Page 35 of Psycho Beasts

Ascher’s tattooed fingers wrapped around my arm for support, and we both pretended not to notice how badly he was shaking.

Sadie latched onto Ascher’s arm as Xerxes held her upright on her other side.

I held Cobra carefully against my chest and tried not to jostle him while I lent the other’s support.

When we finally got out into the rainy night, Cobra’s long black lashes fluttered open.

Neon lights reflected off his pale skin.

Piercing emerald eyes stared up at me as the rain rinsed the blood from the open cuts on his stunning face.

“Thank you,” his sinful lips mouthed.

An alpha purr rumbled through my chest in response.

Cobra chuckled softly. Then the bastard snuggled his head against my bicep like he wasn’t a grown six-foot-five warrior.

My heart beat harder in my chest.

I loved that about him. Ruled by his baser urges and living by a code of ethics that no one else understood, Cobra was refreshingly different.

He didn’t need to act strong; he just was. There was something intoxicating about a man who didn’t pretend to be someone he wasn’t.

Cobra was completely relaxed in my arms, trusting me to take care of him when he was at his most vulnerable.

At any other time, I would have marveled at the noise shaking through my chest. Everyone knew alphas only purred for omegas. Not other alphas.

I was too exhausted and worried about Cobra to care.

His long sooty lashes rested delicately against his high cheekbones, and he smiled contentedly.

The two alphas and omega clinging to me for support said nothing as my chest continued to purr.

We slowly limped down the street as a unit.

Anyone who tried to harm them messed with me, and you didn’t want to cross a centuries-old alpha bear who had people to protect.

I’d raze the realm.

Chapter 7

Xerxes

FALLING FOR YOU

I lay awkwardly on the cramped floor of the sports car, with Sadie sprawled flush across me.

A soft hum shook through her chest, a cross between a light snore and a low growl.

She was alpha-purring.

As soon as we’d collapsed into the car, she’d closed her eyes and slept.

Now, heart rattling in my chest, I tightened my arms across her delicate back. My face twitched, and I didn’t know if I wanted to smile or pull out my knives and snarl.

Because every time I looked down at Sadie purring softly against my chest, I wanted to murder someone.

Her delicate golden skin was mottled with hideous black, blue, and green bruises. Both her gorgeous red eyes were puffy and swollen shut.