Page 6 of Gabe's Lone Wolf

“What do you mean?” Taylor leaned in. “Are you in trouble?”

A quick nod.

“Are any of you Bastion James?”

“What do you want with Bas?” Simon demanded.

“Help.” She blew out a shaky breath. “I’m so damn tired,” she admitted softly, and I wasn’t even sure if she realized she’d spoken that last bit aloud.

She had everyone’s full attention.

“You are with the James Pack, though?” she asked, reiterating her earlier question.

“Yes,” I answered before anyone else could give a glib answer, though I doubted they would after her help request. “I’m Gabe. They’re Simon, Taylor, and Hannibal.” I pointed them out as I went around the table.

“And you are?” Simon beat me to the punch that time, as if he’d merely waited for me to finish introducing the four of us.

“Eliza. Eliza Blackwood. I’ve come a long way to ask for help.”

“What do you need help with?” Han asked.

She opened her mouth then tensed as the door opened behind us. I glanced behind me and took in the three men who’d entered. Rough. Mean. Their faces and body language screamed it, but only the middle guy’s face also showed hunger. As his gaze lasered in on us, I knew exactly who he was hungry for. The shudder that went through her told me she didn’t reciprocate anything he might feel.

With the four of us staring them down, they made their way to the bar. Still, the obvious leader of the trio kept his stare on the woman in my lap, and from the way his lips peeled back from his teeth, he didn’t like what he was viewing. Too bad.

I leaned in again and nuzzled her hair. When she glanced up at me, it was instinct to drop my lips to hers in a brief kiss. Hell, yes, I knew what I was doing. Marking my territory for the pricks at the bar to see. For all the wolves in the bar to see. Eliza was mine. I felt it in every fiber of my being.

Mate. She was the mate I’d been waiting for.

“Want to tell us about the trouble that just strolled in?” Simon prompted.

“Cameron Lockhart and two of his most trusted.”

“Who are they?” I asked.

“Cameron is the alpha of my former pack,” she admitted.

“Why is your former alpha hunting you?” Han asked conversationally.

“Because he’s an arrogant alphahole who thinks he owns me.”

“What do you think?” Taylor asked.

“I’ve been running for years. It’s taken everything I have to stay one step ahead of him and those he has watching for me.”

“On your own?” It drove me nuts to think of her alone, with no one to help her.

“I’ve had help here and there, but for the most part, I’ve learned to avoid other wolf packs. Some feel it’s their job to return you to your alpha, regardless of what you want or what he wants from you.”

There was fire in Taylor’s gaze, but I knew it burned hotter in mine. I wanted to walk over and tear apart that bastard with my bare hands. Only her weight in my lap kept me seated.

“Yet here you are,” I reminded her. “Seeking the James Pack and asking for help. Why?”

“I was told to find Bastion James or his mate Raina. Told that I’d find help from your pack.” Her gaze landed on my face and stayed there. “I’m glad I came.”

So was I. I’d be even happier when we came together, with me buried deep inside her. I needed to shove those thoughts aside for now and focus on why she was here. Help.

“Told? By whom?” Han was the one who commented on her last words.

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