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He might be mean at times, but not to be cruel—just because he enjoyed sparring with her like that. That went both ways. And much as she might madden him, he never told her to get out of his sight or anything. Which was more than she could say for her parents.
Despite that they wouldn’t be sexing each other up if it wasn’t for the touch-hunger, he never treated her as if she was a faceless fuck. Never did or said anything that reminded her he wouldn’t otherwise take her to his bed and that he was waiting for Dayna … which annoyed Bailey, because she’d prefer to have it straight in her head at all times. It wouldn’t be good to get comfortable with him or—
A figure leaped out from between two cars—a blur of black that tossed something at her so fast she had no chance of avoiding it. Wet droplets landed on her face. Droplets that burned. Burned so bad it felt like her face was on fucking fire.
She cried out in both shock and pain as the boiling heat sank deep into her skin and ate at it. Corroded it. Made her fear that her flesh would melt off her face. The pain was out of this world—agonizing, unbearable, torturous.
A heavy weight slammed into her, taking her to the ground. The back of her skull smacked into the pavement, sending a wave of hurt through her head and causing her vision to briefly go dark. Standing over her, her attacker—it was a he, she distantly sensed despite the ski mask he wore—tried snatching her purse.
Her infuriated snake rose up with a vicious hiss and took control.
Ignoring the searing pain as Bailey’s wounds became her own, the serpent bounded her head out of Bailey’s collar and bit into the nearest ankle once, twice, three times.
He cried out. Backpedaled. Slammed into a car. A blaring, rhythmic alarm began to blare so loud it was deafening. He turned to flee.
The snake lunged and coiled her body around his leg, dragging him to the ground with her weight. Then she bit his calf, injecting yet more venom into his bloodstream, drinking in his pained cry.
He struggled. Kicked out. Spat words. Tried to crawl away.
But she was bigger and heavier than a full-blooded black mamba. He had no chance of escape.
He slammed his leg on the ground, trying to hurt and dislodge her. The snake contracted around his limb, feeling bones crack. His back bowed as a scream ripped from his throat.
More struggles. More kicks. More harsh words. But his attempts to fight quickly grew weak. He began to groan. Writhe. Scrape at the ground.
Ground that started to vibrate beneath her as footsteps thundered toward them.
People gathered around, crowding her. She let out a furious hiss that made them go motionless. Voices spoke, soothing. Familiar. Nonthreatening. Valentina. James. Therese. Sam. Isaiah.
She didn’t care. Wouldn’t have cared even if she understood their words. Her only interest was in her prey. He would not escape.
More footsteps sounded, and then: “Bailey! Bailey, fuck!”
The Beta female, the snake knew.
“I need you to make your mamba pull back,” said Blair.
“Sam can’t heal you while you’re in your serpent form,” Isaiah added. “She’s too pissed; she’d bite him.”
Inside the snake, her other half pushed for supremacy. Bailey, too, was enraged. But she wanted to surface. Heal. Be free of the pain that both she and the snake shouldered to each help spare the other.
But … their prey might escape if she shifted. That was not acceptable. He needed to pay.
Other voices began to plead with her. The snake ignored them all, until her Alpha female’s voice joined the chorus and demanded that she shift.
With a low hiss of displeasure, the mamba withdrew.
Bailey was surrounded by people so fast it was almost dizzying. Hands gently rested on her, and then healing warmth fired through her system like sparks of electricity.
“You’ll be all right, just breathe,” Sam gently urged.
She gritted her teeth against the blistering agony that was her face, barely able to see due to her swelling eyelids, she lay still—not easing up her death grip on her attacker for even a second.
The whole time, people raged around her. Mostly her Alphas and Betas. A few kicked the guy whose leg she still gripped, including James and Luke.
Gradually, the blazing hurt faded and the swelling went down … until Bailey was fully healed and the agony was replaced by a storm of rage that burned in her gut as deeply as the acid had burned her flesh.
Fucking acid.
Bailey gave a spiteful squeeze of the broken leg she held, which only earned her a whimper. At this point, he was too riddled by the effects of her venom to react as she’d like.
“Thank you, Sam,” she stiffly told the healer, speaking through gritted teeth.
