Page 66 of Bait Wolf
Somehow, I managed to shake him off, stumbling just out of his reach.
He bared his teeth, fangs extending. An obvious threat.
“It’s too late now,” Lambert said. “I don’t have time to find anyone else. You made your choice.”
“It’s your own fault you left it so long,” I snapped.
“Because your alpha got in my fucking way when I was going to take you the first time,” he snarled. “It’s time for retribution!”
Suddenly, he lunged for me. But I was no spring chicken. I’d been in situations like this more times than I could count, and my reflexes were trained for it.
I ducked down, missing the alpha’s extended claws and diving out of the way.
I ended up standing in front of the bed, facing him as he swung around to face me. He leaped, catching me just as I tried to jump out of the way again. The door was clear now, I just had to get to it—but Lambert caught me by the sleeve and threw me onto the bed.
I hit it, landing on my back as panic surged through me and Lambert landed on top of me, pinning me down with a hand on each shoulder. His lips pulled back in a snarl, claws digging into my bones, not quite breaking the skin—yet.
“Stay still and shut up,” he growled.
He bent down, as though the matter was dealt with and bit my neck—too close to my scent gland. Anger surged through me. I couldn’t let the bastard taint Coal’s mark on me. I didn’t want anyone else!
Fuck! Why had I been so stubborn?! I should have stayed with Coal. We could have faced all our struggles together, as a family. After all, that was what we were. A day running around pretending to be homeless wasn’t going to change that.
I didn’t need the big house. Coal was my home.
If I had been thinking straight, I would have known—I was Coal’s home too. My stupid self-doubt be damned. Wewereall each other needed.
My hand reached out blindly, found something cool and hard, and without thinking, I gripped it and slammed the thing as hard as I could against the alpha’s head.
The lamp—it turned out—smashed against his skull and immediately he fell limp, his heavy body crushing me.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Coal
I was already scouring the streets when Alvy’s call came.
“I’ve got him.”
My heart nearly gave out from the relief.
“He’s okay?”
There was a brief silence, then Alvy’s even voice saying, “He seems to be.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
“He’s being approached by someone—an alpha.”
“What? What the hell does he want?”
“I can’t hear them,” Alvy said. “They’re discussing something. It looks serious.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
Alvy was silent on the other end, obviously watching the exchange closely.
My body itching for action, I started running even though I didn’t know where they were.
