AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 10
Agrowl rolled through Reed’s chest, his jawline clenching, and the corded muscles in his neck twitched. “Get out of the way, Elliana.”
But I didn’t move from in front of Gage, despite my trembling.
“Fuck, chill your furballs already,” Gage said over my shoulder. “I’ll tell you what you need to know. Son of a bitch. Cats! Always whining about something. I just want to ensure you assist Elliana first.” He lowered his wings and straightened his posture.
The night air surrounding us thickened, strangling my lungs. I appreciated Gage’s protectiveness, but his aggression put us at risk, rather than saving us… by antagonizing an entire pride of lions.
“See.” Reed’s arrogant triumph showed in his smirk—all pouting lips and the narrowing of his eyes. “Now beg me for help.”
“Fuck you.” Gage huffed.
I gritted my teeth, snatched his hand, and stepped forward. “Reed. Gage. Enough. We all want the same thing. To assist each other, so why are you both acting like dicks?”
Reed cocked a brow, while Gage breathed deeply and sighed, being the first to respond. “All I want is the best for Elliana, so I’ll tell you everything, but you need to give me your word you’ll allow Kahlo to share what he knows.”
Reed nodded and flicked a hand at someone to his right.
A man strode out of the darkness and into my line of sight. He wore black pants… that was it. They hung low on his hips, displaying his ripped chest and abs. Tall, sculptured, and damn sexy. Were all shifters built like gods? Damn, his presence stirred up my libido, awakening my lust, tempting me to taste the candy on a stick looking my way. Short, chestnut hair fluttered over his brow, drawing my attention to a healed scar lining the side of his face. When I met his eyes, I drowned. They captured the greenest meadow, imploring I dive right in and explore. Something about this handsome stranger had me squeezing my thighs together. I bet he had women fawning over him, because I sure was. What was up with the men I’d met lately. Gage, Reed, and now this man… their presence had me burning up. And it was strange how each of them had different shades of sexy green eyes.
“Kahlo, these are my guests.” Reed gave a nod in my direction, his mouth curling upward as if he were sending me secret thoughts about what he intended to do to me. Of course, it was completely in my lust-driven mind.
“This is my good friend and a tiger shifter, Kahlo,” Reed continued.
The newcomer didn’t respond at first, but he scanned me head to toe, his eyes narrowing. In those few moments, time seemed to slow to where his wild stare rested on me as if I were a delectable deer. It felt as if my brain had numbed and struggled to come up with a response. How could someone merely looking at me leave me scorching?
Gage sighed and mumbled under his breath, but I only caught the words, “cat party.”
“Kahlo, good timing. The dragon was about to give us an insight into who took the missing shifters.” Reed’s words darkened in a way that promised war if Gage didn’t keep his word, and I gritted my teeth at the whole situation. I ought to have dragged Gage aside and found out what his problem with the lions was.
Gage stood tall, proud, his chin high. He retracted his wings with such swiftness, it left me in awe. I stepped back as they magically shrank and tucked into the gaping holes in his back. His skin knitted back together without a blemish. My fingers tingled with the urge to touch his shoulder blades. I grabbed his top off the ground and handed it to him.
Reed studied me as if intrigued with the way I stared at Gage. Was he wondering what the deal was between us? Because I had no answer to that, or how my pulse kicked up a notch having Reed’s or Kahlo’s gazes on me.
“You haven’t seen his wings before?” Reed asked, softness behind his words.
“Yes, once before, and they’re as majestic as I remembered.” There was something sexy about a powerful man with huge wings who looked ready to carry the world.
Gage pulled the top over his head and offered me a devilish wink. The kind that had my knees weakening.
“All right,” he began as he clapped once, drawing everyone’s attention to him. Always the showman. “Let’s do this, because Elliana doesn’t have all night.”
And there he was… My dragon. In control and ready to tackle the problem at hand.
“You go first,” Reed said. “We’re listening.”
I looked over at Kahlo, who remained quiet, but I didn’t fail to catch the way he kept watching us as a predatory animal might before attacking. Had I misunderstood his expression as attraction, when for all I knew, he enjoyed hunting down humans and ripping out their throats. Though I struggled to believe that if he was friends with Reed.
Gage rubbed his stubbled jawline, clicking his tongue, telling me it killed him follow Reed’s instructions. “I never said I knewwhois running the operation, just that I heard a rumor last night at Brawl. I haven’t investigated if it’s real. But someone’s taken over the old mansion by Sharp Lookout. Someone saw two fox shifters in chains being dragged into the complex.”
I swallowed hard at hearing the despair threaded behind his words. It scared him, even if he stood tall and proud. No one spoke, but more figures closed in, materializing from within the night. Dozens of faces, warped with worry. A mother clasped a child to her hip, and smaller kids lingered amid the adults. Families. Elderly. Warriors. They stood together, and their fear coiled around my chest, squeezing. Reed’s sister was amongst the missing, so I could imagine his heartache.
Reed barked an order. “We put together a small team of our finest and we take the fuckers down tonight. Who’s with me?”
Roars boomed, feet stomping the ground, fists in the air. Both the tiger who seemed alone and lions alike. That was how they’d take down their enemy—in unison. Something shifted inside me at seeing their bond, despite the fear etched in their faces. My pulse buzzed beneath my skin with an adrenaline that insisted I join them. Maybe it was getting caught up in the hype, but I’d never been part of such a group. I’d only known loneliness, fighting on my own, but what would it be like to have such a family? My dad might have gotten me into this trouble in the first place, but he’d do anything for me, and I missed him so much, even after all these years. His jokes and protection and guidance. Knowing he’d always catch me when I fell.
Reed’s cheer quieted, and everyone followed suit. Then he waved a hand at several of his warriors. “Assemble a team. We go now.”
