Page 22 of Untamed Instincts

But Quinton couldn’t let himself be distracted from the issue at hand. “How much, hon?”

A knock on the door caused Noah to tense. Quinton cursed under his breath at Ryker’s and Killian’s terrible timing. While he appreciated them making a coffee and pastries run, they could have been just a little slower with their delivery.

“It’s just my sons,” he reassured his mate, running a comforting hand down his back. “They brought us some pastries and coffee.”

With a slight lean to the side, Quinton opened the door.

But it wasn’t them.

Two men and one woman barged into the living room, with the burly men heading straight for Quinton while the sleek woman went after Noah. His mate shouted and struggled as she grabbed him, trying frantically to get her off of him.

Reacting quickly, Quinton slammed the dark-haired man against the wall with a savage snarl before grabbing the bald one by the throat. With a powerful swing, he hurled Baldy, sending him crashing into the female who was trying to drag Noah away.

Not only were the intruders incredibly strong, but they also had different scents. Quinton could detect that the males were lion shifters while the female was a cheetah shifter.

“Get your fucking hands off him!” Quinton roared, unwilling to reveal the fact Noah was his mate. Toro would take great pleasure in torturing Noah to get revenge for the beatdown Quinton had given the vampire just six months prior.

Extending his claws, Quinton growled ferociously as he gutted the dark-haired man, desperate to get to his mate. Noah was fighting back, but as a human against a shifter ten times stronger than him, he didn’t stand a chance.

Baldy broke free and drove his claws deep into Quinton’s back.

“No!” Noah screamed, fighting to get to him. “Let me go! Quinton!” But the female had her arm tightly wrapped around Noah’s waist, easily carrying him out of the door.

In a desperate move, Quinton slammed backward, crushing the lion shifter against the wall, causing the man’s claws to sink even deeper.

Yanking forward, Quinton twisted to the side and grabbed the man behind him, dragging him from his back to his front. The son of a bitch’s claws was covered in Quinton’s blood.

“You’re going to take me to her.” Consumed with rage, he seized the lion shifter by the neck and dragged him out of the apartment, praying the woman hadn’t gotten far. If she’d succeeded in getting away, Quinton would never see his mate again.

The thought was too unbearable to contemplate. It had only been ten short hours since he’d met Noah, and he hadn’t even had the chance to claim his mate, to solder their souls and seal their bond.

Quinton stopped when he saw the cheetah shifter backpedaling toward him in the hallway, Ryker and Killian snarling as they slowly advanced on her.

They made an imposing sight.

“Guess I don’t need your help after all.” Quinton tore out the lion shifter’s heart then let him drop to the floor. He then focused all his attention on the woman who had her claws to Noah’s throat.

“Tell your lapdogs to back off or I’ll kill the human.” She sneered at Quinton, glancing over her shoulder.

In a flash, Quinton had her in his grasp, snapping her arm back until he heard bones breaking. She screamed as Killian swiftly ushered Noah into his apartment. The neighbors were sure to call the cops with the loud commotion outside their doors, but Quinton refused to take her inside Noah’s home. His mate had been through enough trauma already. Noah didn’t need his attempted abductor in the same apartment with him.

Ryker set the tray of coffee and the bag of what smelled like a mixture of muffins and Danishes on the floor before covering her mouth with his hand.

“Bitch, you wouldn’t be in this situation if you hadn’t let Toro manipulate you into doing his dirty work,” Ryker snarled at her, baring his canines. “Now shut up. You’re disturbing the neighbors.”

Quinton heard the creak of a door opening behind him, followed by a sharp gasp and then the slam of the door. Despite not wanting to cause a disturbance in his mate’s apartment building, Noah’s safety was his main concern.

“Take her downstairs,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “The police should be arriving soon. Send them up when they get here.”

“Why do I have to take out the trash?” Ryker grumbled as he pulled the woman away from Quinton.

“Because I need to check on Noah.” He gave his son a meaningful look, silently telling him not to reveal the human was his mate in front of the cheetah shifter.

With an irritated groan, Ryker puffed out a breath. “Fine, but y’all better not touch my muffins.”

He dragged the woman behind him like a child struggling with a heavy backpack. The loud thud of her hitting each step echoed throughout the quiet hallway.

Quinton started toward Noah’s unit, only to remember the dead body on the floor a few feet behind him, the heart ripped out. Since he couldn’t just leave the corpse lying there, he leaned against the wall and waited on the deputies.

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