Page 35 of Feral Heart
“What are you?” Grant gasped, face pale with terror.
“Every scream you caused come to collect.” Cesar advanced slowly, lips pulled back to reveal rows of gleaming teeth.
“You’re so beautiful,” Jamie whispered, gray eyes filled with wonder. He moved slightly, like he was forcing back his exuberance, and Cesar could see the million questions sparkling in his elegido’s eyes. The knife against his pale skin was an offense Cesar would quickly rectify.
Moving with lightning speed, he grabbed Grant’s wrist and squeezed until bones crunched. The knife fell from useless fingers as Grant screamed in agony. Jamie twisted free, diving to the side and out of harm's way.
Cesar lifted Grant by his throat, claws pressing against the tender skin but not yet breaking it. The man dangled helplessly, feet kicking uselessly in the air.
“You don’t touch what’s mine,” Cesar growled, bringing Grant’s face close to his muzzle. “You don’t breathe near what’s mine.” His claws tightened fractionally. “You don’t even think about what’s mine.”
Grant’s eyes bulged, his face turning an alarming shade of purple as he struggled for air. Cesar didn’t give a shit. Grant had abused his little brother his entire life, causing neurological problems, and kept company with a deviant who he knew had sinister intentions toward Jamie. Now, he’d cowered behind the very man he’d betrayed, holding a knife to his throat.
No way was he getting out of here alive.
“Te haré sentir cada gramo de dolor que hiciste sufrir a mi colibrí.”
“Cesar.”
Jamie’s voice cut through the red haze of rage. Cesar’s ears twitched, but he kept his eyes locked on Grant.
“Pookie, look at me.”
Slowly, Cesar turned his massive head. Jamie stood a few feet away, blood still visible on his neck and absolute trust in that gray gaze.
“Not like this,” Jamie continued, taking a fearless step closer. “Let the police handle him. He shot at us, broke in here. That’s enough to put him back behind bars.”
Cesar hesitated, caught between his need for vengeance and his respect for Jamie’s wishes. His massive head swung back toward Grant, who had pressed himself against the refrigerator, eyes wide with terror.
“Please, honey bunny. For me.” Jamie moved closer, hand outstretched.
Grant made a small movement, and Cesar’s head snapped toward him, a warning growl rumbling from deep in his chest.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jamie snapped at his brother. “My jellybean’s already showing remarkable restraint. But if you even think of hurting him, I’ll fucking gut you.”
Even though he was in his lycanthrope form, Cesar’s brows shot up. It seemed Jamie had a hard limit, and his mate being threatened was the line he had drawn in the sand. “Te amo mucho guerrerito.”
Just as the back door eased open, men moved in behind Cesar from the living room, weapons drawn. He’d called Matias before he’d left his bedroom, when he’d not just heard voices coming from somewhere in the house but had smelled Grant’s and Rowan’s scents.
His alpha took in the scene with a single glance—Cesar in lycanthrope form, Jamie bleeding in a chair, Grant cowering, and Rowan dead on the floor. But his light brown gaze swung back to Jamie, his features darkening “Your elegido need medical attention?”
“No.” Jamie touched the cut on his neck then his collarbone. “It doesn’t even hurt that much, but it does sting. Why do the smallest cuts burn so much, and why is the bartender so intimidating? Swear, you make me want to order a drink right now, and we’re not even at the bar.”
“You can never stop running your goddamn mouth,” Grant snarled. “Then you wonder why you got knocked around so much.”
Jamie just smiled, a calm confidence in his posture that hadn't been there before. “That’s just you, Grant. I’m finally with someone who sees me for who I really am.” He petted Cesar’s furry arm, like he was in his wolf form, not towering over the entire room. “And who would die to protect me, just like I would for him.”
“I like him.” Chopper grinned as the men agreed.
“You’re all monsters,” Grant snapped. “I should—”
Cesar shifted into human form just so he could slug Grant in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. “That should give us enough time to clean up the mess with Rowan then call the cops.”
Even though Cesar would’ve loved nothing more than to permanently erase the threat of Grant, Jamie had asked to spare his brother, and Cesar would give his colibrí whatever the hell he wanted.
“I should probably put on pants,” he said, glancing down at his nakedness.
Jamie’s gaze followed, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes despite everything that had just happened. “I don’t know,” he teased. “I kind of like this look on you.”
