Then he came for her. She fought. She was well trained, and she gave it all to him. She began with swipes with her claws, which he batted away as if they were nothing. She punched with her elbow, ducked and kicked at his vulnerabilities. He blocked her. And when she was too fast, he simply absorbed the impact as if it were no more than a pesky fly.
He kept coming. Closer with his mouth stretched into a grin. Faster with legs that were stronger and quicker than she expected.
She redoubled her efforts. She landed blows on his chest, drew blood on his forearm, and she damn well slammed down hard on his foot. It was what she’d been taught. When he tried to grab her, she rolled with the flow of his attack until she’d twisted free.
And when she came up, she was grinning. Her animal was in full force now. Her human mind told her to run. It was the safest choice, but the monster inside her wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t afraid. It was happy, and that threw her human mind for a loop.
He sprang forward, she dodged. Or she thought she did. Instead, he caught her feet with his. Fouled her footing and entangled their legs until she crashed down on her bottom.
He pinned her before she could draw breath. And though she squirmed and fought, he was larger, stronger, and he…
He was licking her neck.
Instead of taking out her throat, he was scraping his teeth along the underside of her jaw.
WTF?
The shock of understanding briefly stilled her frantic movements. This wasn’t an attack. This was animal courting, and now he was skating tiny licks across her collarbone. Nips as his teeth went lower.
Primitive urges surged forward, meeting and matching his. She was new to being a shifter, and when the animal exploded in her mind like this, she didn’t know what to do. Hard enough to fight him, but when her own wolf nature tried to take control, she ended up fighting herself, too.
“Let go of him!” a voice bellowed.
Her gaze shot up to the doorway while Ryan bared his teeth and growled. He leapt off her and launched himself at the intruder. Another pair of footsteps sounded heavy on the stairs. Ryan already had the intruder plastered against the wall.
“Don’t you fucking do it!” the other voice bellowed.
Frankie was on her feet now, too, rushing to face the other intruder. She had no thought except to defend herself and Ryan. She was nearly on him when she saw the gun, but it didn’t stop her. She simply batted it aside as she closed with the enemy. The scent told her he was a hybrid. The shock on his face said he hadn’t expected her to attack. And all of it was about to go ugly.
Chapter 8
Ryan fought against a cyclone of forces that tore at his mind and body. Words like “protect” and “mate” whispered through the maelstrom, but they were a pale shadow compared to the feelings that gripped him. The meaning was the same, but the reality of his needs was so much more powerful than two tiny words. He tried to fight the onslaught. At least beat it back so he understood what was happening.
He failed. The best he could do was ride the wave and hope to come out the other side.
He’d been on top of her—his mate—and then they’d been interrupted. He attacked, launching himself at the interloper. Some part of him heard the words. Something about getting away. Staying back. He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter.
He protected the female, and no rival was allowed near.
More sounds. Another male, this one a hybrid. He would take care of that one, too, but there was no need. His mate was strong, and she leapt upon the second interloper. She would dispatch him, and he would praise her with his body and his seed.
A sound cut through the air and his mate screamed. Electrical charge. A Taser. He knew the word and its meaning, but the message was drowned out beneath the fury. They attacked his mate. They would die.
He saw her crumple to the floor, her body twitching while the smell of ozone gave a bite to the air. He roared and rounded on the one with the Taser, but he had underestimated the first one. He’d thought the first one was defeated because the defense was weak. But the moment Ryan turned, strong arms gripped him about the neck and squeezed.
He fought. He snarled. He meant to kill, but the two worked together to stop him. One blocked his attacks, the other continued to choke him. And they both boxed him in tight in the hallway so that there was no room to maneuver. No way to fight. And all the while there were words.
“Calm down! Ryan!”
“I’m your alpha. Shut down. Damn it, stop!”
Part of him heard the words, but the forces gripping him were too strong. He had to protect his mate and he couldn’t do that with them on him. He couldn’t save her with his breath choked off.
Stars gathered around the edge of his vision. Sounds echoed weirdly. Darkness crept in.
He surged forward. Nearly escaped.
And then electricity shot through his body. He didn’t even have the chance to scream.
