Page 158 of Roaring Flames

I jerk myself back to awareness, wiping away the sludgy remnants of Kain’s words as if he physically threw them at me.

“I need to get the kids to safety. Only then will the shifters be willing to fight.”

“Go.” Ashton begins to remove his belt. “I’m going to secure him to a tree. We might be able to get more answers out of him later.”

“Be careful.”

Ashton wets his lip with a sound of regret. He doesn’t meet my stare as he begins to drag Kain’s limp body towards the nearest tree.

At first, I don’t think he’s going to acknowledge what I said, but as I begin to hurry back the way I came, I hear his voice, soft and unsure, “You too.”

Fifty-Six

EMERY

“Let me out of this room, Reid,” I snarl, balling my hands into fists.

The enormous asshole simply crosses his arms over his chest and scowls at me. “No.”

One word.

One fucking word, and I want to beat the ever-loving shit out of him.

My eye begins to honest-to-god twitch.

“No?” I mimic his stance, though my hands don’t uncurl.

Reid’s scowl could make a lesser man piss himself.

Fortunately, I’m immune to the irritable asshole.

“GODDAMMIT, REID!” I move to push past him, slamming my shoulder into his, but the stubborn fuck-face doesn’t even flinch.

The two of us are in some sort of closet in one of the houses—shelves line the walls, each one full of perfectly folded blankets and stacked pillows. Reid pulled me into it as soon as we saw the gunmen and hasn’t let me leave since.

“My mate is out there!” I jab a finger at the door. “My brother! My father! My mother! My sister!”

Reid’s scowl simply deepens, creating deep grooves around his mouth.

“Don’t you give a shit about what happens to them?” I continue. “Don’t you care about Izzy?”

That… That finally gets a reaction out of him. Anger burns to life in his hazel eyes, and his teeth audibly grind together.

But still, he doesn’t respond.

I throw my hands up in the air, cursing when they ram against a shelf overhead, and then lower my head. My wolf claws at my chest in a way he has never done before. He wants to be let out, wants to be able to protect his pack, family, and mate.

I know, buddy. I know.

When Reid speaks next, his voice is gruff—raspy with suppressed emotion. “Izzy, Ashton, and Ethan ran into the woods. You know that. Those…men didn’t come from the woods but the street. The three of them are safer than we are at the moment. And what do you think they would do if they saw us in danger?”

He shakes his head as if the prospect is too horrible to even consider.

Either way, he’s right, and his words take the wind out of my sails. My muscles loosen and my shoulders droop. Without a word, I fall to the ground, pull my knees up to my chest, and rest my forehead between them.

“I can’t lose them, man. I can’t,” I whisper.

I try to remember the last thing I said to Ethan, to Izzy, even to Ashton.

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