Page 23 of Untamed Instincts

The pain in his back from getting stabbed with those claws was becoming so much worse. Quinton needed to shift into his bear so he could heal, but he couldn’t do that until this mess was dealt with. Hopefully the deputies showed up soon, because he could feel the blood trickling down his back to saturate the waistband of his jeans.

He could also smell the metallic scent of blood.

The pain was what he deserved for being so preoccupied with how much his mate owned some loan sharks that he’d opened the apartment door without checking first to see who had been knocking.

Quinton knew better. It was a careless mistake that could have cost Noah his life. If Ryker and Killian hadn’t shown up when they did, the cheetah would have gotten away with his mate.

Not five minutes before the knock, Quinton had stated vehemently that Toro wasn’t getting his hands on Noah, yet that was exactly what almost happened.

Quinton had suspected the vampire might have humans or some preternatural watching the place.

He hated when he was right.

Now he stood there slightly shaking at the close call—or possibly the blood he was steadily losing.

“Will you stop?” Noah came to the door, shrugging off Killian’s hand on his arm.

Normally, Quinton would be ready to kill his son for touching his mate, but he understood Killian was trying to prevent Noah from seeing the carnage.

“Please wait inside, hon.” Careful not to show how much pain he was in, Quinton moved to stand in front of the body, trying his best to block the massive hole in the guy’s chest from view. It was something his mate didn’t need to see.

“Will you get your paws off of me?” Noah narrowed his eyes at Killian.

Despite the gravity of the situation, a smile tugged at Quinton’s lips at his mate’s feistiness. Noah was human, was fully aware he was dealing with bear shifters, but that didn’t seem to matter to him.

“I would if you’d listen to me,” Killian argued. “Your mate wouldn’t want you out here where there’s danger.”

Noah jerked his hands toward the hallway. “Do you see any danger, aside from your dad?”

Killian glanced at Quinton with a shrug. “I tried, but your mate is stubborn as hell.”

Noah was going to get along fabulously with Hyett’s mate. Wesley was just as stubborn and sassy. “Killian, I need you to wait out here. Noah, I need you to turn around until he takes my place.”

Everything was spinning. If he didn’t get inside his mate’s apartment and shift, the neighbors were going to be even more freaked out than they probably already were.

Slowly, Noah’s gaze lowered to the floor, his eyes focused on the dead body behind Quinton. He paled and ran inside. Seconds later, Quinton could hear the man retching.

It was the last thing he heard before he hit the floor with a loud thud.

Chapter Six

“He’s going on a diet,” Killian grunted, struggling to lift Quinton’s heavy bear form with the help of Sheriff Dominic Harper, Deputy Denali Davis, and Ryker. They lifted Quinton's bear form from the hallway where he’d collapsed and carried him into Noah's small apartment.

The 700-pound bear took up most of the living room space, with its back against the couch and hindquarters reaching toward the kitchen doorway.

With Quinton lying there, the five of them were cramped and had little room to move around.

“What does your father eat?” Sheriff Harper wiped his brow with his arm. The sheriff was also a grizzly bear shifter—the largest in Midnight Falls before Killian’s family had moved to the small town—so if he was astonished at Quinton’s size and weight, that was saying something.

But Killian was more concerned about the fact his dad hadn’t mentioned being injured. He had smelled blood, but assumed it was from the two dead lion shifters Quinton had killed.

When his dad woke up, Killian planned on giving him a piece of his mind. Watching his father collapse right in front of him had been the most terrifying thing he’d ever seen.

Fathers weren’t supposed to crumple.

They were strong, invincible warriors who could take hit after hit and keep going. Or at least that was how Killian had always seen Quinton. Unstoppable.

But now, facing his father’s sleeping bear form, reality stared him in the face.

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