Page 31 of Hellcat

"Are you going to take it?"

She bit her lip.

"She isn't," replied Hsu. "She's staying here. She's happy. Or she will be, after today."

Now the pride's attention was on Hsu.

"What's happening today, Hsu?" Ace asked.

But Tania knew, before the girl said anything.

“You said I can’t tell scary things around the other kids,”Hsu reminded the alpha.

Shit.

Chapter 20

They were silent all the way to work. Ian had a million things he wanted to tell her, but he drove without a word, one hand in hers.

This woman was going to drive him to madness. He'd found a white hair this morning. She was gonna turn him gray by the end of the day.

When they got in front of the practice, he asked, "You have your suit on?"

She bobbed her head.

"Good."

He dropped a kiss on her forehead and she exited the vehicle. Then, as much as it killed him, he drove away.

Glancing in the rear-view mirror, he saw the white van speed toward her, stop right in front of her, and two masked thugs came out of it, grabbing her by the arms and knees.

And he kept driving.

After so many years with her in the pride, Ian had come to take Hsu for granted, like all of them. Today, he remembered her value. The tween had run through a hundred scenarios while they were having breakfast.

Scenario one: Ian stays in the parking lot, an asshole flanked by three guys comes with his dog, asks to see Tania, and slits her throat.

Scenario two: Ian drops her off and comes back when he sees the abduction. They plunge a knife in her eye socket and leave her body on the pavement.

And on, and on, and on.

The extremists haddecided to act today, and they were either going to do it fast, or slowly.

The tiger inside him was enraged, failing to understand the subtleties behind the decision to leave their mate in danger. Ian's animal was a lot more manageable than the ones of alphas like Rye and Daunte, but today, he could barely restrain him. He felt the start of a shift, a tingle in his hands and at the back of his neck.

His phone rang; he answered immediately.

"Is it time?"

"Yes, you can shift. Ace and Jas are on the trail. Rain took a video and—"

He hung up, not bothering to listen to the rest of it. Ian briskly stopped his truck on the side of the road and got out, leaving the engine running. His shifts weren't fast, typically taking up to a couple of minutes; this time, he was fur and claws after one breath. Following the bond that linked him to the rest of his pride, to his alphas, he rushed to Ace.

It took him a couple of minutes to reach Jas.

She's safe. Calm down.

Nothing anyone could say would make him calm down until Tania was home, and those who'd taken her were dealt with.

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