Page 124 of Feral

“Sane?”

“Gullible. If that Werewolf doesn’t spit you out, the Archive will. Angelica will be just as corruptible as Francesca, wait and see.”

“Uncle? Shut up.”

I drew back and punched him hard across the face. Blood flew from his mouth and my uncle staggered back before falling to the floor. I was just about to pick up the artifact bag when someone else tackled me to the floor and pinned me down just before pressing a blade to my throat. A trickle of warm blood seeped from where the blade had broken the skin. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed dark green skin under his balaclava and razor sharp teeth.

Oh god, a goblin.

There wasn’t a chance I’d be able to beat a Goblin. They were too strong even with my gloves and vicious when they had a bounty to collect.

“It’s nothing personal,” he rasped in my ear, “but you gotta go.”

“Please don’t,” I begged, tears filling my eyes.

I’d never see Fraser again, never find out what it would be like to have children with him, to build a life together. And I wanted all of that, as complicated and strange as it might be. The wonderful would outweigh it all, and this man was just going to tear it away from me.

“Please!”

His grip on the blade tensed and I knew he was about to draw it across my throat when a blur of fur and rage tore him from my back. I snatched the bag with the Apple, which had fallen in front of me and rolled on my back in time to see Fraser rip through a goblin’s chest with slashes so fast my eye couldn’t track all of them. Blood flew from his claws like red leaves from a tree.

“How dare ya lay hands on her!” he roared.

The goblin’s only response as Fraser tore his throat out was to gasp and gurgle. Spit flew from Fraser’s mouth as he screamed, eyes wide and glowing with pure animal rage.

It was a horrifying, unbelievable display of power. It should have terrified me, should have had me running from the house. But it didn’t. Because this was Fraser, my mate. He may have been a gruff, nearly seven foot tall Werewolf, but I knew that beneath all of that beat the heart of a sensitive male that just wanted to be seen and loved.

And I did, both see and love him.

His gruffness.

His brutality.

His gentleness.

His passion.

All of it and so much more.

So when what was left of the goblin’s body slid in a wet puddle onto the floor, I didn’t hesitate to walk toward him. He may be a beast, but he wasmineand I didn’t want another.

“Fraser,” I put my hand on his arm.

The fur was matted with gore and blood but I ignored it. He needed to see that I didn’t care. When he whipped around, splatters of blood shook off him and onto me. I ignored it, even though it made a little nauseous. Fraser was covered head to toe in more blood and bits of flesh, it was as if he’d taken a bath in it, which I supposed in a way, he had. His eyes were glassy, unfocused at first. But when he did finally see me, all of that protective fury drained from him and he gaped at me.

“No,” he breathed, staring down at his hands, then at what was left of the goblin. “No…I…”

“It’s alright. I’m alright.”

“No, no, no…” he shook his head and backed away from me, refusing to look at me.

I stepped toward him when another pair of hands grabbed a hold of me.

“Ya need to let him be,” Liam whispered in my ear.

“No, I need him to know it’s alright!”

But Lowell was leading Fraser away from me while Liam held me fast. And that’s when the rage set in. I was being kept from my mate, who the hell did they think they were?

---