There was a very long pause, with a lot of snarling and snapping from the three brothers. Killian stood there, a low growl rumbling up from his chest. And as I calmed, the itching under my skin faded and the sensation of a beast struggling to escape faded away. My leg still screamed with pain where claws had raked it, though.
“I don’t have all day!” Juniper yelled. “We’re burning daylight here, peeps. I have customers in my store. Figure this out now!” She brandished her gun.
As she did, several cars pulled up, double-parking in front of the bookstore. Men and women spilled out, rushed up to us, and stood by Killian quietly as if waiting for orders.
One by one, the three brothers shifted back into human form. Then Killian followed suit.
“Back off!” Royal glared at Killian. “She’s pack. She’s ours.” A shudder ran through me. Why did these psychos think I belonged to them?
“She is mine. Touch her again, the contract is void, and we declare war on your pack. Is that what you want?” Killian demanded.
“Doesn’t look like she wants to be yours,” Royal scoffed.
Ugh. I didn’t want to be here at all. Well, part of me wanted to be near Killian, but the rational side of my brain was screaming to run for my life. Then again, it was pretty obvious who I’d be safer with. “Excuse me, I can speak for myself, and I’d rather be with him than you.”
“Looks like you’ve got your answer,” Juniper called out. “Run along, boys.”
“Melisande’s on the way, and she’s pissed,” Fionnulla added. “Do not bring a fight to witch territory, assholes.”
The three brothers glanced at each other uneasily. “We didn’t enter your shop, so we didn’t violate any rules,” Earl muttered sullenly. “And that bitch stole my van!”
“Take it,” I snorted. “It stinks like BO anyway.” I pulled their keys from my purse and threw them onto the ground at his feet.
That earned me a cold glare from Earl.
“You do not bring your fights to our doorstep. Leave before Melisande turns you all into frogs,” Juniper snapped.
Earl bent down, grabbed his keys, and jumped into the van, and the other two headed back to their pickup truck. They cast a few threatening glances back at me and then peeled away with an angry screech of tires.
Juniper and Fionnulla stood back, watching us. I realized we’d gathered a crowd. People had come out of the shops and were staring at us.
Blood loss from my leg was making me dizzy, and now that the immediate threat was gone, it hurt like hell. I swayed where I stood and abruptly sat down on the sidewalk.
“You’re hurt!” I heard a growl from Killian. He hurried to me and crouched down by my side. “Healer!” he shouted. A man hurried over to us.
“Hello, I’m Ryan. You’re okay. You’ll be healed in minutes, don’t worry.” He put his hand on my blood-soaked leg, and the pain immediately started to fade.
Killian shuddered and let out a snarl of fury.
The healer hastily took his hands off me.
“Are you jealous?” I said to Killian, astonished. “I barely even know you, and also, didn’t you just tell him to heal me?”
“She has a point,” one of the men who’d pulled up a few minutes ago said to Killian.
“My fangs also have a point!” Killian scowled at him.
“Alpha? I mean, Alpha Heir? May I put my hands on her to heal her?” Ryan asked tentatively.
“Yes. And only to heal her.”
Was there something wrong with me that I found this caveman act kind of sexy?
The healer put his hands on my leg. The pain faded almost immediately, my wounds healed themselves back up, and I looked down in astonishment at the smooth, healed skin on my calf.
“Well, I guess you’re done,” I said to him.
“Not that fast, I’m afraid!” Then he looked at my leg. “Actually, I guess I am done. You heal fast! Looking good!” He hastily took his hands off me and stepped away, bowing his head respectfully to Killian.
