Page 76 of Never Submit

“I never said you went overboard. I said you can’t shift and kick someone's ass in public like this.” She fixes her stare on the man. “Who do you think you are?”

I shift forward, catching her gaze, and she rolls her eyes at me.

“Not you, you psycho. Him.” She nudges him with the toe of her sneaker.

“He’s Andras’s delta. He followed you here. And planned to bring you back to his master.”

Something in Red changes. There’s a feral grace in her every move as she stalks closer, looming over the man and staring him dead in the face with a fierce glare. Something pushes up inside my chest, hammering at the inside of my ribs, and it takes me only a moment to realize what it is.

Pride.

The blonde woman is cuddled at Flora’s side despite the difference in their sizes, Flora slight and pregnant and the human thicker in the shoulders and bust. The human is still crying, but at least she’s not screaming anymore.

“You think you can come here and hurt the people I care about?” Red points a warning finger at the guy’s face but his left eye is too swollen to peel open to look at her.

A sob catches in his chest. “My master—” he begins.

“Your master isn’t my problem. I’d appreciate it if you’d stopmakingitmy problem.” In the next breath, Red lodgesher foot between his legs and the delta curls in on himself, his hand on his nuts.

Immediately, I’m throbbing and twitching, my dick ready to bury inside of her.

“Yes,” I hiss out. “Hit him again.”

I grab him by the shoulders and adjust him, ignoring the stench of his fear and pain, and reposition him to give her a better angle.

She sneers down at him before punching him in the chin hard enough for his head to snap back.

I’d stay there all day watching her bloody him if it means giving her a chance at retribution, if it brings a small amount of joy, pure and unadulterated, into her day. Whatever she wants. I’ll give it to her.

I’m powerless against this beautiful creature.

She stops, straightens, and smoothes back a few strands of hair that have escaped from her dark ponytail. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Well, there’s always disemboweling,” I offer.

She snaps her gaze to mine. “Not funny, Dax. If they followed me all the way here then there will be more of them coming. Andras isn’t going to stop.”

“He’s after the Moonstone,” I say, unnecessarily.

Red wraps her arms around her torso, shaking, and her scent tells me it’s from the cold and not from fear. A little bit of tension eases from my chest.

“Renee? Can you please explain to me what’s happening? Are werewolves…real?”

A trembling female voice sounds from the left and I glance over, nostrils flaring. I recognize her now. It’s the woman from the house, where I first fucked Red. I lift my brows at her, staring.

How did I not notice it before?

Imust be getting soft, weak, distracted.

“Carrigan.” Red deflates. “I’m so sorry. I’ll explain everything, I promise. Just not here. Or now.”

“Sweetheart, she’s right. The story is too big for us to tell on the street.” Flora is a much better nurturer than any of us. She smoothes a hand down Carrigan’s temple.

My friend is absolutely uncomfortable, struggling to pull herself together, her eyes flicking between us wildly.

“It might be best if you come with us,” Flora adds.

I shrug. “Or we can kill her and be done with it. She is a liability now.”