Page 70 of The Renegade Mate

“Not interested.”

“Ryan, be sensible. Every Pack needs someone like me. I take care of the inconvenient problems that no one else has the stomach for. Brock saw my potential. Saw the advantages I could bring. I could do that for you instead. Let me prove myself, hmmm? You need Brock gone. I can do that. I’ll phone him right now, tell him you and Mai are dead and that we need to meet. I’ll have his head on a plate for you by sunup.”

I looked at Carl and swallowed down the bile threatening to come up. He was right; lots of Packs had someone like Carl. But not my Pack. That wasn’t the sort of Pack that Mai and I were going to build. He was clever, though, offering to take care of Brock for me. Plenty of Alphas would take him up on that offer. It was how men like Carl got you. They offered something big, something almost impossible, something you really wanted. They showed how easy it was to just click our fingers, and they’d do all the dirty work. And each time, they dug a little deeper in, making themselves indispensable. Until one day, you woke up and found your Pack was built on the back of a man like Carl. And they wanted something. Perhaps a bigger cut, perhaps greater freedom, perhaps a child or two. That wasn’t going to happen. Not while I was still breathing.

“Thank you for the offer, Carl, but I’ll take care of Brock myself.”

I sailed forward and drove my fist into his chest, right over his heart, using all the supernatural strength I possessed. There was a sickening thud, a gasp, and then Carl crumpled, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief as he hit the ground, lifeless.

I was still catching my breath, the adrenaline slowly ebbing away, when the rustle of footsteps caught my attention. I turned, my body tensed for another fight, but it wasn’t another threat. Mai and Jase burst through the foliage. Mai was carrying Jase on her back. She was alive. Bloodied, looking exhausted and angry but alive.

My bond with Mai thrummed with need. I had to have her in my arms. Now. “Mai,” I breathed out her name like a prayer of thanks to every deity I’d ever heard of. She lowered Jase gently to the ground, and in three strides, I closed the distance between us, sweeping her into my arms. My wolf was going mad, wanting to touch and lick Mai all over to make sure she was okay. I captured her lips in a kiss that was fierce and tender, a mingle of relief, joy, and a dozen other emotions I couldn’t begin to name coursing through me.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered against my lips, her hands clutching at my back as if she’d never let go.

“Me? What about you? Blowing up cars, running off into the woods.”

“We ran into the bear Shifter.”

I stiffened. I could smell her blood. “You okay?” I asked as I subtly started patting her down, checking her out for injuries.

“What are you doing?” She smiled up at me. “Are you checking me out?”

Okay, so not so subtle.

“Yes. What’s sore? Anything broken?” I kept moving my hands over her, not wanting to stop touching her.

Mai pushed me back. “I’m okay. Really. His claws got my back and side but I think the wounds have closed.”

I turned her round, ignoring her protests, and lifted up her shirt. Then crouched down, inspecting the gashes. Most had closed already, but there was a deep one on her side that Thomas might need to look at.

"Really, Ryan, I'm okay," she had turned her head to watch what I was doing. "That one is deeper than than the others but it'll close."

Thank the Goddess.

I stood up to face her. She was okay. Relief hit me like a dam breaking, flooding every inch of me. I took a deep breath. “What the hell were you thinking? Just walking into the Alpha compound like that? I thought we agreed you weren’t going to do that!”

“No,” Mai glared at me, pulling down her shirt, “you agreed. And you can talk! Why are you even here? I told you not to come.”

“Of course I was coming.” I was yelling now. Not able to help myself.

“You never listen to me, Ryan!”

“I never listen? Mai, you’re the one who took off without talking to me! You left me a note, Mai. A fucking note!”

We were face to face, our noses almost touching, the tension and worry of the past hours spilling over in a torrent of words and emotions. It was chaotic, it was heated, and it was the most “us” thing that could have happened.

Just then, a loud cough interrupted us. We both turned to find Jase, now in human form, standing awkwardly, blood from a wound in his side leaking down his leg and his modesty barely covered by some strategically placed foliage.

“You know, if you two are done yelling at each other, I could really use some clothes before I freeze my cute-as-hell ass off out here.”

Chapter forty-four

Mai

Ryan’s car was back at the cabin. He carried Jase, who was none too pleased about it. Jase was still in a lot of pain, though he was trying hard not to show it.

“Hey, you’re gonna be okay,” I assured him.

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