“I want to hear her say it herself,” Romano argued.
“I am speaking to your Alpha, Capo, not to you.”
Nope, he really didn’t like Lennox. Nor the proprietary hand he placed on Kalinda’s leg. His wolf went crazy, and he growled before he could stop himself.
“Romano …” Kalinda whispered, but he heard it.
He slammed into the invisible wall. “I’m here.”
“She’s reacting to him,” Amalia whispered. She should have known they’d hear her with their heightened hearing, no matter how low she talked.
Kalinda slumped over again, and claws burst from Romano’s hands. He could barely keep his wolf in check.
“Look at me, Kalinda. Let me see those beautiful eyes.”
Romano barely recognized his own voice, but Dominic didn’t interfere. Instead, he stood at Romano’s side, giving his support.
“I want to know what is wrong with her. She’s been appointed as a ward of the Lombardi Pack and is very special to my mate who has come here, with child, to check on her friend.”
Dominic’s words may have been nice, but the threat was razor sharp.
Amalia looked to Lennox before Yon inclined his head. “We can’t wake her.”
Dominic didn’t speak again and lifted one brow.
“She became … agitated and lashed out when we brought her here. We only put her to sleep to protect her. She hasn’t awakened, even long after the spell wore off. It was set for a few minutes at best.”
“She’s in there. Let me touch her; I know what to do.” The Three Stooges looked at each other again, and Romano hit the wall. “It’s not like I can carry her out of here and run, can I? Let me help her.”
The douche in the eat category nodded stiffly, and the wall disappeared. Romano lunged forward and scooped Kalinda into his arms.
She smelled of chocolate and vanilla, the ingredients she’d used to make her cakes, and that same old magic he couldn’t quite place. Her heart pounded strong against his chest, and he traced her pulse with his lips.
“Come on, baby. Don’t keep me worried like this.”
Her hands twitched against him, but that was all. Still, he’d gotten through.
“I know. You need more. You’re hiding, but I’m here. Follow me.”
He didn’t know why he said it, but he could only use what he remembered from Zahara. He may not have had the same magic, but he could use his essence of the wolf. He reached out to Kalinda with his wolf, letting the power rub over her as he curled around her. His wolf whimpered and licked over her skin. The human side of him followed, using his tongue to trace a heated path over her neck and toward her ear.
“Don’t be mad at me, okay?”
It would be the best he could do. Her fingers clenched into his shirt. He wasn’t sure if it was a warning or a need for help, but he knew he was moving in the right direction to bring her back.
Her heat was hotter as he nipped her earlobe and kissed his way over her jaw. He angled his body the best he could to hide the movement from the others, but he couldn’t forget they were there.
“I claim you,” he whispered against Kalinda’s skin.
His teeth punctured her skin as he bit deep, sucking against the blood that flowed and using his tongue to soothe the pain. With his saliva, he would be able to heal it, but it would be sore. He disengaged his teeth and just used his tongue, closing his lips over the wound as her arms came up and around him.
“No. Stop what you’re doing,” Lennox ordered.
Fierce triumph surged through him. His. She was his. Too late, assholes.
“He’s marked her!” Amalia screamed.
Power pulsed a moment before Romano was thrown back, ripping him away from Kalinda and sending him careening into the wall next to the door they’d entered. Thick smoke from cracked mortar burned his eyes, and he gasped, his breath knocked out of him.
