Page 26 of Noah

In his mind, he whispered silently to himself. They are your people! They are your people! It didn’t alleviate the tremors or rage rushing to the surface.

Hearing a knock, he glanced at the handle. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to open it. His chest squeezed, and his blood flowed faster and faster. Hopelessly, he stared.

The uncertainty in his body caught Oleg’s attention. He felt Oleg’s hand on his shoulder. A nervous look at Oleg as Noah tensed.

“It’s alright, son. These are your people.” Hearing Oleg echo his thoughts, his blood cooled, and his heart calmed. After nodding his thanks, Oleg returned to Ren.

Noah sucked his lower lip in as he opened the door, positioning his body partially behind it, ready to fling it into their faces.

He came face to face with a male like him. His cheekbones were similar, his eyes slanted, and green light shone from within, proving he was who he claimed to be. Though, his hair was an array of interesting colours, different from Noah’s.

The male tilted his head and looked around the door. “Hello, I’m Cain.” Cain grimaced and said, “I have humans with me. How do you feel about them coming in?”

Noah grunted and turned to check behind Cain, but the male’s wide shoulders prevented him from seeing behind him.

Inhaling deeply, deciding to trust, he said, “Female sick.” He wanted to make sure they knew she needed immediate medical attention.

“The humans with me?” Cain insisted.

“Safe,” Noah replied as he opened the door.

Still, Cain hesitated, and Noah growled in response. He wasn’t a savage animal without rational thought and hated them acting wary.

“The female entering the room is my mate, a nurse. She can help your female.”

Oh!

Cain shifted and tensed, warning Noah, “If you touch her negatively, we will have problems.”

Noah huffed. “Safe,” he repeated.

When Cain called her his mate, what did he mean by that?

Noah soon understood when a female scent reached him as he opened the door. A jumbled mix of her and Cain’s scent mixed violently, an aggressive warning and caution not to upset, touch her or piss Cain off.

Her size was similar to his female, possibly even smaller. Although she appeared fragile, when her kind eyes met his he could see a steely core within.

Blonde waves bounced around her face as she introduced herself, “I’m Lila, Cain’s mate.” She smiled adoringly and patted Cain’s chest who stood so close to her it must be nearly impossible for Lila to breathe.

Noah understood because he felt strangely protective of Ren and his eyes towards her. Noah felt his heart clench as his eyes scanned her pale form.

Lila made a small sound of concern when she saw Ren. When Lila tried to move to check on her, Cain held her still, keeping his eyes fixed on Noah.

Noah tilted his head in the direction of Ren, and everyone moved at once. Following Lila, he crouched beside Ren and whispered, “Ren.”

“Ren?” Lila asked. “Is that her name?”

She knelt in front of Ren and pulled things out of her bag. He recognised items his captors used.

To calm his nerves, he cracked his neck and placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder. Cain’s sharp eyes followed Noah’s every move.

“Adrienne,” he amended. He didn’t like hearing Ren’s shortened name on Lila’s lips. There was a strange sense of possessiveness about it for him.

He recognised his possessive thoughts and he put it down to feeling responsible for her. However, that was becoming increasingly difficult for him to believe.

“Do you know what they gave her?” Cain asked, and he shook his head in response.

Lila started asking him questions he had no idea how to answer while Cain stroked her shoulders. “How much blood did they take? Did you see any labels on the bags they used?” Why hadn’t he thought of that? In retrospect, he should have brought everything with him. “Did you see how much blood they took? Could you guess?”

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