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Time seemed to slow down as if someone was pulling on it, trying to drag it back. One heartbeat passed, then two, as the lead alpha stepped towards us with a growl. I heard Lexie scream my name, but my attention was on the threat in front of me.
As the enemy alpha reached a hand out to me, a menacing roar washed over the street and shook the surrounding windows. It had my senses sharpening and focusing in on a giant alpha barreling into the group in front of me. He punched and fought his way through the alphas in the street, dropping them like discarded petals in a game ofhe loves me, he loves me not. He made the other alphas look like kids’ toys. There was more fighting going on behind him, but I couldn’t see beyond him.
He had long, shaggy brown hair and was wearing some kind of hospital scrubs that barely fit him. I watched, entranced, as one sleeve ripped apart and his massive bicep flexed in a wild punch. His movements weren’t fluid or practised, they were erratic and savage. Rage fueled him. I could feel it pounding an echo through every blow, and the snarl on his face made him appear feral.
The giant alpha roared again as he ripped away the alpha reaching for me. One moment, the enemy alpha’s fingertips were grazing my arm. The next, he was being picked up and thrown against a nearby tree with a comically surprised look on his face. The force of the hit knocked him unconscious.
I barely noticed Dio and Pala run past me and help take out the last of the alphas in the street. The giant, feral alpha, panting and staring at me with a darkly potent focus, had me fixated. His messy hair partially covered his face, and he had a shaggy beard, but I could see his eyes glittering darkly in the moonlight. His fierce gaze raked over me from head to toe, and I could feel hunger clawing at me. Heat flooded my body in a primal response to the need I could feel pummeling me. I just wasn’t sure if it was mine or his.
A wild heartbeat overlaid my own as time reset itself and the world seemed to rush at me. A sudden sharp scent hit my nostrils, of uninhabited spaces where nature reigned supreme. It was laden with the bark, fern, and mossy scents of a tropical jungle at night, with sharp underlying notes of orchids and ginger. A complex, dark scent that smelled wild and dangerous. It suited the beast of an alpha standing planted in front of me, as if no force on earth could shift him.
He had me locked in his gaze, as if nothing else around us existed. A dark, seductive pull tried to draw me towards him. I only barely held myself in check. My body trembled with the need to go to him, to lay my hands on him and claim him as mine. He looked wild and unhinged, but I knew deep in my bones, this alpha would not hurt me.
Movement on either side, and slightly behind him, snapped me out of my daze. I wasn’t sure whether days or heartbeats had passed while that possessive stare had pinned me. My eyes flicked to two identical looking alphas, clothed in black, and my heart suddenly seized in my chest. Those faces, achingly familiar and yet so changed, had my heart seizing as if I had dunked it in ice water. I gasped a shocked breath, and the added scents of dark chocolate and salted caramel hit me with a rush of memories. Memories I’d tried so hard to keep from shattering me.
My distraction seemed to snap the giant alpha out of his trance as well. My gaze snapped back to him as he snarled and lurched towards me suddenly. Fear slammed into me as someone stepped between us and I recognized Cary’s silhouette. Cary had a habit of subtly putting himself between me and any perceived threat. It had only gotten worse since the Crash. He behaved as if he was my self-appointed bodyguard, even though we barely acknowledged each other. Couldn’t even look each other in the eye.
I tried to reach for Cary’s shirt to pull him aside. Fear for him making my heartbeat trip over itself. There was no way he could defend himself against the gigantic, feral alpha. Cary was a solid guy. He lifted a lot of weights, but he had no training in hand-to-hand combat and he’d already gotten badly hurt defending me. He was still recovering. I couldn’t stand watching him get hurt again. Everything in me rebelled at the idea.
Before I could grab Cary, the feral alpha hauled him up over his shoulder. A shocked gasp escaped me before the alpha reached for me too, and hefted me easily over his other shoulder. I froze as light exploded through me. My senses whirled dizzily as the alpha’s, and Cary’s, mingled scents enveloped me. My body wanted to wrap itself around his and hold on tight, yet I didn’t know this alpha. I didn’t have time to adjust or even process a thought at the onslaught of sensation that slammed into me. I’d thrown my hands out to steady myself, and I could feel the powerful muscles in his back flexing as he twisted and took off down the road with both Cary and me.
He was taking us, and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing anyone could do about it.
I could see the twins following behind me as I bounced on the alpha’s shoulder. They were staying close, but not so near as to engage the giant alpha. I glanced at Cary next to me. He looked as dazed as I felt.
Another yell from Lexie snapped my attention back to the road, and I saw Damon, Leif, and Hunter come flying around the bend from the north, running hard. Lexie gestured frantically at Cary and me while she screamed at Damon. He nodded to her without stopping and charged towards us. The twins paid them no attention, their gazes firmly fixed on me, as they slipped towards the shadows at the edge of the road, while keeping alongside us.
My panic surged as I watched Damon, Leif, and Hunter follow us with furious, determined glares. My two worlds were colliding, and I was terrified someone was going to get hurt. The beast of an alpha carrying me felt as if he was operating on pure instinct, kind of like a wounded animal. I felt suddenly and intensely protective of him.
My body jolted, and my hips slammed against the alpha’s shoulder almost painfully, as he skidded to a sudden halt. The powerful arm he had wrapped around my backside and the hand on my hip holding me firmly to him branded me, even through the fabric of my jeans. I had to grab a handful of his shirt to steady myself before I turned to look up over my shoulder.
My panic rose as I saw Nick standing in the middle of the path, looking pale and terrified. He was valiantly wielding a stun gun in our direction. The alpha holding us cocked his head at Nick, as if he was confused.
Nick couldn’t actually use his weapon. If he stunned the alpha, the electrical current would pass to Cary and me. I could see that knowledge in Nick’s wide eyes. He was desperately bluffing and my heart rate hammered with my fear for him. I didn’t think the alpha would hurt Cary or me, or he would have done it already, but I didn’t know what he would do to Nick.
The hand on my hip tightened, and I felt a faint feeling of reassurance pass through me. I didn’t have time to react though, as the guy’s PMV rounded the bend in the road, approaching loudly from the south. It was a hulking, menacing presence on the dark road. The sudden noise of the heavy military vehicle felt deafening. I felt the alpha tense beneath me and a furious growl reverberated through his chest as the person manning the gun turret spotted us. He swung the gun in our direction and yelled, “Stop or I’ll shoot.”
The feral alpha gently, almost reverently, slid Cary and me to the ground, but kept his eyes focused on the gun pointed at us. He paid Nick no attention at all, instantly dismissing him as a threat. I shot a glance at Cary, who seemed as if he was coming out of a trance. He looked around wildly.
We had buildings and the twins on both sides, Damon with his mates at our backs, and the PMV in front of us. They had us hemmed in. The alpha moved away from us, stepping around Nick, who turned and backed up towards us, still brandishing his stun gun out in front of him.
“I said STOP,” the alpha on top of the PMV yelled again. He seemed slightly panicked though, as if this situation was way outside his orders and he didn’t quite know what to do.
I heard Lexie’s mate Dave yell from a distance, “Hold fast unless attacked.”
The alpha with the gun nodded that he’d heard, but kept his wary eyes on the feral alpha approaching him. The alpha was moving sluggishly now, as if his movements were becoming difficult. Yet he still reached up and wrapped his enormous hands around the gun on top of the turret. His muscles bulged, and his shirt ripped further, as he tore the gun clear off its mounting and threw it to the side. Rendering it useless in seconds.
The power in his body and his movements had heat pooling low in my belly. He was prowling in front of the PMV, growling and snarling at the frozen alpha at the top. Yet his movements were becoming even slower. His arms slumped down, slack at his sides, and I could see his body shake. He looked like a wild animal trapped in a snare and trying desperately to stay conscious.
I stepped towards the alpha, my instincts, and his need drawing me to him.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice so breathy and quiet I wasn’t sure he’d hear me.
I gulped as he turned, as if he’d sensed more than heard me. His eyes flared, and a potent yearning crossed his features before he sniffed the air and a sudden wariness had him stilling. I could feel a rush of unease burst from him, where there had been nothing but possessive need and reassurance before. The note of ginger in his scent spiked, coating the air. I halted in place, his sudden fear freezing my limbs. He’d just faced down an armored PMV and a horde of alphas with no hesitation. Yet the sight of me had a fine sheen of sweat breaking out all over his body.
I felt sick, knowing intuitively that someone had tortured this man.
Cary shifted into my field of vision, moving slowly. I grabbed his shirt, but he gently shrugged me off. “He won’t hurt me,” he said, but I wasn’t sure if he was directing his words to me or the alpha. Cary’s eyes still looked slightly glazed. He took another slow step forward and reached out his hand, resting it lightly on the alpha’s chest.
