Seeing as he wasn’t privy to the incident this morning, all he has to go on are stories, and I can’t deny that I’d be quick to dismiss them as nonsense if I were in his position. Sabrina nearly killing three fully grown men with her bare hands sounds absolutely ludicrous.
Rising from her chair, she sinks into his embrace easily, beaming up at him. “Much easier to concentrate now that my leg’s not bugging me, and I got more accomplished than anticipated with all of the interruptions.” He slings an arm around her shoulders as she pivots, leaning into his side and running her fingers over the back of his hand as she sets her attention on Damian. “Thank you. I know there were a few bumps in the road, but I honestly appreciate the effort you put into speeding up the healing process.”
He exchanges a look with Hunter and Kaige before shrugging awkwardly. “No big deal. Couldn’t really leave you hobbling around when it was within my power to help, could I?”
Her cool declaration makes me forget how to breathe. “You never had to say a word about your abilities, and Kaige could have drained them all before we knew what hit us. Dragged me back with you when I couldn’t fight back, let alone attempt running away.” With Bo walking beside her, she closes the distance between them, grabbing Damian’s wrist and exposing his forearm to the room. Delicately, she traces her fingertips down the length of the icy blue, pearlescent claw marks. “A different kind of mark for a different kind of alpha,” she murmurs, before patting him on the chest and simply walking away.
Grabbing both of our bags, I meet my twins’ eyes, sharing in his nerves. Turning back in time to see her passing by Slade as he holds the door open, I watch him become rigid, unsure of what to expect from her and her new split personality.
To her credit, she doesn’t act as if he’s of no consequence. She slips out from beneath Bo’s arm to palm both sides of his face, pulling him down into a searing kiss that has me wondering if we’re actually going to make it out of here, or if we should pull back and lock the door for the night.
“We should get you home,” she declares, flipping the script.
Her palm settles above his heart and she closes her eyes, a soft, contented hum keeping us from falling into awkward silence as it becomes abundantly clear that not only is this the first night for her since her wolf’s been freed, but Slade and Damian’s since they were marked. Cin’s puncture marks healed without any trace of blue scarring, so if I had to wager, tonight is only going to be hell on the three alphas, since he and Bo were claimed before her wolf was strong enough to bust theirs out of their cages.
Turning to walk backward through the doorway, her gaze bounces between the rest of us, and for once, I can’t guess where her mind’s at. This version of Sabrina is a wild card, and I rapidly pull together every fact that I know about alphas, female wolves, and the woman herself, attempting to construct a hybrid model in my mind that will help me identify what we might be dealing with. To figure out how we can help her regain control of her wolf without pissing it off and all winding up dead, plus anticipate her thoughts and reasoning so that we might be able to coax her in the right direction.
Missing an integral piece of my puzzle, as we follow her towards the parking garage, I ask, “Sabrina?” Instantly, she gives me her full attention, gaze flitting over me as if confirming that there are no visible signs of distress before settling on my face, waiting patiently with an eyebrow quirked.
Her protective instincts are on par with Slade’s.
“Do you want us with you when you shift tonight, or just your mates?”
She comes to a dead halt, canting her head as she watches me curiously. Her tone is matter-of-fact as she easily announces, “Oh, I’m not shifting.”
Kaige speaks for the first time. “Can’t or won’t?”
She never takes her eyes off of me, and I have to restrain a smile since I have no doubt it was a conscious decision meant to annoy the alpha she considered unworthy of her notice. “Too busy.”
“Busy doing what?”
By this time we’re in the garage, and she waits for Slade to unlock the car. Pointedly staring at Cinjin expectantly, she waits to speak until he offers her a hand to help her into the back seat, much to his delight as he gets a huge kick out of this entire fucked up ordeal. Sitting on the edge of her seat, she coaxes me forward with a finger, and I find my feet moving of their own accord.
Hooking her finger in the collar of my shirt, she draws me closer. “There’s a reason you don’t want me to claim you.” An ominous shiver snakes down my spine as she runs the back of her knuckles lightly over my chest. Bringing her lips to the shell of my ear, she whispers too low for the others to hear, “You feel it too, don’t you? They’re going to eat you all alive if we’re not careful.”
Chapter 5
