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Dread closed her throat. Did he have so little faith in Darryl? Did no one in his group really respect him? The latter wouldn’t surprise her, and she prayed this guy was right in his guess about the outcome of the fight. Then again, Eiji would have to go up against him in order for them to get away, and he would be tired.
When Darryl sent Eiji over the back of the couch and into a glass table, Shae sprang forward. The man at her side gripped her arm, holding her in place.
“Get your damn hands off me.” She threw a punch toward his face, but he caught her fist. He twisted her arm behind her back and dragged her to him from behind. Shae stomped his foot, causing him to suck in a sharp breath.
“Man, you’re a bitch,” he snapped. “I like my women easy.”
“They’d have to be,” was her quick comeback.
To her surprise,
he laughed. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just let them do their thing. If you promise not to try to jump in it, I’ll let you go.”
“I’m going to do whatever I need to, to help Eiji.”
He stared at her for a minute and then shook his head. “That idiot never had a chance.”
She frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”
A shout of alarm went up, and they both turned back to the fight. Terror and pain rocked Shae’s being when she saw the blood running down Eiji’s arm, but then she transferred her gaze to Darryl. He lay on the floor unmoving. Even on the other side of the room, she saw that he wasn’t breathing. The large brown wolf’s body curled unnaturally, and as he lay there, he began to return to human form. Eiji had shifted as well and knelt on one knee holding his injured arm. His dark eyes scanned the room and rested on Shae, then the man who held her. Black bled to pale gray, and a snarl rose in his throat.
The man next to Shae let her go and grinned. “Now it’s my turn. I’m second in line, and I’m going to wipe the floor with your ass. You don’t belong here, and you definitely won’t be our leader longer than it takes me to kill you. ” He stepped away from Shae. “I challenge you for the position of alpha.”
“Can’t you see he’s been hurt?” Shae ran to Eiji and stood in front of him with her fists raised to the other shifter. If she had to fight on Eiji’s behalf, she would. A protective instinct rose in her that she’d never felt before, and just as had happened on the beach, the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. She’d begun to turn again, but she knew the risks. What mattered most was saving the man she loved. Damn it all to hell, when did I get so soft? “Come at me! I will be the one to fuck you up.”
Eiji’s good arm shot out from behind her and encircled her waist. “Shae, no.”
“I say let her fight,” someone called out with amusement in his tone.
More glass breaking distracted everyone from the pending fight, and then Shae and all the rest were coughing with burning lungs. Smoke filled the room, along with a pungent odor. Beyond it, she picked up an unmistakable scent—her brother’s.
Pandemonium hit the house. Bullets flew through the air, and men shifted to their wolf forms in seconds.
Eiji tossed Shae to the floor and landed on top of her. She beat against his chest. “Stop, Eiji. Get off me. You have to get out of here, or they’ll kill you. Please!”
He gazed with narrowed eyes at several points where they might escape, and she followed his line of vision. The windows, the doors, all were crowded with men flooding the room, guns drawn. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Once my brother sees me, he’ll make sure no one kills me, and I’m pretty sure none of the wolves will either. Right now, you’re still alpha, and I’m…I’m yours.”
He stared down at her. She saw a flicker of emotion in his pale gaze. As if in slow motion, he began to change. Her heart ached. He had to get out. She licked her lips, swallowing to try to wet her dry throat. Scanning the room, she searched for anything or anyone who could help Eiji. A bullet sliced through the air, and her lover jerked hard. An expression of pain crossed his features, and she screamed. Animal growls rose above human cries, and Shae realized they were her own. She stood, and Kasen appeared before her. How did they find us? Her brother’s harsh glare bore into her, and then he cocked the gun in his hand and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Everything went black as Shae went down.
* * * *
“She’s one of them. I say we kill her now and get it over with. After all, we’re back on top. That new information specialist we hired is the shit. His idea of finding out if her rental agent owned any other properties in the area was brilliant.”
That was Kasen, her heartless brother. Now she knew how they’d found her. Shiya had already been replaced, and it looked like nothing would stop her family from killing all shifters. Shae opened her eyes and scanned the room. She lay on a bed, handcuffed to the rails, in a bedroom she recognized as being at her father’s house. No one appeared in her line of vision, so she assumed she’d heard the voices coming from the hall. An ache in her side caught her attention. She raised the dress she wore to find bandages on her side. Her bastard-ass brother had shot her. When she got her hands on him, she’d wring his neck.
“And I told you, son, I’m not ready to kill my baby girl in cold blood.”
“Dad, you’ve always been too softhearted with them,” Kasen railed. “You know there’s no coming back from this shit. She’s a werewolf, as far as we’re concerned, the strongest and the most vicious of the shifters. Our mission is to—”
“Don’t preach to me what my mission is, boy!”
Kasen fell silent.
Their discussion continued, but their voices faded, and Shae figured they had walked away. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least she had a little time, but what about Eiji? Had that shot killed him? Was he safe? She shut her eyes and breathed deep. Before she could figure out what to do, the door opened, and a woman entered. This was the lady her father was dating, a friend of the family for years and her mother’s best friend.
“Gladys,” Shae murmured and tried to swallow, her throat still dry. “Please, help me. I—”
