Red Teeth was silent for a moment, but then the air around them cooled. His eyes sparked.
“You’re his, aren’t you?”
She kept her mouth shut, her heart hammering, her wolf thrashing within her, recognizing the overpowering threat of the male in front of her.
He grunted. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll all be dead soon, anyway.” He unclipped a remote from his belt. “The second your male attacks with Felix and the rest of them, I’m blowing them to kingdom come. Them, their mates,you.”
Lola whimpered, backing away, colliding into another sneering alpha. Red Teeth stalked closer, raising a hand to grip her jaw, his fingers calloused and bruising. “But maybe I’ll keep you. I like it when females cry. Will you cry for me, little girl?”
She tried to jerk away, but his grip was too hard, too punishing.
All she could do was hope that she had bought the others enough time to escape.
A door slammed open.
“They’re gone!” one of the guards shouted. He looked panicked, wild-eyed. “The basement’s empty. The grate was broken—”
Red Teeth’s gaze whipped towards her.
Lola didn’t flinch. Not until his hand struck her across the face with such force she fell hard against the floorboards.
Stars exploded behind her eyes. Her cheek lit up like fire, and her vision swam. She tasted blood on her tongue.
Distantly, she heard one of the alphas swear. Another laughed.
Red Teeth hauled her up by the arm and yanked her toward the shattered double doors that once led to the club’s main entrance. “Lying bitch,” he spat. “Maybe you’ll be good for something. Maybe they’ll trade their lives for you.”
Lola’s head lolled as he dragged her, every bone screaming. But her mind was clear. Crystal.
They were outside now. The night air hit her like a wave, cold and laced with smoke. The trees surrounding the clearing were still. But she knew they were out there. Watching.
Red Teeth stopped on the warped wood of the front steps, holding her upright with one thick arm, his other hand gripping the detonator clipped to his belt.
“Iron Walkers!” he shouted, his voice booming across the dark night, “You’ve got ten seconds to show yourselves, or I start blowing up your precious women one room at a time.”
There was movement in the trees. A dozen shapes emerged: Felix, Nicolas, Rick, Dane. Every one of them looked like ancient warriors carved from fury and stone.
Lola’s breath hitched when she saw Dane.
His eyes were locked on her. And they werewild.
Red Teeth laughed, “That’s better. Now, if you want her alive, I suggest you come out and play nice. Lay down your weapons. Surrender. Or I promise, I’ll let you watch her die first.”
Lola’s chest heaved.
“They’re gone!” she tried to scream, but her throat was raw, her voice barely a rasp. “The women are safe!”
Red Teeth’s backhand silenced her again. This time, she collapsed to her knees.
But something happened then.
In his rage, his pride, he stepped forward.
And the detonator swung from his belt.
Lola’s eyes locked on it. A flash of black and red, a clipped little trigger swaying right within reach.
She reached.