Page 31 of Act of Passion

Chapter Ten

Malik blinked and found Duke,Striker, and Corbin on him, pinning him to the floor of his hotel room. Garth was close and partially shifted, and Rurik was next to him, holding a weapon onMalik.

“W-what the fuck?” Malik demanded, realizing he was naked and under a pile of his teammates. “Get offme.”

Corbin locked gazes with him. “Are you finished acting like afool?”

Unsure what Corbin was talking about, Malik lay perfectly still, thinking of the last thing he could remember. As his thoughts went to biting Brooke during sex, he gasped. “Brooke! Where is Brooke? Did I hurther?”

Striker grunted. “Och, the wee lass ran out of here crying, thinking you did nae want her and that you used her. When I last saw her, she was leaving the resort to get far fromyou.”

“Asshole,” said Duke, easing off Malik. “Shifting into a fucking lion? Cat-shifters aredicks.”

Corbin cleared his throat and stood, righting his shirt sleeves, looking as if Malik had given him a hard go ofit.

Striker was the last to move off Malik. The Scotsman boldly looked down at Malik’s groin. “I dinnae think you were packing something like that. Impressive. Glad you dinnae participate in the dick-measuringcontest.”

Ignoring him, Malik pushed to his feet and looked around for his pants. “Clothes. I need clothes and to findBrooke.”

Duke thrust him backwards. “The last damn thing you need is to find her. She messes with yourhead.”

Corbin nodded inagreement.

Rurik lowered the weapon. “Is the female yourmate?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” demanded Malik, shoving Duke out of his way. “Where are mypants?”

Garth, now back in human form, tossed a pair of pants at him from the closet. “Dress, but I agree with Duke. The woman ties you in knots. It’s for the best you let her go. Nothing can come of it all, Malik. You know it, and so does every other male standinghere.”

Malik shook his head. “You’re wrong. I have to find her. How long was I shiftedfor?”

Garth checked his watch. “About two hours. Took all of us to hold you down for a whilethere.”

Two hours? He’d been out of control for two entirehours?

Boomer came into the room with a tranq gun. “Oh, he’s back to normal. Guess this won’t beneeded.”

“Do nae be too sure,” said Striker. “Tut wants to find the femaleagain.”

Boomer’s brows went up. “Not that I think you should be around her, but I saw the cleaning crew in the room she and Edee were sharing. I heard them mention something about the girls who had been staying there had checked out early and instructed that their luggage be shipped tothem.”

The air left Malik’s lungs as he wrapped his mind around what Boomer was saying. “She’sgone?”

“Can you blame her?” asked Boomer, stepping closer. “From what Striker told us, you were a total douchebag toher.”

Striker gave a curt nod. “Aye. And I dinnae know the two lasses had checkedout.”

Malik yanked his pants on and ran for the door, only to be stopped by Striker. The wolf-shifter shocked him by lifting him into the air and then body slamming him to the floor. The force it took to do such a thing to Malik of all people was staggering. He never knew Striker possessedit.

Striker stood above him and pointed down at him. “You do nae deserve her. Leave her be. She’s better off without you. You’ve lived a charmed life, Tut, and wouldnae know a guid thing if it bit you in the arse. Find a woman who does nae care that you bed anything that moves. Brooke isnaeit.”

Boomer put a finger in the air, opened his mouth and then closed it again before facing Corbin. “Did my ears deceive me or did Striker just lecture Malik about being amanwhore?”

“Your ears are fine,” said Rurik, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m with the wolf. The American girls were okay, you know, for Americans andall.”

Duke rolled his eyes and pointed to Striker. “That shit they gave you two back in the labs is messing with your heads and your personalities. Malik, the man who makes sleeping with a different woman nightly an art form, wants a human woman for keeps. And the Scot is offended for thewoman.”

Malik eyed Striker from his spot on the floor. “You took the suppression drugstoo?”

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