Page 44 of Owning His Mate

“It wasn’t easy to find you,” Beck adds, his expression granite. I deserve his anger. I’m not playing fair here. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but that place was kind of off the grid.”

That is an understatement. It was in the ass end of nowhere. I got the feeling it wasn’t their main center of operations. There weren’t enough guards there for a start.

“Who is the girl?” This question comes from Talia, who is running her hands over the barrel of her gun.

I watch as Savannah shrinks against Apryle, seeking protection even though my mate is still snoring.

“She’s not to be touched.” The growl in my voice surprises the others but mostly myself. I thought my protectiveness only spanned to Apryle, but she cares about this pup, and while she’s unable to keep Savannah safe, I will.

“I wasn’t going to lay a finger on her,” Talia says.

“You need to take up meditation or something because you have some breathtakingly uncontrolled anger issues.” This comes from Ayden.

He’s right, but all the incense sticks and calm breathing aren’t going to help. “I’m just making it clear,” I say.

“She’s tau.” Beck is stating the obvious. It’s unnecessary, because we can all tell what she is. Her scent is clear.

“She’s a scared little kid.”

“What tricks do you know?” Ayden asks her, and she scrunches her brow as she looks at me.

“Leave the girl alone, Ayden,” I mutter, wrapping my arms tighter around her and Apryle.

“Hey, I’m just thinking she may be able to do something awesome.”

She probably can. All the tau I’ve come across have a unique strength in one or two areas of magic.

I stare at Ayden, who sinks back against the panel, muttering under his breath.

For the rest of the journey, I sit silently, just waiting for Apryle to wake again.

It seems like it takes forever to reach the compound, and by the time the van eventually stops, whatever medication they gave me to stop the pain has worn off. There’s a nonstop throbbing in my side that is making it hard for me to focus.

I don’t move as the others around me do, and when the back door of the van is torn open, I squint against the bright sunshine.

Everyone else climbs out of the back while we’re surrounded by Apryle’s friends. Two of the girls, whose names I know are Roux and Tessa, are suddenly in our space, and it takes all my patience not to push them back.

“What happened?” Roux demands.

As her fingers cup Apryle’s face, her head wobbles as if she has no ability to support herself.

“She’s been drugged.”

Roux turns to the open back of the van to where her mate, Sawyer, is standing with their alpha, Cade. “Can you help me get her inside?”

Before he can move, I bare my teeth, letting out a low, feral growl. My wolf agrees, urging me to do whatever it takes to keep everyone away from our mate.

“Down, boy!” Sawyer smirks. “No one is going to hurt your mate, and believe me, she’s more than capable of defending herself. Your female has claws she’s not afraid to use.”

Roux rolls her eyes, as if she’s used to this crap from him.

“Enough. Sawyer, play nice.”

“This is far more fun,” he pouts.

I’m contemplating all the ways to kill him without upsetting Apryle when Roux says to me, “We need to get her inside, so she can be taken care of.”

She means inside their building, away from me. That’s not happening. Apryle is not leaving me ever again.

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