Page 61 of Vengeful Mates

Aaliyah jumped in, “Dash, you said you were engaged, and your fiancée was at work.”

“Engaged?” Sarah huffed. “More like matched at the moon ceremony and dumped right after it. But this jealous bitch couldn’t handle me being promised to a rival pack to settle a territory dispute.” Each word seethed with fury at her rebuff.

Dash reddened with fury at being insulted in front of his colleagues. “That’s enough, Sarah.”

But it didn’t silence his mate. She was every bit the Alpha he was and wouldn’t be muzzled. “You greedy bastard! You didn’t want me, but you won’t let anyone else have me.”

Awkwardness strangled the air. Aaliyah sensed these two needed a healing and got to work impregnating her magick into them both to bring the resentment down. The effect was instantaneous, angry heat subsiding to dull flames. Dash’s stiff shoulders and back softened, and Sarah’s constant snarl and flaming eyes vanished.

Slade made a slow, frustrated swipe of his beard and jaw. “Dash, I don’t think I have to tell you how bad this looks. We just emerged with our tails burned from some heat from the cops. If they find out you’ve kidnapped someone, that could bring a lot of heat to us that we don’t need when we’ve just opened the Lithgow chapter.”

“I’ll deal with this matter after the run,” Dash promised. “I’m keeping her here because she’s not safe.”

“You keep saying that but won’t explain why.” Sarah forgot about the impact of the iron bars against her shifter skin, grabbed the metal, regretting it and releasing her palms. She held in her whimper and shook her hands. “Damn it.”

“Here, honey. I can heal you.” Aaliyah went to Sarah, inserting her arms through the bars, holding out her palms.

Sarah warily gave her hands over, and Aaliyah treated the burned skin. The shifter stroked the healed flesh and gave a tight smile to my mate.

Slade speared his hair. “Fuck. We don’t have time to deal with this bullshit. We’ve got business to attend to.”

Aaliyah went to him and massaged his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll stay and watch over her.”

Sarah’s anger returned with blazing glory. “I’m not staying here! My father will be distraught. I have to call him and let him know I’m alive.”

Slade’s feral eyes harpooned her. “You’ll stay here until Dash says it’s safe for you to leave.”

“Fuck you.” The woman had spunk, but she wouldn't win a battle with Slade. Only Aaliyah did.

Slade marched up to the bars, towering over the feisty Alpha. “Say that to me again, and you won't be leaving alive.”

Sarah didn’t back down or show him weakness. A woman like her was used to standing up to men and telling them what to do.

Dash got between them, putting a hand on the president’s chest, and nudging him back. “We’ll deal with this later, Slade.”

“You bet we fucking will.” Slade caught Aaliyah by the elbows. “Look after her, will you? No one’s to touch her or hurt her. Anyone that tries, you fucking cancer them to death or some shit.”

“Yes, Mr. Vincent.” Aaliyah smiled at him, the bond wound tight with concern, her earlier illness a thing of the past. “I’ll hold down the fort while you get on the road.”

“Good.” Slade squeezed her ass in front of everyone. “Dash, let your mate out and let’s get back to business.”

Author’s note:This plot point will be contained inHeartless Wolf,Dash and Sarah’s story.

CHAPTER21

Slade

Go time.Show on the fucking road. Back in business. No more Wolves to interfere in our enterprise and make cheap knockoffs of our product. Fuck those cheap imitations of Pharaoh. The Jackals were bringing the good shit to town, wiping out our competition with the healthiest damn drug in the world. Zero side effects. If the cops tested it, they’d find zero prohibited substances or anything with the potential for overdosing. That wouldn’t stop them from attempting to arrest us for trafficking an illegal substance though.

Things were a bit touch and go at the Lithgow club for a moment there. At discovering my new president held his fated mate captive in his basement, I worried Dash’s drama might throw everything into chaos, forcing us to cancel our plans. If it wasn’t for Aaliyah bringing me back down with her calming powers, I might have burned that fucking basement to the ground and done a number on Dash.

I was pissed at Dash for backing me into a corner like that. Surprising me in front of his men. Furious at our new brothers for keeping that secret from me. So far, we weren’t off to a goddamn good start. I swear to fucking Set that asshole Dash better have a good reason for that shit, otherwise I’d fire his ass.

To add insult to injury, my mate wasn’t feeling well, and threw up in the bathroom. Rather than send her home to rest, she had to stay and babysit Dash’s fucking mate and prevent her from escaping. I trusted my old lady to handle business while we were gone, but after she didn’t want to be part of the club, it wasn’t fair to ask this of her. In this case, she offered, and there better not be a fucking next time.

To cover for her absence, Zethan had to pick Mia up for school and watch her after school while Castor managed the club in my absence. If shit hit the fan, it wasn’t like I could call him away from our kid to rescue our asses or perform another task.

Sweat trickled down my collar and the back of my neck. Normally, I flourished on heat, but today, my anger got the better of me. I needed to calm the fuck down before I did something rash.

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