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“Shut up! We’re leaving now.” The one holding Kelly dragged her farther from the bed.
“Stop! You won’t get far with her. I’ll track you if you try to take her from me.” Fear clawed at Ryan’s belly, but he fought to remain rational. Jace had answered his call. He just needed to keep the two who had broken into his house talking while reinforcements arrived,
They hadn’t given any indication that they’d realized that Ryan had contacted anyone else. So he just needed to stall.
“I just let her go and tell me what Darius wants. Leave her out of it.” Ryan shifted strategy when he felt Kelly losing consciousness through their connection. The thug holding her had squeezed hard enough that her airflow was restricted.
“She can’t breathe. Loosen your hold.” He made it an order putting the force of his alpha behind him. These two weren’t his; they hadn’t sworn loyalty to him, but they weren’t alphas. It gave him enough hope that if he was forceful enough their instincts would demand that they obey.
It was enough that the other man adjusted his grip, allowing Kelly to breathe easier.
“Thank you.” He let his genuine gratitude bleed into his tone.
“We’re leaving with her don’t do anything stupid and you might get her back.”
“He sent you on a suicide mission. You do realize that don’t you? You aren’t mated so you don’t know but there isn’t anywhere I won’t find you. You are trusting that spray you used to cover your scent, but it’s fading and I know that Darius sent you. You won’t be hard to find. Let her go. Leave here now, and it will be over. I won’t follow you. I won’t even mention you were here.”
“But you will retaliate. He’ll know we lied. He’ll know we failed and he’ll kill us.” The desperation that the other men were feeling was thick in the room. Tension coiled Ryan’s muscles tighter where he crouched at the edge of the bed.
He mentally calculated the time it would take to get to the other side of the bed where Kelly was held. All of his instincts told him to yank her away from the danger to her. His wolf wanted to lunge at the man and neutralize the danger. The knife at her throat kept him immobile, and Ryan’s promise of retribution helped him keep a shred of sanity.
The window broke, startling the intruders and assuring Ryan that help had arrived. With his attention diverted to the commotion, the man’s grip on the blade went slack.
Ryan had been waiting for it, watching for it, and he pounced. He tore the man’s arm away from his mate, twisting it so that Kelly was out of direct danger, and putting pressure on the bone. It gave under his assault with a sickening snap, and the knife fell to the floor as the other man howled in pain. He attacked again and a distinctive pop assured him that he’d separated the man’s shoulder. He let go and watched as it hung loosely at his side.
“Don’t kill him,” Jace called out, only seconds before Ryan went for the killing blow.
He growled, blood lust riding him hard, demanding that he eliminate any threat to himself or his mate.
“He might have sent them here as cannon fodder. First, your rejection of Dawnecia, then if you kill two of his men he could be setting you up to look like you’re challenging him.”
His brother's words penetrated the haze of anger that still held him in its grip, making him more animal than man. An attack like the one Jace described would mean the council could intervene. If they believed that he had a vendetta against Darius they could offer restitution as a way to keep the peace, similar to what he had done when he’d sent money to his pack for the way Kelly had attacked Dawnecia, and Darius could demand land for his pack or that Ryan step down as Alpha or both.
The more that Ryan thought about it, the more he realized that it was something that the other alpha would do. Ryan had held the largest lycan pack from the youngest age. It wasn’t a feat that the others could claim, so it was unlikely that Darius would come at him head-on.
No, the other alpha wanted war. The only question was was anyone else in on it with him?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ryan was seething with anger, the red haze demanding that he eliminate any threat to his mate. The threat to his territory was secondary. He would defend it and his pack as necessary, but the idea that Kelly could be taken from him and harmed in some way took his rage to another level, sparking violence in him that he hadn’t realized he was capable of.
It must have shown on his face because she watched him warily as he paced the length of the room. She reached out to him along the path of their bond, but Ryan had erected strong barriers against her probing, afraid to let her get too close. He worried that she might reject his savage nature, and with the bond between them still new and fragile he didn’t want to risk putting any strain on the emerging relationship.
Blocking her from his thoughts had unwanted consequences though, Ryan could see the confusion and hurt in her eyes as she scrutinized him. He could tell she didn’t understand why he’d shut her out.
“It has nothing to do with you.”He rushed to reassure her while still keeping the barrier up around his emotions.I just don’t want you exposed to my anger until I have better control.
His explanation did little to soothe the pain he could feel growing inside her. She was fighting to keep it hidden from him throwing up her own blocks against him.
“I want to kill him,”Ryan confessed, letting her feel his shame. “I don’t want you to see me like that.”He partially lowered the barrier he’d created to shield her remembering how he’d chastised her for keeping him out.
The wave of love and acceptance that she sent to wrap around him was humbling. She wasn’t judging him. She wasn’t horrified that he would want to impose swift retribution on their enemies and neutralize any threat no matter how small.
“I don’t deserve you.”
“You might have wanted to figure that out before you laid claim to me. You’re stuck with me now.”
“His attack on me can’t go unanswered. It was a clear challenge.” He said out loud so that everyone in the room was included in the conversation.
