Page 26 of Hellcat

Insane. The woman was insane, there was no other explanation.

"That's the worst idea in the history of terrible ideas."

Ian was thoroughly ignored.

"Might work," said Ace. "We'll speak to Hsu after her movie."

"No way. Guys, she's aregular. They're pretty damn fragile."

Tania was offended, but it was Clari who snorted and replied, "As a former regular, I can attest that we aren't made of porcelain."

"Sure thing, but you still wouldn't have been able to take on a bunch of humans if they came at you."

"The idea is for us to help her before they hurt her," Rye said.

"Sure. And what if they pull a knife and slice her throat in the minute it takes for us to get there? What then?"

At least Tania seemed worried this time. After a second, she cleared her throat and said, "That's a risk. But so is doing nothing, anyway."

Fucking hell.

Ian didn't think he'd ever been this furious. He was pissed at Tania, his pride, his alphas, everything. She couldn't risk her skin like that. She just couldn't.

Sometime in the next instants, he froze, realizing just how desperate he and his tiger felt about keeping her safe.

Oh hell no. That wasn't possible. He looked at her, and the beast inside him stirred, thinking one word that was shocking and obvious all at once.

Mate.

It rang like a simple truth he wasn't even going to attempt to deny.

Fuck. He couldn't stay here and listen to their plan about risking her now. He just couldn't. Ian rushed out the door, welcoming the cool air the moment he got outside, and he let his beast burst out of his skin, and ran, faster and faster, putting as much distance between him and the pride house as he could.

Within an hour, his feet took him right back to where he belonged.

Chapter 17

All right, so the plan sucked.

Ian had never in his life hated Rye; he'd considered him one of his best friends since childhood. Right now, though, he wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth. But Tania was all for it, Ace had agreed, the whole fucking pride thought it was a brilliant idea, and at the end of the day, they would have gone ahead and done it, so he had to go and make sure that nothing happened to his fuckingmate.

"I can't believe you're using her as bait."

"It's the fastest way to send a message, and you know it."

He wasn't going to bother arguing. At least Rye had given a call to his dad and asked to use the private plane when Ian had shared his idea.

They waited for the plane to land in Hawthorne. Ian had considered going up to San Francisco, but the plane had been stationed there, so it made sense that help should come to them, instead.

Right on time, the small jet landed and pulled into the private hangar, and a woman, a little taller than Ace, came out. She wore all black, with a dash of pink; a business suit that didn't quite fit her, paired with fluffy earmuffs.

Ian grinned.

"Roxie. Finally coming down to see me. Who knew all it would take was my begging non-stop for half an hour."

Her every movement was ridiculously gracious, as always. She looked like an adorable teen, lithe, small, and cute, right now.

Roxanne Thorne was twenty-seven, and she could tear a man's throat out before Ian blinked.

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