Page 12 of Brutal Mate

“I heard a scream,” Kane growled, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists. “Is everyone alright?”

Though he tried to examine everyone in the clearing, Kane’s eyes darted to one person in particular. Miley Peters looked as if she were trying to hide behind one of her friends, her gaze averted from his.

Was she hurt, or was she merely trying to avoid him after the awkwardness that morning?

He remembered all too well what it had felt like to be so close and alone with her in the alley on the high street.

He cleared his throat and again asked, “Is anybody hurt?”

And finally he managed to look at the whole group. Though they all looked shaken, not one of them appeared injured, and when he sniffed, he did not smell blood.

When they all started to shake their heads, Kane demanded, “What happened? Why did someone scream?”

“You wouldn't believe us if we told you,” one of the young men huffed, kicking the leafy ground with the toe of his boot.

That sounded like a lame excuse from somebody who didn't want to get into trouble.

“Try me,” Kane barked, his hands tightening to fists.

“There…there was a wolf,” a young woman of no more than seventeen said, clinging onto the man who had spoken first.

Out of experience and gut instant, Kane laughed. “You’re right. I wouldn't believe you,” he snarled, feeling a little claw of guilt in his stomach. “There aren't any wolves in these woods.”

“We know what we saw, sir!” the man insisted, though he dipped his head the second Kane glowered at him.

“I think it's time you all packed up and headed home,” Kane said through gritted teeth, gesturing at the nearest makeshift ashtray that had been made out of an old candy tin surrounded by half-empty bottles of beer. “Seems to me like all that smoking and drinking has gone to your heads.”

“I'm not drunk!” one of the women yelled, but another elbowed her in the ribs and the two giggled. They were most definitely drunk, and Kane could only hope that they were all drunk or high enough not to remember any of this in the morning, because the truth was, they had seen what they thought they had.

Kane could smell the wolf as if it were standing right next to him, but when he scanned the tree line at the top of the ravine, he saw nothing.

“You can't make us leave!” one of the men said, stepping forward. He was tall and fairly well built for a human, but he would be no match for Kane if he so much as tried to start a fight. Kane would put him on his ass before he had even finished the thought, and that was the problem. Kane could likely snap at least three of these guys like twigs before one of them managed to get a blow in. But that wouldn’t do anything for helping him and his pack fly under the radar.

So Kane stepped up to the man and loomed over him as he growled through gritted teeth, “I said leave. Now!”

He barked the final word when nobody made a move to go.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” a blonde-haired, blue-eyed muscular guy who looked like he was barely out of college demanded.

Kane didn't answer. Instead, he remained stock-still, glowering at the man with a sneer on his lips.

“How are you going to tell us to leave when there's fifteen of us and only one of you?” the first guy who had spoken asked.

Kane laughed at that. These guys were either brave or just plain stupid, maybe even both. There was a time when he had first shifted, and even before then, that he might have beaten the shit out of them just for the fun and thrill of it, just to see the terror in their faces because it made him feel powerful. But that was the old him, the him he had been long before he had joined the army, before black ops, before he had found Jack and actually had something to live for.

Now, just knowing he could put every one of those guys in the clearing on their ass was enough for him.

“I'm warning you,” Kane said with a clenched jaw. “Do not test me, or it will end badly for you.”

He tightened his hands into fists, fighting the urge to let his claws elongate.

“What are you going to do, old man?” the blonde guy demanded, and he had barely finished speaking before he shoved Kane hard in the chest.

Kane smirked with satisfaction when he saw the way the man's eyes widened. He had remained still as a statue. The guy was strong but not nearly as strong as a werewolf, and he looked absolutely horrified at being unable to move him. “What the fuck?”

It was then that the redhead swooped in like a guardian angel, barging her way between Kane and the little blonde fuck.

Kane never took his eyes off his target, but just the scent of her as she slipped in between them was enough to make his entire body tense up.

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