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“Please.”
He turned around and back-kicked the door twice, but it wasn’t enough. He almost rammed it in with his shoulder but gave it another solid kick instead.
The door crashed in and the first thing he saw was red petals strewn all over the beige carpet. Then everything in his peripheral became fuzzy when he spotted Lexi lying on her back with the human on top of her, his hands squeezing her slender throat.
The throat he once tenderly caressed with his knuckles on the night Wes died. Austin had wanted to kiss Lexi at least once in his lifetime before he left town. He had dropped by to pick up Wes and when he found out he wasn’t there, Lexi followed him out to his car. Maybe it was the way the warm evening wind picked up a lock of her soft brown hair, or the gentle way that she laughed when he pinched her side to make her smile. Austin knew he might never see her again. He cupped her face with his large hands and tasted her lips for the first time. She barely kissed him back, but there was something between them that felt so right. Years went by and no kiss compared.
“You did this,” Beckett growled, oblivious that Austin had broken into the room.
Austin erupted with fury and dove forward. A shadow of black fur streaked across the air and it was a vicious attack. He gave himself up completely to the nature of his wolf, relinquishing all control.
The human never stood a chance. Austin’s wolf savagely sank his sharp teeth into Beckett’s throat and ripped it out. Flesh peeled back and blood poured free.
It was over in seconds.
Austin shifted back to human form and immediately crawled naked to Lexi, checking for a pulse. He wiped the blood from his face and blew a few breaths into her mouth, just to make sure she was still breathing on her own. She was, thank Christ, and the coloring in her face slowly returned.
“Still alive,” he whispered, throwing on his clothes. Then he landed on his knees in front of her and cradled her head. “Lexi, I need you to shift,” he said insistently. “Can you hear me?”
She was barely conscious. Alphas could force a Shifter to change into their animal, but not so much the other way around as that would require cooperation from their human. Austin summoned the Breed magic within him and whispered in her ear, “Shift.”
In a flash, her wolf materialized.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” he said, gritting his teeth. The pain in his chest was insurmountable. So much rage that he wanted to bring Beckett back from the dead just to kill him all over again. Choke the bastard and let him get a taste of his own wickedness.
Austin scooped the wolf up in his strong arms. Her breathing was labored, but the shifting had healed her to some degree. He hustled down the stairs to his car and carefully placed her in the back seat, leaving behind Beckett’s body in the destroyed apartment.
Lorenzo’s man spoke frantically on his cell, shouting a few curse words. After closing the car door, Austin fired off a growl that sent him hauling ass.
Austin barely remembered the drive home. A firestorm of emotions overwhelmed him, from shame to rage, and then complete and utter devotion to this woman. In that moment, he knew with absolute certainty he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life. Whether she decided to take a spot in his pack or as his mate, it didn’t matter. He was willing to die for her. If Lexi didn’t make it through this, Austin would never be able to forgive himself.
His stomach twisted into a nervous knot as the wind from the open windows created a vortex within the car.
The tires skidded across the driveway of his house and Austin hopped out, opening the back door.
“What the hell is going on?” Reno shouted out.
Austin gently lifted her out and growled a warning at Reno when he stepped forward and got an eyeful.
Austin actually bared his teeth. “Get away from her,” he said darkly.
“Bring her inside.”
Lexi’s head flopped down and she began to twist her body. “Easy, girl,” he soothed in his alpha voice. She relaxed and Austin stalked toward the house with Reno following close behind.
Denver strolled along the edge of the woods with Maizy up on his shoulders. She had a jar full of lightning bugs sitting on top of his head. “Lookie, Mr. Cole! I got a bunch of ’em!”
“Denver, you two stay outside,” Reno demanded before turning his attention to Austin. “What happened? I tried calling your ass and you didn’t answer. I happened to check the monitor and caught a man entering her apartment, but we don’t have cameras set up inside.”
“Someone tried to strangle her,” Austin replied through clenched teeth.
“Hope that someone is taken care of,” Reno said in a chilling voice.
Lynn shrieked at first sight of the wolf. “What are you doing bringingthatin the house?”
“Red alert, boys. We got a situation,” Reno announced.
Austin gently placed the silver animal on the brown carpet spread across the center of the living room. Ben and Wheeler stepped back, and Ivy cautiously lingered in the hallway, tugging the end of her braid.
