazy animal, l’ll have you arrested for this!” Rex cradled the more mangled hand in front of him, and they wanted to tear the thing off at the wrist bone.
Kodi stepped in front of him, blocking his view when he hadn’t quite decided to not follow through. “We’ll deal with him. Shift. You can use my jacket.” Kodi slipped it off and held it out.
Kari’s wolf receded with a little pushing. He nodded his thanks to Kodi, taking it and slipping it on over his naked chest. For a second, Kari contemplated the expensive fabric, then gave in and rubbed the sleeve over his bloody mouth, knowing he looked a bit like a horror movie victim covered in blood. He could feel flesh stuck between his teeth, as well as the awful coppery taste of blood coating the inside of his mouth.
“Gross man,” Kodi grumbled, sounding amused.
