We lay like that until our breathing settled and rational thinking returned. “Do you think some of your wolves heard us?” I inquired.
Brock rolled off me and tucked me into the crook of his arm, pulling me flush against the side of his body. “Probably. I’ve stationed much of the pack in the house because of the vampire threat.”
I tensed. “So everyone might have heard us?”
He shrugged. “They’re in the other wings of the house, and some in the converted basement below, but yeah, probably. You don’t care, do you?”
I had to think about it. “No, I suppose I don’t.”
“Good. Now, enough talking. Rest up, because I’m far from finished with you.”
I draped a leg over his and nestled closer. “What a coincidence. I’m far from finished with you too.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the crown of my head. I allowed my eyes to drift closed for a bit. With Brock at my side, I felt safer than I had in a long time.
5Rage with a Side of Fury
I must have fallen asleep,because I woke with a start, though I couldn’t immediately recognize what had woken me. Then I sensed Brock’s body rigid beneath me as he attempted to slide his arm out from under my head and his legs from beneath mine.
“What is it?” I asked.
“One of my lookouts is reporting strange activity. I’m going to go check it out. Stay here and rest. I’ll be back when I can.”
I hopped out of bed and started tugging on my pants.
“You’re not coming with me,” he said. “It might be dangerous.”
I didn’t even bother looking at him, focusing instead on fastening and putting garments on as quickly as I could. When I clipped on my gun, katana, and badge, just in case, he was waiting at the door in a bare chest and jeans.
“Please stay here,” he pressed, and I could tell thepleasewas a last-ditch effort to have me listen.
“Not a chance, bud.”
“So all that ‘As you command, Alpha’ was just bullshit? Iamyour alpha, ya know.”
“And I’m a supernatural bounty hunter, not a kept woman. We’ve been over this before.” I joined his side at the door and pointed to it. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have time to waste.”
He growled, entirely unlike the growls he’d shared in our lovemaking—he had a full vocabulary in grunts—and yanked the door open. “Fine,” he conceded, “but you stay by my side the entire time.”
I didn’t bother replying because I knew it was a promise I couldn’t keep. I’d remain by his side to placate him as long as I could, but if I was needed elsewhere, I’d go.
“What did the lookout tell you?” I whispered as we edged through the dark house. With our keen shifter eyes, we didn’t need the lights.
“That he sensed something strange, like shadows moving through the night.”
“Vamps?”
He shrugged, but his forced nonchalance wasn’t fooling me. In the supernatural community, we took “feelings” about danger seriously. They were our instincts talking to us loud and clear.
The moment we stepped outside, my danger alert started ringing in my head like an all-systems alarm. A smell I couldn’t quite place, like a charred campfire but more sinister, drifted past my nose. Brock was fighting a shift, the fur rippling across his bare chest and arms. “By my side,” he barked, and then took off into the night.
I loped after him as he led us away from the house and into the woods that surrounded our homes. At least we weren’t headed in the direction of the gate; that was a big fat plus. If the vampires found out about it, we’d be in some serious shit. Despite Reo, Haru, and Tianna’s near constant training efforts, I was nowhere near ready to take on the army of underworlders preparing to spill out of it.
Even in human form, Brock was fast. The waning moonlight reflected off his muscular back and shoulders, and I followed that delicious sight until he skidded to a stop, his breath steady despite our run.
‘What is it?’I asked through our pack link so whoever—or whatever—was out there wouldn’t hear us.
‘Vamps,’he growled.‘Lots of vamps. On my land.’
