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Helena appeared fast, her eyes glinting with dismay as she touched his leg. Healing energy crackled through him, shooting to every wound—reknitting skin, mending fractures, fixing breaks, making the pain gradually fade.
Isaiah sat upright and gave her a nod of thanks. He peered up at the sky, seeing nothing but gray clouds. “That attack I hadn’t seen coming.” Which pissed him off, but how could he have foreseen it, for Christ’s sake?
“The harpy eagle shifter had to have been a member of the Vercetti Pack,” said Deke as they both stood. “Though I doubt their plan was to throw you onto the road—the brothers would want to kill you themselves to avenge Samuele, not leave you to the mercy of traffic.”
“The eagle was likely supposed to take you somewhere,” hedged Tate. “You obviously proved to be too difficult for them to cart off, so they improvised.”
And, in doing so, failed to kill him.
“Let’s get you back to the cul-de-sac,” said Tate. “You’re gonna have to pretend to still be badly injured, just in case humans are watching.”
It galled Isaiah, but he allowed it to look as though both the Alpha and Deke were helping him walk. Their gathering of pride mates stayed close, still doing their best to obstruct the view of nosy observers.
It was only when they were in the cul-de-sac that Tate and Deke released him. Isaiah walked toward his house on his own steam, reaching the driveway just as a car pulled up behind his own.
Quinley slipped out of it, her expression darkening as she took a good look at him. His injuries might be healed, but his clothes were dirty, ragged, and stained with blood. “What happened?” she asked, hurrying to his side. “Why is there blood on you?”
“I’m all right,” he assured her, his cat’s anger not quite easing back at the sight of her but losing some of its heat. “Helena healed me.”
Her eyes flashed. “But you were obviously injured, which is not all right,” she said, her voice tight. “What happened?”
Isaiah had to admit he liked that she worried. “Easy,” he soothed, stroking her arm. “To sum up, I was picked up by a harpy eagle and thrown into the road.”
She blinked. “You were what?”
CHAPTER NINE
“Take her inside,” Tate advised him. “You can fill her in there.”
Isaiah had been about to do exactly that, since not only was she shivering but he’d rather they talked in private. “Come on, I’ll tell you everything once we’re in the house.”
He ushered her up the path, through their front door, and into the living area. There, he guided her to the sofa.
She sat stiffly, her lips tight, her expression expectant. “Why would a harpy eagle come after you? And can I kill it?”
He wouldn’t have thought he could want to smile at such a time, but the urge tugged at one corner of his lips. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the avian shifter in our custody, so no, you can’t kill it. As for why it came for me”—he sat beside her—“have you ever heard of the Vercetti Pack?”
“Yes. What shifter hasn’t?”
Twisting toward her, he draped an arm over the back of the sofa. “They tried to kidnap a kit from our pride last week. I killed the youngest brother, Samuele, but the others got away.”
She did a slow blink. “You killed one of the Vercetti brothers?”
“Yes.”
Shock slapped Quinley, making her lips part on a silent gasp. On the one hand, it was great that a Vercetti was gone from the world—they contributed nothing good to it. On the other hand… “The other three won’t let that go, Isaiah. You’re a target now.”
Her inner cat stirred uneasily, her gut roiling. She already felt sick from the scent of his blood, knowing he’d been severely injured. That he then simply dipped his chin in answer, not seeming all too concerned about it, made her cat’s eyes narrow in temper.
Agitation flared through Quinley. “And you didn’t think to tell me this?” The words came out on a hiss.
He winced. “I was going to tell you tonight. I assumed there was time for me explain everything before they made any overt moves. I shouldn’t have waited.”
No shit. “You think the harpy eagle is part of the Vercetti Pack?”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Yes. I think he was supposed to carry me to wherever the brothers waited. They’d want the kill to be up close and personal.” Again, he didn’t sound all that bothered.
Quinley was bothered. She scrubbed a hand down her face, muttering a curse. “This isn’t good, Isaiah. Not at all. I knew that you were protecting a target, I didn’t realize you are one. What’s being done about it?”
