Page 62 of The Bookseller and the Alpha
I didn’t want her in any danger, but I wasn’t a fool. I couldn’t tell her not to help. It would be like telling the sun to stop shining or the tide to stop turning.But I would make sure that the attention of the fuckers in the building was on me, not her.
Chapter 75
Calypso
CALY.The cry was in the air, reverberating like a clap of thunder, sending birds winging into the sky. But it was also right there… in my head. The shields I’d tried to put up against him—the barriers he’dletme put up against him—were swept away as if they’d never existed and my entire being resonated like a string plucked to a perfect tune. Luc, my mate, was here. Everywhere. Every corner of my mind filled up with his mental presence. It was an invasion, a tidal wave, an explosion. Demanding everything.
He was demanding all of me.
But he was giving me all of himself. Every. Single. Thing.
And it was overwhelming. I stumbled, my legs giving way and I lurched into the door, my shoulder taking the brunt of the hit, the pain stealing my breath. Fuck that hurt. But I didn’t have time to fall apart now. I needed to get out of this building, get to safety so that Luc could pull back before he got hurt.
His feelings weren’t soft and romantic. They were boiling, violent and savage. Possessive. He needed to kill anyone who stood between me and him. But through it all, was love. So much love. It wrapped around me, cocooning me, promising that he would always keep me safe. And it felt amazing. It reallydid. To know that Luc felt that way about me. That he would burn down the world to keep me safe. Ifuckingloved it. Sure, it might not be healthy, but it fed that part of me that had felt unwanted.
Cries of shock and anger came from somewhere further inside the building, and then the hard abrupt sounds of automatic weapon fire. My pulse jumped. Luc told me that bullets wouldn’t kill him, but they must do some damage. If they had enough firepower he would get hurt. And that was unacceptable. I reached for the bond. I didn’t want to distract him, but he needed to know that I was all right and coming to back him up.
Hey big guy. You started the party without me!Now that he was near, using the bond was as easy as whispering in his ear.I’m coming to help.
He wanted to keep me safe, but… it was my job to keep him safe too. If he was in danger, I wasn’t going to stand by and wring my hands waiting for him to get hurt. He didn’t want to lose me. And I didn’t want to lose him.
Irefusedto lose him. I’d only just found my soul mate. Ineededhim.
He might be the biggest, scariest Shifter anyone had ever seen, but everyone deserved someone to have their back. He would burn down the world for me. But I would do that for him too.
There was a pause. Then a reply.Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.His mental voice was like steel, wrapped in velvet. I could almost feel a finger trailing down my spine. And I was suddenly ridiculously turned on.
And be careful.There was a phantom kiss on my lips.
I looked down at my arms, pressing against the door. My body was still glowing with unused magic. I smiled. These assholes hadn’t seen me angry.
I had a mate to save.
The back door opened easily and funnelled me out into an alleyway between the warehouse and the neighbouring building. The brick walls were covered in graffiti and a dumpster overflowed with rubbish. To the left, I could see another brick wall. Dead end. To the right, an exit to a street. That was my way out.
My breathing was shallow, rapid, magic straining under my fingers, ready to do violence. But there was no-one here. It was almost…anticlimactic. I was so keyed up, so much power still under my skin, I was going to have to do something about it. And soon.
Looking down, I spotted a pile of cigarette butts. There had been a guard on this door, but he’d likely gone to see what’s happening at the front of the building.
Finally, something was going my way. I was ready to fry this asshole and all his asshole buddies. I ran towards the fight.
Chapter 76
Luc
Never bring a gun to a Beast fight. Even if they had silver bullets that could do serious damage to a lesser Shifter, the guns they were using didn’t have enough clout to get through my skin. Not once I was fully in my Beast form. It was a different matter when I got injured when the explosion took out my car, because my human body was more fragile. And I hadn’t merged with my Beast then. Even in human form I would now be stronger and harder to kill than before. All my life, it had been hard to draw power, because I’d kept Beast as a prisoner and his power had never been given. Only taken. Now I was finally feeling the full benefits of being a Shifter. I was faster. Stronger. Deadlier.
But for wet work, nothing beat being in Beast form. In Beast form I was almost invincible. Even if one of them had a shotgun, my enhanced healing would make the slugs little more than an inconvenience. Losing a limb would hurt, but even that wouldn’t be enough to put me down.
I’m better. Beast was smug.
I ripped the gun out of the hands of the man standing in front of us, as he desperately pulled the trigger. As if that would save him. His head made a satisfying squelch as I removed itfrom his neck.It’s not a competition dude.I waded through the blood to the next man.
You’re a sore loser.
No. We’re a team. You and me. Together. Saving our mate. Keeping her safe.
Yes. His words had a finality to them. A weight. As if he finally, truly, understood that I was no longer going to lock him in a cage and deny his existence. And even if I could put him back into that prison, I wouldn’t. This was my true self. This is what I was born for. The world was a dangerous place, so I needed to be the biggest, scariest, motherfucker out there to keep Caly safe.Let’s save our mate.
