I wasn’t human right now, clearly working on instinct, my animal in complete control. I let my beast take over, my Lycan rising up, my body growing bigger, thicker, just on the precipice of changing fully into my massive wolf.
I didn’t care if my target was male or female, human or Otherworldly. I would destroy anything and anyone who hurt my mate.
And that was what I kept thinking over and over again, those words echoing in my head in a crashing wave as I reached the person who’d hurt my female. I grunted when I felt a sting in my shoulder, but I was too far gone to care as I wrapped my hand around the thin, narrow neck, felt the pulse fluttering beneath my palm fast and filled with fear, and twisted my wrist until I heard the snap of the bone break.
I let the body fall to the ground and was brought back to the ache in my shoulder. I looked down and saw a bullet hole. An entrance and exit wound. Nothing fatal and one that would heal by tomorrow. It was also the least of my worries.
I dropped down to the ground before my female and picked her up as gently as I could. She was out cold, her tiny body so light in my arms. I cradled her to my chest and bowed my much bigger body over hers, blocking out the rain, letting my gaze search over her for all her wounds. She had a massive cut at her temple, blood steadily flowing from it.
I stood with her in my arms, the most precious cargo I’d ever held, would ever hold. The silence suddenly descended behind me, and I looked over at Odhran, seeing him standing over the prone body of the male I’d been fighting with earlier before I’d come to my female.
Even from the distance, I could see Odhran had a bullet wound in his side, the blood seeping through his white T-shirt. He also had what looked like taser prongs in his neck, the wires hanging down, the weapon dangling from his massive form. But he wasn’t moving, just standing there looking down at the body, his brows low, his dark hair wet and plastered to his forehead, his chest rising and falling with his almost violent breathing.
The human male had been the strongest one I’d fought yet. He’d been professionally—Otherworldly—trained. It had become clear he hadn’t wanted to kill us. He wanted to subdue us. He wanted us alive.
I walked back to Odhran, his focus still on the human, who had a gaping wound in his chest. Through the rip in his shirt, I saw a large tattoo in the center of his chest.
“Odhran?” I prompted hard, urgency in my voice. I needed to get my mate somewhere safe to tend to her wounds and to figure out what the hell was going on. I needed to call Adryan and see if he knew what all of this meant.
I called Odhran’s name again, and he finally blinked a few times, snapping out of whatever haze he was in, and looked at me. His gaze lowered to my mate, his eyes widening. He ripped the prongs out of his neck and lifted his chin toward the car. Although he was back in the present, there was still no doubt he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
Light started flickering intermittently from a few hotel rooms, the commotion and noise no longer drowned out by the storm, waking people up. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Once at the car, I got into the back and pulled Evie firmly onto my lap, letting her legs stretch out over the seats, unable to let her go. I’ll never let her out of my sight.
I pushed the long, dark fall of her hair away from her face and examined her again. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. She’s the most precious gift.
Once we were on the road, I grabbed the cell Odhran handed me and called Adryan. I placed the phone to my ear as I stared down at Evie’s face. A black-and-blue bruise was starting to form along her temple, and I clenched my jaw, my wolf howling in pain that she’d gotten hurt. The gash on her forehead didn’t look too deep, and the blood had since stopped, now drying to her hair and the side of her face.
When the line was answered, I didn’t bother waiting or giving a greeting. “We have a big fooking issue,” I grated out and pulled Evie closer to my chest, her slight body curled on my lap.
“Do we now?” Adryan drawled.
“Got attacked by two humans, and the arseholes were hard tae take down. But it was clear they knew what the hell we were.”