Kian
The imageof Amora naked and furious with another man’s hands on her skin makes me want to rip eyes from sockets. All of them. Every man standing around the circle watching as Quinton’s guards haul her away deserves to lose eyes, ears, dicks, everything, and my furious need to be the one to do it scares the fuck out of me.
Instead, I stand still, powerless to help her, careful to keep my expression empty. My whole body is tense as I watch the whiteout on the horizon where her struggling form disappears little by little, until she’s swallowed by the snow.
Nudity is a fact of life for shifters. We grow up with it and don’t think twice about shifting to human form naked. But this is different.
This is Amora. Vulnerable. Exposed. Her body on display for half the village to see.
The body only I should know. Only her mates.
I banish that thought immediately. She’s not my mate anymore. I’ve worked too damn hard to cut her out of my life to fall down that rabbit hole. Instead, I key into Quinton’s conversation as he speaks a few feet away.
“Felicity,” Quinton snarls, his voice sharp. Thunderous. “Worst mistake I ever made was mating with that bitch.”
Santiago nods. “Definitely seems like her handiwork, sir.”
The alpha pinches his brow with his fingers, then glances around at the frigid, blistering snow. “When the storm is over, I’ll kill the intruder. Send her head back to Felicity in a trash bag.”
Shock hits me so hard, it’s a miracle my body doesn’t physically react to the blow.
“No,” I blurt out.
It’s a snap reaction. I barely had time to process what he said before my brain reacted, the word coming out of my mouth completely unbidden.
My brothers’ gazes shoot to me, although they hide their surprise well.
Quinton turns, raising one dark brow. “I don’t recall asking you, Kian.”
Shit. Damage control. I need fucking damage control.
My mind shifts into gear, working fast to come up with a logical reason why I would deny my alpha’s orders.
“Of course, sir,” I say, still processing, still mentally fumbling. “But I had a thought.”
Since the majority of the excitement is over, the rest of the pack has begun to peel off from the crowd. Nude bodies shift back to wolf form, and they lope off to the warmth of their cabins to thaw out. But my brothers and I remain right where we are.
Quinton and Santiago move closer to the three of us as the pack disperses. Our alpha nods. “Make it quick.”
“If Felicity sent this woman,” I say, building a logical argument in my mind as I go, “it stands to reason she’s playing the long game.”
Quinton inclines his head, his dark eyes narrowing. “Explain.”
Snowflakes coat my eyelashes, and a sheen of white is building up on the alpha’s bare shoulders. I’m too busy trying to figure out the right thing to say to feel my toes freezing beneath the level of the fallen snow. “This woman could give you an insight into Felicity’s plans. You’ve tried for years to gain viable intel on her pack, and now, you might have it. If you kill the woman, you’ll lose that opportunity.”
The alpha considers my words, his face giving nothing away. Finally, he nods. “You might have a point.”
“Thank you, sir,” I reply, careful to keep my tone respectful and neutral.
He nods at me, then at Frost and Malix, before quickly shifting back to wolf form. Snow starts to coat his thick, dark red coat in the seconds before he races off into the storm with Santiago right behind.
Malix catches my eye and raises one dark brow.
I just clench my jaw and walk away.
Back inside our cabin a few moments later, I open the wood stove, making the hinges screech loud enough to wake the rest of the village, and stoke the embers back to flame. I throw on a sweatshirt and pants, but my toes burn and tingle from the chill of the snow.
While I work on the fire, Malix opens every cabinet in the kitchen, muttering under his breath about how we should keep beer around for emergencies. We don’t keep much in the cabin at all since we’re rarely here for more than a couple days at a time, but he isn’t wrong.
A beer would be nice right now. Or a bottle of fucking whiskey. Something to calm the nerves. Take the edge off.
Help me figure out how the hell to get Amora out of this alive.
Frost is the first to speak, standing in the center of the room as he gazes blankly at the closed front door. “She wasn’t supposed to follow us.”
I grunt my agreement and add a few fresh limbs to the fire. “When has she ever done anything we told her to do?”
Malix slams another cabinet shut and stalks into the sitting area empty handed. He throws himself to the couch, slinging an arm over the cushions and laying his head back. “Yeah, man. That thing back on the mountain was supposed to be the end of it. How the hell did she even find us?”
I close the grate and stand with a shrug. “I don’t know. She’s too smart for her own good.”
“Clever,” Frost murmurs, sinking onto the couch beside Malix. “Clever is the word.”
“You realize you just threw her to the fucking hyenas, right?” Malix asks, his violet gaze blazing at me. “What’s going to happen when Quinton shows up in the jail tomorrow? He’ll torture her, and she’ll have nothing to give him. Eventually, he’ll realize she isn’t one of Felicity’s lackeys, and he’ll kill her anyway.”
“I know,” I snap back, taking the single armchair across from them. “Trust me, I’ve had the same thought.”
“Then why did you say all that shit to him?”
“Would you prefer Quinton kill her without us having the fucking time to work out an exit plan?”
Frost glances between us, something burning in his bright blue eyes. “So we’re going to save her?”
“We’re supposed to be avoiding her,” I say bitterly.
“Funny how you keep saying one thing and doing another,” Malix says. “You tell us to stay away from her, but you’re the one who hooked up with her all those years ago in Montana. Now, we’re supposed to be avoiding her, but we’re going to save her from our alpha?”