Page 8 of Bee's Enraged Beast

I headed toward the industrial area, the taste of her blood still on my tongue. I struggled to free my mind from thoughts of her so I could focus on finding her. I had no idea what she looked like. This woman who was mine. I only knew I had to find her before they took her from me. Permanently.

East had been a general direction. The roads wound as I followed them into the industrial section of town. Some buildings were obviously in use. Well-lit parking lots were filled with activity. I knew my mate wouldn’t have been taken to one of those places so I kept driving, waiting to find the rundown section Walt had mentioned. There was no missing it either. From one block to the next, you saw where businesses had folded up or moved out. Broken windows, unlocked gates that tilted against the pavement, and myriad graffiti advertising desertion like neon signs.

I pulled my truck behind one of the neglected buildings, parking out of sight before stepping from the cab and stripping to the skin. From here, I’d let my wolf take hold. My mate’s scent would be easier to follow when I gave the animal free rein. I didn’t know how far ahead of me they’d been. In my hurry to get to my mate, I’d forgotten to ask how long ago she’d been taken. Not too long, going by the freshness of the blood I still tasted on my tongue. Blood Benji would pay for. My mate’s blood.

I slipped easily into the light brown coat of my other half. Dropping to all fours as my body shifted and changed. I lifted my head to the night sky and let my howl sound, warning to anything around me. It was the only warning I would give. Anything that stood between my mate and me would be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Except for the man who’d taken her, who’d drawn her blood. Him I’d take my time with, exacting retribution one red drop at a time.

I inhaled deeply, sorting through the scents filling the air until I found the one I wanted. Locking in on it, I spoke to her in my mind. A promise that I was on my way. The response was instantaneous and almost knocked me on my ass. Her voice echoed in my head as if she were right beside me. No, as if she were inside me or I was inside her.

“Blood. Death. He comes for justice but will settle for nothing less than vengeance for what you’ve done. Hurt for hurt. Pain for pain.”

Me. She was giving her captors a warning about me. I caught a brief glimpse of her. Too brief. Pale skin against clouds of long, dark hair with a metal chain wrapped at one ankle. One moment, I stared into her pale, blue eyes. The next, I swear, I stared out of them. She moved her gaze around, sharing a glimpse of where she’d been taken. She paused here and there as if trying to give me details to help narrow my search for her. Her gaze focused on Benji, who held another woman by her hair as she knelt before him, begging. Then my mate’s gaze bounced among his friends. She made sure I knew who was there in the room with her, who needed to be punished. What she didn’t know, couldn’t know, was that I’d already been hunting them. If only I’d caught up to them sooner.

I’m coming for you. I whispered the thought to her, not questioning the connection we’d managed to make. Then I ordered her gaze back to Makers and my words poured from her lips.

“I’m coming for you. You sealed your fate when you took her. I’m going to bruise you. Break you. Make you bleed. Isn’t that what you told my mate?” The words spilled forth as she shared them with me. I’d rip the motherfucker in half. Shred him until nothing remained but blood and gore.

“No one can save you now. I’m coming for you.” My final warning to Makers. There was no place he could go that I wouldn’t find him. Nothing less than his death would satisfy me now. Then I was looking at my mate again, and I gave her my solemn vow before our connection was severed as quickly as it had formed. “Coming for you.”

I willed my strength to fill her, but she was gone too quickly for me to know if she’d felt it, received it. My lips peeled back from my teeth and vicious snarls spilled from me as I took off. I’d gone less than a hundred feet when her screams filled my head. Black rage consumed me, nearly taking my feet out from under me. Shaking it away, I focused on getting to her, on stopping them.

I howled again as I closed in on where her scent was strongest. I saw the SUV they’d taken her away in, smelled the metallic scent of her blood that stained the inside. I dashed for the door and the man standing outside it, looking to make an escape from the screams echoing from indoors. Her screams. One vicious bite and the one they called Mullins was on the ground writhing in pain, arms wrapped around his torn and dislocated knee. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would incapacitate him until I could get back to take care of him. Right now, my mate was my priority.

Mullins had left the door ajar and managed to kick it wider during his roll on the ground. I ducked inside, following the grunts and cries of my mate. I encountered two more of Benji’s cohorts about twenty-five feet inside the door. I took them down hard, ripping the throat out of the first one before remembering my promise to make them suffer. I grabbed the other by the shoulder and flung him against the wall like a rag doll. He didn’t move but I knew from the rise of his chest that I hadn’t killed him. Death would come later, and it wouldn’t be easy.

Now that I’d discarded them, I could see what they’d been focused on. There was a naked woman on the floor. Blood trickled from her mouth and nose, and each breath was a harsh gasp. I didn’t have time to pause, though. Help would have to wait. Even now, my mate’s pain washed through me. I glanced over just as Makers snapped her wrist. Still, she fought with uncoordinated movements that did little to thwart her attacker. She didn’t give up, though. She was the definition of courageous.

As I moved toward her, Benji landed another blow. One that had her gasping, and from her expression, the oxygen wasn’t reaching her lungs. I stopped at her side, nudging her with my paw even as I locked my jaws around the arm hanging uselessly at Makers side. I added fierce to the list of my mate’s attributes. I jerked hard on his arm and reveled in the way he screamed.

I tugged and pulled, not caring when I heard the rip of muscle and tendon. His arm was the least of his worries. I dragged him from my mate. He punched at me with his good fist, trying to gain his freedom, but it wasn’t happening. I might have only caught a brief glimpse of my mate, but it had been long enough to note every ounce of damage done to her. Had I needed to find her once she’d fully healed, I’d never recognize her by looks alone. Yet, she was the most beautiful woman in the world to me.

I attacked Makers with a vengeance. One part of my brain knew I needed to keep him alive. The other part was ready to show him exactly what happened when someone laid hands on my mate. Bloodlust settled over me as the wolf took full control. With every bite and swipe of my claws, I saw my mate in my mind. Covered in blood. Gasping for breath. I was going for his throat when the sound of someone screaming my name finally penetrated the fog of anger.

“Han! Han, you’re going to kill him! Stop!”

I blinked before turning my head and taking in Cici. What the hell was she doing here? I took in the area around her. Alone. She was supposed to be with Walt, waiting on the James Pack to arrive. She wasn’t supposed to be was here with me, in the midst of utter chaos, blood, and gore.

She dropped to her knees beside my mate. “Oh, god, Han. She’s out cold. I think her wrist is broken, and going by angle alone, her leg also. There’s so much blood. Her side.” Cici swallowed, gaze bouncing between me and my mate. “We need help. She needs help.”

I left Makers in a pool of blood. He’d passed out at some point, and I growled at the thought I could have killed him without him being cognizant of what was happening. I wanted him to know he was going to die. Wanted to see the fear and terror he’d inflicted on others reflected in his gaze. I padded over to Cici and my mate. Cici reached out and ran her fingers through my fur as if I weren’t the scariest thing she’d ever seen. I knew blood dripped from my mouth and matted in my fur. I hated her seeing me this way. Hated her being a part of this side of me. Then I forgot about her as light, blue eyes blinked open and linked with mine. Those eyes were my lifeline. My future.

“You…came…for me.”

Her words were slow and sluggish as if she were having trouble getting her lips and tongue to cooperate. I tried to respond, but nothing came out but snarls and rumbles, reminding me I was still in my wolf skin.

“Stay with her,” Cici ordered, rising and pulling her phone from her pocket. “I’ll call Simon again. He’s with the James Pack. I told them where we are. They should have been here by now. Where the hell are they?” Her gaze moved around the room, cataloguing everyone. “I’ve got to head outside. My phone isn’t getting a signal in here. I’ll run out to my car and be right back. I’ve got some spare clothes for you, too. I’ll grab them.”

I barely paid attention to her, other than to note she was calling the James Pack again. Which meant she’d reached out to them, though she obviously hadn’t waited as I’d ordered her to. She and I were going to have another long talk when this was over.

My mate groaned, pulling my full attention to her. I nudged her shoulder with my snout then licked over her cheek, getting another taste of her blood. Soon, we’d mate. When she was stronger, healed.

She blinked her beautiful, blue eyes up at me. Eyes clouded with pain. I growled low in my throat, the sound vibrating through my chest as anger surged anew within me. She reached for me with her good hand while the other lay cradled along her stomach. Her lips opened and closed several times before she managed to force out a word.

“You…” The single word rasped from her throat. I laid my muzzle over her lips to silence her and felt the kiss she gave me all the way to my soul.

I shifted, taut skin and bulging muscle replacing fur until I crouched beside her. I wanted to lift her in my arms, to carry her away from here to a safe place where she could shift and let her wolf heal her. Instead, I reached for the chain, snapping it open with my bare hands. They’d chained her like a fucking animal.

“Shh,” I urged when she tried to speak again. “We’ll get you out of here. Let you shift.”

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