Page 5 of The Piece You Stole

Bending, I grab Dariel, toss him over my shoulder, and head for the stairs up to his office, moving at a pace just shy of a jog.

I’ve bought us some time. Seconds rather than minutes.

“No need,” I grunt, because fuck me, Dariel isheavy.

Near the top of the narrow staircase which leads up to his office, his breathing changes.

Move your ass, Kade, or a clawed-up back will look like a fucking cakewalk compared to what Dariel does to you.

I move faster.

Gripping the door handle with one hand, I shoulder it open, take one step inside Dariel’s ruined office, courtesy of his last crazed wolf's appearance, and fling him to the furthest corner as hard as I can.

I back up fast, yanking the door closed as I go. No sooner has the lock engaged than the door rattles from the wolf smashing into the other side of it.

“Close call,” Aden murmurs, his breathing so heavy it’s as if he were the one dragging Dariel’s ass up the stairs.

He couldn’t have, of course. No human could. The wolf would have ripped his head off long before he made it to the top.

Turning my back on the door, I lean against it and take in Aden standing a few steps behind me, his gray sweats at least twice as rumpled than they were seconds before, and a table leg up in the air as if he were getting ready to hit a home fucking run.

I raise my eyebrow. “I hope you weren’t thinking of using that while Dariel was on my back.”

He half-shrugs. “I’d have aimed,” he says and tosses it aside. “You made it work.”

“Saige,” I say. “Tell me.”

His eyes dart to my right side. Mybleedingright side. “You need a bandage.”

“It’s fine,” I lie. For it not to have healed yet means its more than just a simple wound. It stings like a motherfucker, which means Dariel must have nicked my kidney or something else important, but the bleeding will stop soon. I hope. “What I need to know is why you went after Saige and came back alone. What happened?”

Something rams the office door. If I had three guesses, two would be Dariel’s head. And the third…fuck it, also Dariel’s head. I ignore it. Reinforced steel and a handle mean Dariel is going to need opposable thumbs to get it open.

When Aden braces himself against the wall with his arms folded as if he needs the support, I know what I’m about to hear is going to be bad. “Shifters took her.”

“Which direction? I’ll track them.” I’m already moving toward the stairs, but Aden’s jerky head shake makes me halt. No, it’s the look in his eyes.

I’m used to false smiles. I’m used to a guy who handles things going wrong in the bar, like deliveries failing to arrive or staff calling sick at the last minute with a shrug, and a, ‘no worries, we’ll manage.’ The cold look in his eyes is not what I’m used to seeing in Aden Shaw.

“They shoved her in the trunk of a car. You wouldn’t be able to use your nose through traffic.”

My expression hasn’t changed. I know it couldn’t have, yet Aden moves to block the staircase down.

He knows me to fucking well. That’s the problem.

Aden has his way of handling things, and I have mine.

One way is a little bloodier than the other. I’ll let you guess which is which. No, I’ll let the shifters who took Saige figure it out. Now.

“They didwhat?” My voice is whisper-quiet. I forget about the wolf trying to ram the door open with his head as rage eats at my belly. I even forget about Aden as I take a step around him.

Aden grabs my shoulder and holds on, forcing me to stop or drag him down with me.

If it were anyone else touching me, I’d punch a hole through their head. “Let go.” I’m not speaking any louder than before, but Aden knows me. He knows when to stay the fuck out of my way. Or he should.

“I can’t do this without you, Kade,” Aden admits, his voice low as he continues to block me with his body.

I could move him.Easily. He might not survive it, but Aden is family, you don’t fuck with family. Shame our alpha forgot that.

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