Page 140 of Feral Alphas

I hiccup as I nod. “Yes. He helped me when my heat started.”

“Good.”

My tears drip onto my arms as I press the cloth against his shoulder. The blood won’t stop seeping through the material, and I sniff back my snot, bitter whines vibrating in my throat. I need tokeep talking, to distract both of us. “He knows how to say kiss and sex now. And Rose.”

Luka grins. “Smart lad. Those would be my first choice of words too.”

I laugh through my tears and press my face to his neck, breathing in his scent. It’s peppered with a sharp tang of blood and pain. The gunshots and the screaming stop and I peer around the corner into the kitchen. Three mangled bodies lie on the floor where Kye stands dry heaving against the table. Zane darts out the back and I cringe as I think of all that broken glass under his bare feet.

Suddenly a shadow falls over me and I look up into Uno’s blood-covered chest. Before I can register, he lifts me under the arms and drags me backward. I scream as I lose contact with Luka, sliding on my heels through brick and plaster rubble.

My feral alpha drags me into the only place he knows, his cell, tucking me into the back corner before he dives his nose into my neck. He cradles my neck with one hand, stroking me with his thumb.

After the first wave of shock passes, I pat his stubbly white-blond hair. “Good job, Uno. Good job for coming back.” I hope he didn’t kill Colt or Agent Liam, but I need to have some faith. If I was a feral alpha, I’d go straight for the people that abused me for years. Maybe.

“Rose?” Luka calls, panic pitching his voice high.

“I’m fine. We’re fine,” I call back, fresh tears running down my cheeks as I lean into Uno.

Well, I’m not sure if Uno is fine, but he’s standing. “Are you hurt?” I croon, running my fingers through the blood on his chest to check for bullet holes.

I tug off the shirt Kye found for me in a hurry and lean over a few feet to reach the tiny sink and run some water. As I wipe away the blood, I call his name over and over. He doesn’t exactly hold me, but pins my body to the corner with his as if to hide me, silently snarling. But I know that aggression’s not for me.

He whips around as a scraping sound approaches, Luka dragging himself through the broken bricks.

“He’s just holding me in the corner,” I reassure him. “Only safe place he knows, probably.”

Luka sighs and leans his head back against the wall, keeping us in sight.

The front door slams. “Rose? Luka?” I’ve never heard fear like that in Colt’s voice before. “Kye?”

“We’re all alive, Sir,” Luka calls weakly. “More or less.”

Footsteps come running and Colt swears as he checks in on us, Kye and Liam right behind him.

Our pack master drops to one knee beside Luka. “Bloody idiot! Did I say you could take a bullet for me?”

“No, Sir.” Luka chuckles without opening his eyes. “I guess we’ll have to amend the contract because I’ll take a bullet any day of the week for you. But let’s not do it on a Wednesday again. Two Wednesdays in a row would be too much.”

Agent Liam groans and rests a hand over his eyes while Colt shakes his head. “Stop talking; you’re in shock. Ambulance is on its way.”

Luka smiles. “I thought you’d shoot me yourself, so this is an improvement.”

“I said stop talking!” Colt hisses.

“Okay, Sir. You might need to rescue our lady from her hound.”

“I’m not hurt,” I add quickly. “But Zane went outside.”

Kye volunteers to look for him, but before he gets far, I hear Zane’s familiar whine. “He’s here by the door!” Fresh tears stream down my face as I do a mental headcount. We’re all here, alive.

“Zane, come!” Colt calls, pulling the half-feral alpha in for a hug and stroking his black hair. As Zane’s head lifts, he spies me trapped behind Uno and snarls, darting into the cell.

“Oh shit!” Colt cries, trying to grab him and missing.

Uno sees him coming and launches at the taller alpha, deadly fists swinging out.

“Liam!” Colt cries, diving in after the two warring alphas. Sirens wail outside the house, a counterpart to the hissing alphas pounding on each other. Colt wrestles Zane free and throws him across the small cell at Liam, who catches him in a rear neck choke.

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