Page 32 of Stealing Sloane

The third man, caught by surprise, lunged at Sloane, but she was too quick as she delivered a kick to his face. She then ducked and rolled away, and Jacob extended his hand, shooting a fireball straight at the man. He let out a bloodcurdling scream as the flames engulfed him, the dark alley filling with a bright glow.

“J-Jacob,” Sloane choked as she limped toward him. “What … what did you …” The expression on her face was that of awe and disbelief. “You can make fire shoot out of your hands?”

“Yeah. I also can’t be burned and can extinguish any fire I create.” With a snap of his fingers, the fires disappeared, leaving only three half-burned, writhing bodies around them. Their Lycan metabolism would prevent them from dying, but it would take days before they could heal properly. Until then, they would be in a lot of pain.

Serves them right.

“I—oomph!” Sloane slamming against his torso knocked the wind out of him. Her arms came around him, tightening the embrace.

“I thought … that you’d ….”

“It’s all good, Sweet Stuff,” he soothed, crushing her even closer to him. “We’re fine.”

“What do we do now?” she murmured against his side. Her nose wrinkled distastefully from the smell of burning flesh and hair around them.

His heart clenched at how vulnerable and afraid she looked. It was totally unlike her, and he never wanted to see her like this again. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.”

Jacob’s first call was to his father, Quinn Martin, who was one of the senior partners at Lone Wolf Security. He arrived with another one of his uncles, Daric, who was actually a warlock married to his Aunt Meredith. One of Daric’s powers was teleportation, which is how they managed to get to Blood Moon minutes after Jacob’s call. His father instructed him to bring Sloane to the office, which was thankfully only a few blocks away. “We’ll take care of these guys,” Quinn had said, referring to the three Lycans on the ground, who were still writhing in pain. “We dropped Killian off at the office, so he’ll let you in.”

They made quick work of the ten blocks or so between Blood Moon and the Lone Wolf offices, and soon they arrived. Uncle Killian was already there and ushered them into his office.

“Thank you,” Sloane said as she accepted the hot tea his uncle offered her.

“Do you need anything else?” Killian asked, his keen violet eyes narrowing at Sloane.

“No, I’m good.” Her hands trembled as she took a sip from the cup.

Killian sat down on the couch across theirs. “Tell me what happened.”

Sloane looked down at her cup and remained silent, so Jacob spoke. “After we got back from Toronto, St. Vincent, Blake, and I went to Blood Moon. Oh shit!” He slapped his forehead. “I forgot about them. The fire alarm?—”

“Was a false one,” Killian explained. “The Beta’s already down there, investigating what happened. According to her, someone had pulled the fire alarm. There was some panic from the customers, and a few had bruises and cuts, but no serious injuries.”

“It must have been those guys who pulled it. To create chaos and force us out.” He gritted his teeth. “Sloane and I after … I mean, we heard the alarm, and so I led her to the emergency exit in the staff area. Those guys must have followed us and then subdued us, but I managed to torch them.”

“I knew someone was watching me at the club. They were sent by Ronan,” Sloane said.

“Are you sure?”

“That’s what they said,” Jacob said.

“No Lycan can simply just walk into another Lycan’s territory without permission,” Killian said.

“There weren’t from the clan.” Sloane’s nostrils flared. “If he needed anything done outside Boston, he often hired Lone Wolves.”

“I’m sure if you checked their bodies once they healed, you’ll find their tattoos,” Jacob added.

Killian clasped his hands together and rested his chin on his fingers. “If you’re right, then that means Forte knows Sloane is here.”

“He’ll keep trying to get to me.” Sloane set her cup on the coffee table with an audible clatter. “I need to get out of New York.”

“No way.” His wolf, too, protested with a growl. “You’re not going out on your own. You’ll be even more vulnerable by yourself. What if I hadn’t been with you tonight?” The very thought of those assholes taking her away made his blood boil.

“You can’t stop me. Who do you think you are?” She shot to her feet. “I’m putting you—everyone here in danger by staying.”

He stood up, going toe to toe with her. “I’m going to keep you safe. Forte won’t even get another chance. I’ll burn anyone he sends to try to get you.”

“You can’t stop them all.”

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