Chapter Three
There was no time to brace before Eli was struck hard and tackled to the floor.
They rolled to the left, knocking over a chair and tipping the table against the wall.
Food and bottles of water exploded everywhere.
Cursing, Eli braced his feet and used his upper body strength to toss the bigger man aside.
They jumped to their feet and faced each other, evenly matched adversaries.
Talk about a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
Kinley erupted from across the room and jumped on his attacker’s back. Determination flashing in her blue eyes, she grabbed the bigger male by the hair, and yanked with all her might. Her fangs dropped.
“Stop!” Eli yelled and held up his hands in a show of surrender.
“Let him go, Kinley.” He prayed she listened to him.
One false move and this could turn into a bloodbath.
“Let. Him. Go,” he repeated. Confusion flashed over her face, but her fangs retreated.
She released her hold, dropped to the ground, and backed away from both men, her gaze locked on them.
Crisis averted, he faced the even bigger threat in the room. Huffing out a breath, he reached for patience. “What are you doing here?”
“Bigger question is what are you doing here ... with her?” Cyrus Sin lowered his brows and glowered. Eli was used to his brother, but hardened criminals had been known to piss themselves when faced with his older brother’s displeasure.
“You know this guy?” Kinley’s eyes filled with suspicion, but not fear, proving once again how tough she was.
Talk about things getting more complicated. “Kinley, this is my brother, Cyrus. Cyrus, this is Kinley Wright.”
“I know who she is. There’s a bounty on her—retrieve and return. I was hired to find her and bring her home.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Back to the wall, claws erupted from the tips of her fingers.
Eli held up his hands again, doing his best to diffuse the tense situation. “No one is going to do anything. Not until we figure this out.”
“I thought you avoided involvement with wolf packs. That’s the reason you gave for not wanting to work for me.” The accusation in her voice sliced through him.
She was also absolutely correct. Eli turned to his brother.
“What she said. I thought the number one rule we all lived by was to stay away from wolves and pack politics.” Cyrus grunted.
That could mean a multitude of things. Eli didn’t have time to decipher his brother’s nonverbal communication. “Why are you working for a wolf pack?”
“Shit.” Cyrus dragged his fingers through his hair. “The job came through one of our usual brokers. It was a rush job. Seemed simple enough and the money was good. I didn’t know she was a wolf.” He huffed out a breath. “I’m done with this.” He pointed his finger at Eli. “You need to do the same.”
That had been his plan.
“Shit,” Cyrus swore again, no doubt reading him correctly. “You’re seriously thinking about helping her, aren’t you? You’ll bring the wrath of an entire pack down on us if you get involved.”
Wrath was one of the seven deadly sins. He preferred the flipside, which was justice and punishment. “She came to me. Found me in an illegal fight club.”
“And you didn’t walk away?” His brother shook his head in disgust.
“He tried. I tackled him in the parking lot.” She’d been listening intently to their conversation. “I didn’t give him a choice. I just wanted one night of peace. He already told me he was kicking me to the curb in the morning.”
It sounded worse when she put it like that, even though it was the truth.
“Good to know you haven’t lost all common sense.
” Cyrus righted the chair they’d knocked over and shoved the table back in place.
“We need to get gone before any wolves show up. Back of my neck has been itching for the past couple of days. Someone is trailing me. I figured it might be another bounty hunter. Now I’m not so sure. ”
“I need to leave.” Kinley ran into the bathroom and came back with a bundle of damp clothing.
Was that her bra and underwear? She was wearing clothing, yet somehow knowing she was naked beneath his shirt and her jeans made his dick surge to life—a totally inappropriate reaction given the gravity of the situation, but that didn’t seem to matter to his body.
She grabbed one of the convenience store bags from the floor, stuffed the one remaining sandwich into it, and added her clothes and a bottle of water.
He put himself in front of the door, blocking her exit.
“Don’t run off half-cocked. That will get you killed faster than anything.
” The idea of something happening to her didn’t sit well with him.
His wolf was strangely silent and vigilant.
“They don’t want her dead, just returned to her family.” Cyrus crossed his arms and glared at them both. “If she told you different, she’s lying.”
She marched up to his brother and poked her finger against his chest. “Listen, you big idiot. They want me dragged back there so some male can force mate me. I’ll fight to the death before I’ll let that happen.
So, yeah, I either escape or I’m dead. That’s no lie.
And with a bounty out on me, there’s no telling how many others like you are after me. ”
Cyrus’s mouth hung open. Disbelief filled his eyes.
He appeared ... shocked. Any other time and Eli would have laughed at his expression.
Other than him and his brothers, no one had stood up to Cyrus like that since their daddy passed.
Eli was stunned by her audacity, although he realized he shouldn’t be.
She’d had no trouble approaching him. And she had tackled him to the ground.
Kinley had more courage than anyone he’d ever met, outside his family. Or maybe it was sheer desperation.
He hooked an arm around her waist and eased her away from Cyrus. Not that he thought his brother would hurt her, but it was best not to push their luck.
“Where will you go?” He should step aside and let her leave but couldn’t. He understood the risks and potential consequences, but after spending time with her, hearing her story, watching her stand bravely in the face of adversity that would have broken most people, he was invested in her safety.
He’d fed her, had slept alongside her. Okay, not alongside but in the same room. He’d stayed awake after she’d drifted off to sleep watching over her, both he and his wolf oddly content.
She jerked out of his hold and tightened the grip on the bag in her hand.
It struck like a body blow that some damp clothes, a sandwich, and a bottle of water were all she owned.
She was literally running for her life. She’d told him, but having his brother show up at the door, hired to bring her back, it struck him like a fist to the gut just how precarious her position was.
She had no one to turn to for help. All she had was him, a bounty hunter, sometimes mercenary, she’d tried to hire in an underground fight club.
There were plenty of unscrupulous types who’d take her money and leave her to fend for herself. His wolf began to snarl and pace inside him. He looked to Cyrus, who shook his head.
“I can read your mind, little brother, and the answer is no.”
“No what?” she asked, inching toward the door.
“No, he’s is not bringing you home with us.”
“I didn’t ask him to,” she shot back. “And I wouldn’t bring my troubles to your doorstep. When I approached Eli, I thought he was a human mercenary. I wouldn’t have made contact if I’d realized he was a wolf.”
His wolf growled. Eli was none too pleased by the confession either.
He’d come close to never meeting her. While his rational side insisted that would have been for the best, his primal instincts insisted it would have been tragic.
His reaction was both baffling and irritating. He was driven by logic, not sentiment.
Kinley canted her head toward the door. “You need to let me go. That was your plan all along. I don’t understand what your problem is.”
Neither did he. He dragged his shirt on and stuffed his feet in his boots. Since his bag was packed and ready to go, he zipped it shut and grabbed the handles. “I’ll drive you to the bus station.” Least he could do was see her safely away.
“Eli.” The warning from his brother was clear.
“Stay out of this, Cyrus.” This was between him and Kinley.
She pressed her hand against his chest, right over his heart.
“Thank you, but it’s best we part ways here.
” Going up on her toes, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
” It was a chaste caress, the kind you got from your granny or an aunt.
There was nothing to explain the heat that blasted through him at the simple touch.
“For God’s sake.”
Ignoring his brother’s muttering, Eli wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and tugged her closer.
She didn’t object, didn’t pull away when he lowered his head.
This time their lips touched. Inside him, his wolf howled and shivered with delight.
He raised his head, drunk on the tiny taste of her.
“I won’t forget you.” She was out the door before he could stop her.
“Kinley.”
Cyrus grabbed his arm when he started after her. “Let her go.”
He yanked out of his brother’s grip. “I can’t.” He didn’t know how to explain it and didn’t have time. He shoved his duffel at his brother and bolted out the door. Eli didn’t tackle her in the parking lot, but he caught her by the shoulder, stopping her.
“Why are you making this harder?” She kept looking forward, refusing to meet his gaze. “We both know you’re going home with your brother, and I...” She took a shaky breath. “Well, I have no idea where I’m going. That’s not your problem. I’m not your problem.”
****
“No, but we are.”
Kinley’s blood chilled when Holden Lewis, the male who wanted to mate her, stepped out of the shadows, followed by his brother Edmund and Ridge Turner, another pack enforcer.