Page 2 of Ready or Not

I grimace at the crunching sound when he makes contact. That was a brutal hit, but we’re all used to fighting through the agony.

Garza pulls his knee up, connecting with Bishop’s ribs. That probably dislodged a rib or two.

Fuck me.

Does it really have to be the two biggest guys in the room trying to goddamn kill each other?

This is my luck we’re dealing with.

So, of course, it does.

I curse under my breath.

This is going to be a nightmare.

“Stand fucking down,” Mercy growls, stomping toward the kitchen.

I briefly move to give him some backup, but then I see Vale bolt for the stairs out of my peripheral vision.

Dammit.

Her knees wobble as she makes it to the bottom step, aiming for whatever she needs upstairs. My guess would be her phone and car keys. Her toes slip when she’s only on the second step.

I move faster than I thought possible. Her hands hit one of the higher steps, but she’s so frantic, I don’t trust her to not miss a step even higher up. That could have devastating consequences.

“Jesus Christ, woman. Calm down.” Wrapping an arm around her thighs and another just under her breasts, I lift her into my chest as she fights like hell.

“Fuck you,” she screams. “I want a divorce!”

“I’ll just bet you do,” I agree, trying to nuzzle my cheek to hers. She slams her head back into my nose as I move. It doesn’t feel great, that’s for goddamn sure, but I keep calm. “Let’s take a walk. It sounds like your alpha is trying to murder our old friend. Do you really think he’d be trying to kill Garza if he had any fucking clue? None of us had a single thing to do with this mess.”

“I don’t know what’s going on or what to believe,” she sobs.

“Sweetheart, I know it seems suspicious, but you’ve got to give us a few minutes to figure out what the hell happened, so we can explain it to you.” I march us back into the kitchen, supporting as much of her weight against my chest as I can manage. I move my arm up to cradle her just under the belly. I’m hoping it’ll keep all weight and pressure off of it.

My jaw falls, getting a good look at exactly how bad it is.

Bishop has Garza on the floor, strangling him one-handed while Mercy has the other bent behind Bishop’s back. The big fucker is too far gone to alpha rage. If Mercy twists much farther, he’s going to break Bishop’s left arm.

Truthfully, that might be the only option if we plan on saving Garza’s life…

Which I’m still undecided on.

Bishop’s hair falls around his face as he growls, baring his teeth at Garza.

Oh yeah, he’s full-on beast mode.

“Shit,” I grumble.

“Oh no,” Vale whispers. “Don’t hurt him!”

I pull my face out to the side and look at her dubiously.

“Don’t hurt my alpha! Mercy, if you hurt Bishop, I’ll never forgive you.” She huffs like she can’t believe I thought she was talking about Garza.

“You should do the whining thing. I’m pretty sure it’s the only thing that’s going to break through the testosterone,” I say, kissing her cheek. “You almost broke my damn nose.”

“Oh no,” she says again. “He’s actually pretty determined to kill him. It’s smacking me right in the bond.” She tilts her head to look up at me. “Please, help stop this.”

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