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With a sigh, she turned her weary eyes to Hammer. She couldn’t help but notice how he glimmered with adrenaline. They were two very different people that way.
“What should I do?” she whispered anxiously, feeling her shoulders tense. The sound was moving closer.
He didn’t answer, his gaze darting around their surroundings. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. She tried to urge him back to reality where she really needed him to be. “Hammer, what now?” she hissed.
TWENTY-TWO
HAMMER
The fatigue in Charlie’s eyes was obvious. It pained Hammer to see her that tired. But he was doing the best he could. He had also started to realize that Charlie would be instrumental in helping him bring down Ajmal’s entire operation.
If he got her home safely, then she could testify to what she had seen. She could also testify about what had been done to her. Her testimony wouldn’t only destroy Ajmal’s reputation, though. It would also hit him where it hurt the most. His finances.
And at that point, he would be weak enough for Hammer to swoop in and take whatever he had left.
But he could not think about that now. Hammer had to focus on fighting the coming threat.
He turned to Charlie, wincing when he saw the bruises on her face. Hammer couldn’t even remember when she had gotten them.
There were also faint cuts on her lips, and rage washed over him. The dragon inside him roared. Its wings unfurled and stretched.
It wanted to kill whoever had hurt his mate.
Soon.Hammer told himself.Soon you’ll take your revenge and destroy them.
He looked around him wildly as he heard several footsteps running toward them. His sensitive hearing counted four assailants. Hammer identified two of them as shifters as they had very distinct scents. The other two were normal humans.
He turned to Charlie quickly. There were very few places to hide. But he spotted the two enormous rocks right away.
Hammer grabbed her hand and pulled her into a rough embrace before pushing her backward. Hammer looked down at her, memorizing her face. Every line, every soft curve, every freckle, every dimple.
The footsteps were getting closer. The two shifters were cats of some kind. Fuck.
Hammer fucking hated cat shifters. No matter the type of cat. They were slimy and sneaky.
“Listen to me.” He swallowed, his voice thick. “Listen to me. Get in there and hide. And don’t come out until I say so.”
“And what happens if you don’t come to get me?” she asked. Her soft voice was dull, devoid of emotion. Her usually bright eyes were equally dull. It was clear that she was considering the possibility of him dying. The possibility that their attackers would find her and take her to Ajmal.
You’re starting to feel her better.The thought popped into his head as he tried to reassure her. He could feel her emotions almost as clearly as though they were his own.
“I’ll come to get you,” he said and flinched at the gruffness of his own voice. “I’m going to burn the world down if that is what I have to do to get you.”
The footsteps were only yards away. He could hear the shifters purring and growling as they closed in on them. Hammer couldn’t wait any longer and picked her up.
Then he stuffed her in a wide crevice between the boulders. Charlie immediately dropped to the ground. She curled up, making her body as small as she could.
He turned just as the shifters rounded on him.
Two leopard shifters were larger than any normal leopard. Each of the brown creatures had to be about almost six feet tall. Their sinewy bodies were muscular and deadly. Their claws are larger and sharper. When they opened their mouths to snarl at him, long, razor-sharp teeth curved over their lower lips.
Hammer fuckinghatedcats.
The dragon inside him roared in agreement, and he started shifting. And there were two humans. One of them was some nameless soldier in uniform. And the other was Ajmal.
They each carried assault rifles. Rifles that could fire thirty rounds in a second. Ajmal looked up at him, and the soldier swallowed.
Those rifles were dangerous. But not as dangerous as a shifter.
