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He noticed that Blair was doing the same. She didn’t seem worried or nervous. There was a determined set to her jaw that told him she was resolute on identifying her stalker as opposed to allowing him to terrorize her.
Vinnie split off at one point, heading to the antique shop above which he lived. Luke and all three of his siblings had once lived there with him, but only Damian hadn’t yet moved out.
As Luke and Blair strolled through the parking lot outside their complex, he remained on high alert, taking in everything. Other than Camden and Luke’s cousin Alex, who were stood outside the main doors talking, no one was in sight.
“I don’t recognize the dude with Alex,” said Blair. “Is he a new member?”
“That’s Camden, the tiger shifter I mentioned,” Luke replied. “He’s also Aspen’s mate.”
“Really? I sensed she was mated, but I didn’t know …”
Blair’s words were lost on Luke as a dark-blue van caught his eye. The unfamiliar vehicle was slowing as it neared the parking lot. Instinct made his scalp prickle in unease.
Luke sensed his mate tense. He knew she’d either picked up on his discomfort or that something about the situation must have put her on high alert.
The van slowed a little more. The front passenger window lowered. Metal glinted as something poked out of it.
Luke was on the move even before tranquilizer darts zipped through the air. Camden quickly dived to the side, dodging many of the darts, but two buried themselves in his arm. He managed to get back on his feet, but it was clear that his equilibrium was shot to shit.
Two men jumped out of the van’s side door and made a grab for the staggering tiger shifter, but Luke’s yell had them freezing. One male swore and dragged the other back into the van before it sped away with a screech of tires.
Alex pursued the vehicle just as Camden fell to his knees, his eyes glazed. Luke caught the guy just before he landed face first on the ground.
“Let’s get him inside,” said Blair, all business even as a sense of urgency laced her voice, and keyed the code into the entrance’s security pad. She shoved open the door and indicated for Luke to enter first.
He tossed the tiger over his shoulder and retreated into the building.
One of the pride members in the lobby came rushing toward them. “What happened?”
Luke felt his jaw harden. “Some shitheads tried to kidnap Camden. That’s what happened.” Striding toward the elevator with Blair at his side, he noticed she was texting someone.
“I gave Tate a heads-up,” she said.
Luke went to nod in satisfaction, but then she thrust her hand into Camden’s pocket. “What are you doing?”
Dangling a set of keys, she replied, “It’ll be best to take him straight to his apartment so he’ll wake in his own bed. There’s a chance his tiger could push for supremacy while Camden’s beginning to come round. If the pissed-off-cat isn’t entirely sure where he is, he could go AWOL.”
She was right. Luke should have thought of that himself. Proud of her for remaining so clear-headed, he would have smiled if he wasn’t grinding his teeth at what had been done to his pride mate.
Inside the apartment that Camden shared with Aspen, Luke placed the unconscious tiger on the bed. He was just exiting the bedroom when Aspen came charging into the apartment like a damn Valkyrie in a fury. Without a word, she disappeared into the bedroom.
The Alphas, Bailey, Farrell, and one of the pride’s healers Sam walked through the open front door, closing it behind them.
“What in the motherfucking hell happened?” demanded Havana.
While Sam checked on Camden, Luke gave the others a detailed account of what went down. He kept a surreptitious eye on a silent Blair, alert for signs of delayed shock. She was generally cool under pressure—it was one of the things that would make her a good Beta female—but he nonetheless needed to feel sure she was okay.
“I don’t believe this shit,” said Bailey. “Did you get a good look at the assholes?” Her eyes danced from Luke to Blair.
“They wore masks,” he told her.
“I got a text from Alex,” announced Tate, his phone in hand. “He wasn’t able to track the van for long, it eventually left him in the dust. He did memorize the number plate, though. He called River to pass it on”—Tate looked at Blair—“but River said you’d already texted it to him.”
Luke blinked at her. “You did?”
She nodded. “He gave me his cell number in case my harasser strikes again, remember? I asked him to run the plates. He’ll hopefully get back to us soon.”
Just then, Sam exited the bedroom and confirmed what they’d suspected—the darts weren’t poisonous, they simply aimed to sedate. It was a relief, but it didn’t lessen anyone’s anger. Tate thanked the healer for coming, and Sam then left.
