Tackling him to the ground is painfully easy. Cupping the back of his neck and driving his face into the ground, my other hand grips both of his wrists behind his back. Leaning down, I snarl in his ear, wrenching his arms until they threaten to tear from their sockets.
“My mate deserves a male that can protect and provide for her. Anything less won’t be tolerated.”
At the sound of footsteps storming into the house, I look up, only for the mage beneath me to send another wave of solid air bubbling out from his core, knocking me back. A body slams into me a moment later, the couch collapsing beneath our combined weight and splintering around us.
The bright orange eyes beneath his blonde hair are a dead giveaway to what he is, who he is. Ares, unofficial alpha of the feline shifters in the area. I may not keep up with much, but I wasn’t about to leave my mate in a town susceptible to an easy slaughter.
He presses his arm into my throat, growling, “What are you after? This town keeps to itself; you have a problem, you fucking ask for help. So what are you so desperate for you’d break into someone’s home, huh?”
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I roll us, partially shifting to draw on more strength and wrap a hand around his throat, claws lengthening and drawing first blood. “I’ll be taking my mate somewhere she’ll be protected. This town’s males leave much to be desired.”
“Ian?” another man asks, but I don’t risk taking my eyes off of the largest threat in the room.
Dominance rolls off of Ares in waves, and a lesser man might cave to the impulse to submit. The other two in the room barely register as nuisances.
“He’s claiming to be Rel’s mate. And,” he hesitates, as if debating to continue or not before rushing out, “it’s the same scent she showed up covered in.”
My eyebrow quirks, impressed a mage was able to hone his senses. Ares slams his head forward, and I jerk to the side so that all he manages is to clip my jaw. Still, it’s enough to shift our position that claws rake down my ribcage with his snarl, and I figure I have about two seconds before he fully shifts, and then I’ll admittedly be at a disadvantage. While I may be massive and brutal in either form, tigers tend to be agile enough to exploit my size.
My fist aims to drive into his temple, but he catches it like I assumed he would. His friend shouts out a warning, launching to try and intervene as my other fist embeds in his stomach, using Ares’ grip on me to pivot our bodies, putting him between me and the other male.
“Rheyas?” My head snaps up instantly at her voice, the men in the room pissing me off even more, standing between me and my mate.
The distraction proves enough that Ares is able to land a good hit and I go stumbling back a step, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. “Good, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
Her eyes scan the destruction around the room, but mine are rapt on her face. She’s still flushed, clearly unwell. But if she’s walking around, perhaps she’s not as bad off as I’d assumed.
“Tired,” she hesitantly replies. “Little hungry, I guess? Care to explain what’s going on?”
Ares ceases in his advances, eyes flicking between the two of us warily. He’s wise, I’ll give him that much. Attempting to glean as much information as possible rather than caving into the animalistic need to win a fight takes an impressive amount of restraint, especially for someone at our strength levels.
The mage stands beside the man that arrived with Ares, obsidian hair and golden eyes that are currently boring holes in my head. I raise an eyebrow in silent challenge, daring him to make a move. The three of them might be able to put me down if they work in tandem, but individually, they’d need to rely on cheap shots to pull it off.
Hatred simmers in his eyes, but to his credit, he doesn’t look away, unwilling to back down regardless. That determination alone is worth respect, since I know how much it costs him to do so. So with a tip of my head in acknowledgment, I turn my focus back on my mate, who’s now resting a hand on the mage’s arm in concern.
Annoyed, I snap at him. “First you abandon her, then you leave her to starve?” Esmerelda tilts her head in confusion, and I turn to her next. “Pack your things. We’re going.”
“Excuse the hell out of you, mountain man,” she balks, anger replacing her confusion. “I know you’re not used to people, but you don’t get to just storm in here after ditching me and decide jack shit.”
“Rel,” Ares addresses her, choosing his words carefully and taking a step closer to me the same time his friend does, coordinating via their pack link to attempt to cage me between them. “Let me get this straight. He rejected you?”
She blinks. “Well that’s a little harsh. Guy’s just antisocial and doesn’t know the value of a dollar; let me rob him blind. Even took his pants.” Giving me a confused look, she adds, “If you wanted your money back, you could have just asked. But I tried to tell you it was too much, so it’s your fault you’re broke, really. What if I’d moved on to a different town? You’d be screwed.”
My face twists with annoyance. “I don’t want your money.”
“Then what are you doing here?” she asks, her breathing growing labored and her color paling even more.
I’m taking an unconscious step closer before I realize it, the two shifters moving to intervene like they think I’m going to hurt her. A warning sound rumbles through my chest and I rip my arm away from Ares’ grasp, preparing to drive my fist into his temple and be done with this already.
The mage pipes up, wrapping an arm around her waist. He’s torn between glancing at her in concern and eyeing me warily. “He seems to be under the impression that he’s your mate and decided that I don’t do his job as well as he could, yet chooses not to for some reason, and is going to go pick you out a husband he likes better.”
Thirteen
Esmerelda
Rheyas’ violet eyes are turbulent, and I’m just stuck staring at him, my words lodging in my throat. My fever’s gone down a bit, but I’m still feeling crappy enough that my thoughts are muddied, my response time sluggish. My magic is a lead weight sitting in my gut, not even reacting to Ian’s proximity.
The crawling on my skin when I woke up in the cave.
