Diesel must’ve realized it, too. That, plus the anger over referring to our mate as property, made him lunge forward and, in a blur of movement, he turned and grabbed Josie’s shoulders. I had no clue what he was about to do.
The next few seconds moved in slow motion. He whispered something in her ear that made her nod. At the end he said, “I’m sorry, baby.” Aries and I gasped as he jerked her pajama top to the side and sank his teeth into the junction between her neck and shoulder.
Aries didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Diesel pulled back, blood on his mouth. He cupped Josie and apologized again. She looked at me, and my chest cracked open at the sadness. Fuck, I had to mark her too. Aries as well. We had to mark her, here, in the most awful of distress.
Not during mating, when she was relaxed and begging for it.
Not out of love, even though I already did love her.
I muttered my own apology, wrapped her in my arms while I bit her, and then Aries did the same.
“She’s claimed now,” Aries spoke while I held onto Josie. He swiped at his mouth; the corners still held some blood from our mate’s body. “Leave us alone. Go back to your pathetic pack. And don’t use people as property.”
“No!” The alpha lunged at Diesel. Big mistake. My pack brother lifted one large hand and clocked the asshole. He landed backward with a thump on the hard ground.
Diesel took a few steps toward the cowards the alpha had brought with him. They leaned their heads sideways, submitting to his alpha power and I was sure, his muscles as well. “Get this asshole out of my sight before I kill him.”
The men scrambled to get the alpha picked up, and he was carried away, still unconscious.
Diesel’s body heaved with short breaths. He swung around and gave Josie the most pathetic look.
“Come here, mate. Let us take you home.”
Josie pulled herself from my embrace. Tears streamed down her face. She should’ve been furious with us for marking her like that. For claiming her in public, in front of the people who disowned her, treated her like she was less than.
She deserved better, and I vowed right then and there to spend my life making up for this moment.
Instead, she ran to Diesel and jumped. He caught her and held her to his body. Her arms around his neck. On the way backto our house, he apologized a thousand times, never once letting her down to walk. She told him it was okay. She understood.
We were so damned lucky.
Chapter Twenty-One
Josie
Already marked, I didn’t know where to go from here. In fact, I wasn’t even sure where here was. Except that Diesel carried me in his arms, cuddling me close and murmuring soothing words, I’d have thought maybe I did go off that cliff. That I’d dreamed what happened over the past hour or two.
One moment, I was in the clutches of those who’d believed they owned me from the moment I was born. Everything I’d begun to hope for gone. I’d been willing to sacrifice it, for all of them. And then I didn’t have to.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, resting my cheek against Diesel’s shoulder.
“Home.” He continued on down the path. “Our home.”
“Okay.” I hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen it, and I wanted to very much.
He carried me to their car, leaving my former pack leadership scattered on the ground. “You’re safe now.”
I was pretty sure that was true. None of those males were going to want to be humiliated again. Not to mention the pain. They’d remember this night for a long time. I hadn’t realized what cowards they were, having only seen them pick on people smaller or weaker than they were in the past.
I rode in the back seat with Carver, while Aries drove and Diesel took shotgun. Home… “The closest thing I have to a home is the motel,” I murmured, but Aries gave me a headshake in the rearview mirror.
“We have claimed you, but you have to claim us back.”
“If you want to,” Carver added. “We will not ever make you do anything you don’t want to. Up to and including making youour mate. We would have preferred a thousand times over to mark you in private, while making love.’
“In a more romantic setting,” Aries said. “We’re sorry.”
“Listening to them, I suddenly got upset. “Why would you apologize for marking me to save my life? To show the whole world you care that much about me. Now, are you going to take me home and make love to me or not?”
