AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes,” she said. “In a way, it weeds out the weak.”
“And the weak are the ones who would take advantage of you.”
“Yes.” Clever man.
Lucas stood slowly, carefully, hand resting against his ribs. “My dominance doesn’t weed anyone out. It causes reactions people wouldn’t normally have. I have to get through the defensiveness before I can tell if a person is worth a damn or not.”
Huh. Interesting, and she had never thought about that before. “What exactly do you do for Damon?”
“When shifters were exposed all those years ago and we had to begin registering, and all that human attention was on us, some shifters adjusted. They behaved to keep off human radar. But not all. Some have animals that are too big, or their human sides are shitty. Some hurt people, or draw too much attention to shifters. Damon gives me a name and a job and I see if the shifter is salvageable.”
“And if they aren’t?”
His eyes cooled, and his silence was answer enough.
Lucas Slater was Damon’s enforcer. He was the Blade of the Mountains.
“Will you put Gunner down?” she whispered.
“Depends on if he is salvageable or not.”
“You hate him,” she pointed out, handing him a trio of painkillers and a bottle of water.
He took them easily, and she watched his Adam’s apple move with the motion of him swallowing. His neck was thick with muscle and free of injuries. He’d protected his throat well. She was glad he was so good at fighting because tonight, it had served him well.
“I guess it makes sense that you are an enforcer. You are Ally’s son. She’s the best cop I’ve ever known. She’s a legend around here. Maybe people would find out you are the son of Kirk and be impressed, but for me?” She grinned and softened her volume as she admitted, “Your mom is just as impressive.”
He smiled, but winced when the deep split in his cheek threatened to re-open.
She wrapped the ice pack in a dish towel and eased it onto his damaged cheek. “You smell like blood and dominance.”
“They should name a cologne after that,” he said with a chuckle as he held the ice pack to his face.
She plucked at the hem of his T-shirt and lifted it gingerly to expose his six-pack, flexing with every breath. Up, up his shirt went until she could see the deep purple bruising across both sides of his ribs.
“They’re broken,” he murmured, watching her face.
“They’ll be healed by tomorrow night if we bind them right.” Inside of her, the animal was roiling with a building anger she didn’t understand. She swallowed hard and shook her head against the urge to Change again.
“You get pissed easily,” he observed.
“I do not.”
“Yes you do.” His grin was obnoxious. “I can feel it.”
She ignored his taunting and made her way around him, studying his torso, his lats and then… “Ooooh,” she murmured when she saw what Torren had done to his back.
“You should see the other guy,” Lucas teased softly.
“Don’t really care about the other guy right now,” she gritted out. She secretly hoped Torren’s nose healed crooked.
She dragged her gaze down the long gashes that ran down his back. “Canines?” she asked.
“He didn’t fight dirty. He fought like the animal knows how.”
“Defending him.”
He turned enough that she could see his profile. “Text Nox. Ask him to send you a picture of Torren.”
