Chapter 9
ROY
My mate–my beautiful, fragile, human mate–had almost been killed. Again. I was still having a hard time getting my wolf under control. He wanted to rip the heads off every mobster in the city.
And I was gonna let him.
Because nobody threatened my mate and lived to tell about it. I’d almost been too late.
But right now, I needed to put a leash on him–fast–because she was backing away from me like I was the one she had to fear.
Well, of course she was. She just watched me snap the necks of two huge men right in front of her. She saw what I was–a ferocious beast. Something I would never want her to see.
“Brooke…”
Fuck. What could I say right now that would explain my behavior?
“Listen–”
Too late. Brooke whirled and bolted for the patio door. She was running from me.
My. Mate. Was. Running.
From me!
This was bad. So bad.
I couldn’t let her go. We needed to get out of this place–fast. Before any more of the mobsters showed up. I’d killed the duo in the parking garage, and two more were sent after her. Another two or more would be next.
I used my hand on the back of her couch to vault across the living room, landing on soft feet right behind her.
She screamed.
“I’m so sorry about this, sugar.” I pressed against her back and looped an arm around her waist and lifted her feet off the floor.
“But it’s not safe for you here.” She clawed at my arm, kicking her feet and thrashing.
With a twist, I tossed her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
My feet were already running for the front door.
Brooke pounded my back with her fists. “I’m not your sugar. Put me down. Don’t snap my neck. Please !”
I didn’t scent any other guys in the house, and I’d checked the street before we left, but I had to make sure it was safe for her. Their backup could be right around the corner.
Speaking of backup–I definitely needed some help right now. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket as I jogged to the van I’d driven from Montana, Brooke in my arms.
I hit the speed dial button for my alpha.
“Roy?”
“Rob. I’m sorry. It happened again. I need a clean-up. Could you call the locals?” I was careful not to say “pack” or call him “alpha.” I may have known that Brooke was mine, but she had agreed to nothing, and it was against pack law to reveal our existence to a human.
Which was too bad because it might at least help me explain why I was so good at killing. That I wasn’t a danger to her. That she was my mate.
Although I wasn’t sure that explanation was going to calm her down. My wolf, however, was soothed by the fact that I was taking her away from danger, again, but the scent of her fear rankled him.
“Fuck, Roy. Did you leave any signs of a wolf?” Rob asked.
“No. Clean, like the other two.”
“Where?”
“Her house.” I gave him her address even though he may have gotten it from Levi like I had.
“I’ll call Ben Stone, the local alpha. Since it’s his territory, he’ll have to know about this, and it’ll be his pack that cleans this up. I admit, Roy, that he might not be happy.”
“They were going to kill my mate,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I understand. I’m sure he will, too. I’ll help you all I can, but he may have an issue.”
Inwardly, I growled, because I knew he was right. Rob was my alpha but I wasn’t within his jurisdiction. I could be put down for this, but it’d be worth it.
No one fucked with my mate.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to the Four Seasons. I’m gonna see if their boss is still there and end this.”
Rob cursed, but he didn’t tell me not to. That was good because I would’ve hated to disobey a direct order from my alpha. “Watch yourself. Keep it clean. I’ll be in touch.” Rob hung up without anything more, and I pocketed my phone.
I opened the passenger door to my van and dropped Brooke into the seat. “Don’t run, sugar,” I warned her, meeting her angry and scared gaze. “I’m just trying to get you to safety. Somewhere I can protect you. Okay?”
“Protect me? You just killed two men!” Her eyes were on mine but wild.
“He had a gun aimed at your head and wasn’t going to wait too much longer to shoot you. No one shows up with a silencer as a threat.”
She swallowed hard.
“They had to die. It was them or you. and I swear I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you.”
Her gaze darted past me, scanning the street. Even after what I just said, she was gonna run the second I tried to walk to the driver’s side.
“ Please, Brooke.” I tried to catch her gaze. “I won’t hurt you. I promise. You’re safe with me. You trusted me with your body last night.” I told that to her the night before, and she’d believed me then, believed me enough to give me her body.
Her eyes filled with tears, and her lower lip quivered, which gutted me. “Sugar, please. I can protect you. I need you to trust me with your life.”
She glanced over at her house, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. “You killed the men at the hotel. You murdered… four men!”
I’d kill a thousand for my mate. And I’d repeat the same thing again until she calmed down enough to see that I was right.
“You’re a loose end from that meeting. The second you ran from that hotel room yesterday, your death warrant was signed.
You aren’t safe. But I’m not gonna let anyone touch you. ”
She searched my face, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Maybe death warrant wasn’t the right thing to say, nor was the earlier gun to the head comment. “I need… you have to…”
Fuck. We didn’t have time to wait here. “Don’t move.” Reaching across, I buckled her seatbelt, slammed her door, and pressed the key fob to lock the doors. That would buy me at least a couple of seconds if she tried to run.
I jogged around to the driver’s side.
When I climbed in, she had already unbuckled her seatbelt and had the door open.
I lunged across her and pulled it shut. I stayed right in her space. “Look at me, Brooke.”
Her dark eyes were wide and terrified. She was shaking.
“I’m a trained killer, yes,” I explained. I would always tell her the truth. “I kill bad guys. I’m on your side. The good side. You’re my good girl. Right now, I need to get you the hell out of here. Both of our lives could depend on it. Okay?”
She stared at me, frozen with indecision.
“Have I hurt you?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Have I kept you safe–not once but twice?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Have I shown you that I’ll do everything I can to make you safe and happy? To give you nothing but pleasure?”
Her cheeks flushed, probably remembering just how I’d given her pleasure the night before.
Finally, she gave a tiny nod.
Thank fuck. I turned on the engine and drove away as fast as I could without calling attention to the van.
“Where are we going?” Brooke warbled.
“Back to the hotel where you can be safe in my suite while I figure out how to end this.”
“ End this ,” Brooke echoed in a whisper.