Page 64 of Brutal Mate

“What?” he growled at her. “We haven't got all day.”

“Thank you,” she said, shrugging as her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. “For coming for me.”

Kane's lips twitched in the beginning of a smile. “Don't thank me. We aren't out of the woods just yet. Come on.”

With that, he turned and shifted, pausing only long enough to be sure she was following before he started to hurry down the hallway.

Miley couldn't help but admire him as they went. His wolf was huge, twice the size if not more than her own, and his coat was such a glossy gray-black that it looked like an oil slick, dancing in the light as he moved.

The muscles that rippled beneath that coat were just as impressive as the ones that rippled beneath his tattooed skin in human form, and watching him stride into the hallway at the bottom of the stairs to meet several opponents was magnificent.

He wasted no time in taking them on. Whether he knocked them out or killed them, Miley couldn't be entirely sure. Either way, they didn't get back up.

When three more wolves appeared from various corners of the house, Miley gulped, unsure whether or not Kane would be able to dispatch another three at once.

But when, instead of attacking, they dipped their heads to him, Miley breathed a sigh of relief.

Who they were, she didn't know, but when she breathed in, she oddly recognized the scents that hit her nose. That would take some getting used to, but already their scents were sticking in her mind, making her feel safer.

With four werewolves surrounding her, she was beginning to feel as if she were home-free already.

That's when things seemed to take a turn for the worst all over again.

The man who stepped through the open front door was all too familiar. He snarled with laughter as he stepped into the hall with several men and wolves at his back.

“Did you honestly think you could come in here, kill half my men, release my new wolves, and we would just let you walk right on out?” Christopher said, glowering at Kane and the others. His gaze fell on the largest wolf as he added, “You, Jack Blackwell, are a dead wolf. And so are your friends.”

Miley's stomach twisted.

“I'll kill you all and use your pelts to decorate the walls of Nightstar Manor once I've taken the town and rid it of every last human!” Christopher continued.

Nausea overwhelmed Miley. Just the thought of Kane's glorious pelt pinned to some wall in the manor made her angry as hell.

Kane whimpered as if warning her to be calm, but she couldn't.

Christopher's words had done it. They'd frightened her. More than that, they'd angered her wolf. The beast ripped right out of Miley in an instant, so fast that the blanket was left shredded behind her.

Seconds later, she had thrown herself at Christopher with no fear whatsoever.

Kane howled. Jack howled. The others howled. And suddenly, as Miley barreled into Christopher and right out the door, the others threw themselves at his men and wolves, keeping them off her.

Miley had never felt so damn powerful before. She had Christopher on his back in an instant, pinning him to the porch floor with her paws jammed against his chest.

Instinct took over and she raised her head, baring her teeth, ready for a killing blow.

But she paused when Christopher's gaze caught hers. There was no fear in his eyes. Why? He was still in human form, about to have his throat ripped out by a wolf, and yet there was no fear in his eyes.

Surely he had to be scared.

Her moment's hesitation was all it took.

Christopher's hand darted up and he grabbed her by the throat, crushing her windpipe with such strength that she started to gasp immediately.

She was about to die. She knew it. And yet, she oddly felt no fear. Behind her, Kane and the others battled on. At least she wasn't alone.

Christopher's feet slammed into her soft underbelly then, and suddenly she was thrown clear of the porch.

All the air was knocked from her lungs the second she hit the dusty floor.

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