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Thank god he always heard his phone, even in the middle of the night.
Jem found the bastard. He burned down his house and planned on torturing him half to death until he gave up passwords to any stored information and made a promise never to fuck with any of us again, but Tay found out. She’s coming with me to the old, abandoned farmhouse where Jem took the guy right after he set that piece of shit house he was squatting in on fire.
He could hardly even believe what he was reading. Of course Tay’s brothers got involved, but he didn’t think they’d actually be able to find the guy. Even Sam’s PI hadn’t located the creep yet. How had Taylee found out what her brothers were planning to do? If she’d known, she would have told him.
That didn’t seem so important. He thought about the rest of Clay’s text.
She’s not going to let us touch him. She wants to do this herself. She thinks we’ll go too far and she’s probably right. She said she’s the one who was most wronged. She’s right about that too. She made me promise not to go get you, but she didn’t make me promise not to text. We’re leaving now. It’s not right to keep this from you.
Because Clay was a good man, smart beyond what anyone else saw, not just a warrior or some guy who got in the cage and used brute strength to pound other men into bloody messes, he’d sent a pin. All Kier had to do was click on it and the location of what was probably an old farmhouse appeared. It looked like a lot of nothing on his screen.
That didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that he was getting closer. His phone flashed in the dash holder, illuminated in the dark cab as he drove at dangerous speeds. He needed to slow down, but he couldn’t.
All he could see was his mate, in danger.
Even if her brothers were there, it was no guarantee that she wouldn’t get hurt. That they wouldn’t get hurt. That the piece of shit who threatened them all wouldn’t be obliterated. Tay didn’t want it to happen, so she was going too. She was putting herself in danger, not because she saw this as being her fault, but because she was correct.It was her right.
He had to deal with that.
She didn’t want him there because she didn’t want him to interfere. She didn’t want him to go into full-on mate mode and destroy that waste of skin either. She was trying to protect him like she was trying to protect her brothers, her family, and her clan.
She’d face down the man who had scared her, invaded her life, stolen her privacy, stalked her, threatened her, tried to blackmail her—a man who wanted to take everything from her.
He was scared as hell, but he was proud as fuck of her too.
This was his mate. Strong. Courageous. Incredible.
His foot pressed down on the gas a little bit harder, and his heart hammered just a little bit faster to match. The adrenaline was already brutal. He felt how close he was to losing control of the bear. He couldn’t let that happen. He was coming because he needed to make sure Taylee was safe, not because he wanted to take away from her what she felt like she needed to do. He’d promised to support her, not overpower or control her.
Even if it took all of his control to step aside and give her room to do that.
After Clay’s text, he’d exploded out of bed and called Sam. His alpha was over at his place in less than ten minutes. Misty was sleeping and he didn’t want to wake her up. It would only scare and worry her that he was leaving. He was determined to bring her mom home safely with him and her uncles too. After tonight, the threat would be gone. None of them would be in danger, at least not from someone like this.
He didn’t have to worry about Misty when she was with Sam or any other member of Greenacre. He just hoped he’d be back shortly, that they all would.
That flashing dot finally closed in with the second moving one. His headlights swept over a tumbling down two-story clapboard house, the kind of thing built a hundred years ago, greyed out, worn out, barely still there, beautiful history and decay that somehow stood through the years.
This was the place Jem chose. Out in the middle of nowhere. Far enough from Greenacre, and way the hell away from the city.
Kier had been so afraid of what this man could do to his mate and to all of them, but as soon as he sprung from the truck and raced towards the house, that fear changed. It turned into admiration as soon as he slowed down and edged through the door. He stayed in the shadows, unseen.
In the middle of that room, they’d found a chair sturdy enough to hold the prick down. He wasn’t a big man, just average build. His features were twisted into an ugly sneer, but there was no blood on him anywhere that Kier could see. Jem might have subdued and tied the bastard up, but he hadn’t beat the shit out of him. Clay had restrained himself too—at least so far.
That chair was like a ship in a sea of debris. There wasn’t much left of anything. The plaster was gone from the lath in the walls. An ancient couch had long since lost most of its stuffing. The remains of a decrepit mattress sent rusty metal springs staring up at a ceiling that had partially collapsed.
A single lantern—the kind a person took camping—was set in the middle of the room right by the chair. Clay and Jem stood on either side of the room, their arms crossed over their chests.
And there, right in front of that man seated in the chair, was his mate. He could only see her back, but she looked powerful. She looked ready for a fight. Her spine was straight, and he didn’t scent her fear because there was none to breathe in. She was entirely made of determination. The only fear he breathed in belonged to the guy who’d been caught.
It was all wrong, though. Twisted. An ugly, sour scent that was nothing like the raw, pure form of adrenaline that came off a regular human.
Kier had never encountered a wolf in his life. Was this what they smelled like? Was this guy really one after all, or was he something else?
Jem’s eyes shifted as Taylee stepped forward, and he caught sight of Kier. He didn’t react. He didn’t give him away. His brow lifted a fraction, but he remained impassive otherwise. Kier didn’t move. It was very clear to him that Tay had this under control. He’d been so worried about her safety, but now he was more worried that he might have to step in and stop her.
Jem’s eyes were hard and cold as they swept back to the animal in the chair. Animal in human form.
“You tried to take everything from me,” Taylee whispered. Not harsh. Just a fact. Emotionless. She wasn’t going to let herself be this guy’s victim. “We could take everything from you in return. Your freedom. Your health. Your life. My brothers could kill you in a single swipe. You have to know that. You didn’t think we’d find you, but we did. You thought you could get money from me, make me live my life in fear, but I have a clan. I have people who love me and will always have my back. I have people who would die for me, if that’s what it takes.”
