Page 29 of Rescuing Red

“Hold tight. I’ll run for a few miles, then set you down when we get closer.”

She clung to his shoulders and buried her face in his chest, using his masculine scent to fortify and soothe her senses.

“Blaide?”

“Yes, my sweet little Red?”

“No matter what happens, thank you. I never thought I’d have a mate, but now that I have you, I wish I’d found you sooner.”

His steps faltered at the sincerity in her voice. Liz nearly melted into a puddle as his purr rumbled into her side, the overwhelming awe and joy he felt for her too much to process at one time.

“I don’t deserve you, Liz, but I can’t live without you. Once we’ve gotten Nana to safety, I’m going to rut you for days. Knot you for weeks. Pamper you for months. Worship you for years. I need you, little Red. You’re my everything.”

The fear threatening to derail her thoughts could no longer reach her anymore.

She had a big, bad alpha mate to protect her.

No one would stop them from their mission. They were going to find Nana and get her to safety, no matter what it took. Blaide would have no less. Liz couldn’t wait to see her nana somewhere safe, especially since now it also meant she could learn more about her alpha.

Yet the closer they got to the smoke, the tighter her stomach got.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Chapter 18

Blaide

Too many things warred for his attention at once.

Liz’s worry and need to get to her grandma pulled at him, but his own worry of running into enemy troops topped it. He was careful to keep her turned away from the south, where he’d spotted aircraft chasing each other above the treetops. It would only worry her more.

He was familiar with both the black and yellow ship and the silver and red, and while it was a relief to see the commander had finally arrived with their own troops, he knew they wouldn’t be close enough to help yet. They would secure and reinforce the city first, likely trying to wait out the enemy before sweeping along the ground to clear out any that remained after their cannons took down or dispersed the ships.

Blaide slowed as the smoke grew thicker, his vision limited too much to keep running. Setting Liz on her feet once more, he gripped her hand tight, ready to throw himself between her and anything that appeared. As they crept closer to the village, he wished he’d convinced her to stay at her grandmother’s house,the scent of fear and blood growing enough to coat the back of his throat and reanimate memories he’d rather keep dormant.

This wasn’t the first ruined community he’d checked for survivors. The sight of the first broken building was enough to let him know what happened, and a twisted sort of relief flooded through him. The only thing that could cause enough damage to collapse a building was cannon fire from a ship hovering above, which meant he shouldn’t have to worry about ground troops just yet, though they wouldn’t be far behind. It was the enemy’s typical invasion tactic: attack from above before releasing foot soldiers to kill the rest.

His lips flattened into a thin line as they moved through the rubble, the breeze stirring the smoke enough to keep him on edge as shadows moved within. Liz’s hand trembled in his and he did his best to send assurances through their bond, but the memories flooding him made it difficult to be optimistic. The last time he’d been in a situation like this, he’d had to be dug out of a collapsed building while his unit was under fire. Their loyalty to each other was all that had saved him when the rest of their fighters had pulled back.

A figure stumbled into view on the street ahead of them and a growl burst from Blaide’s chest before he had time to stop it. He had a knife in hand before he realized from the smudged ash and grime that this was a local.

“Please, we need help. The school collapsed with people inside.”

It took a moment for the male’s words to penetrate through the adrenaline flooding Blaide’s system, but Liz pulled herself back to his side and forced him to focus.

“We’re looking for my nana. She lived near here. Looks like me with different coloring.”

She pulled them closer to the man as she spoke, and Blaide had to bite back his grumble of irritation as the man’s eyes grazed over her before he gave a nod.

“Clarette was keeping the children safe in the school basement. She’s in there with them.”

Liz’s hand flew to her mouth, a fresh surge of panic flooding from her as she turned to look up at Blaide. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, he pushed out a purr as his attention moved back to the man in front of them.

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Yesterday morning. We’ve been doing our best to dig them out after we gathered the survivors, but we need more help. We don’t have many alphas. Please.”

Blaide nodded and straightened his shoulders, releasing Liz as she wiped fresh tears from her eyes and swallowed back her sobs.

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