Page 8 of Mates & Mercenaries

I definitely need to talk to Clay and Sam about this, because if there is any chance that we’re going to be in trouble here, then we need to be prepared. All of us. We can’t help Creed otherwise.

A part of me wants to question my alpha about all of this, but I keep my lips tightly shut together. He might be allowing little bits to slip out, but he doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to pick apart his feelings. I know Creed well enough to know when to tackle things and when to take a step back.

“We won’t fuck up tonight,” I reassure him. “We’ll impress Evan and everything you want is going to be realized. We will be respected by these men and wealthy too.”

This, thankfully, brings a smile up to Creed’s lips. It might only be a small one, but it’s something. I’ll take it. I get ready to say something else, but a smashing sound grabs our attention.

“Glass,” Creed whispers. “From the party, or something else?”

I’m taller and thicker than Creed, which is why I’m often lovingly referred to as the muscle of the group, so I lead the way across the hall to Skylar’s bedroom. We’re here for her, to protect her, so she needs to be our first priority.

I glance back to see Creed’s eyes glowing gold. His wolf is about to burst free at any given second. I hold back my primal side in case it’s better to tackle this as a human.

It’s not easy to fight my nature, but if Creed doesn’t want this fucked up, then one of us needs to have control of ourselves. Something I’m thoroughly grateful for the moment I see two men dressed in catering uniforms inside Skylar’s room.

So thisisan inside job. Fuck, this is a God damn nightmare. There are trays on the floor, canapes scattered everywhere, broken champagne flutes…and a dead body. I scan the room quickly but can’t see anyone other than Skylar, who has blood splattered on her dress. Did she do this? I can’t quite wrap my head around it, especially when she’s looking so afraid now.

The other man is swept off his feet by a wolf claw, knocking him out the way. Well, more than knocking him out the way—he smashes into the wall, causing blood to splatter from his head. Although it isn’t bad enough to stop him from getting to his feet again.

Skylar lets out a blood curdling scream and backs into the corner of the room, looking like she wants to make herself small enough to disappear.

She can’t, though. The remaining guy ignores his companion, not worried about the dead body of his friend on the floor. He has a weapon tightly clutched between his fingers as he moves towards Skylar, not even bothered by the blood dripping down his face.

“No,” I cry out, racing towards Skylar to get there first. No fucking way is she going to get hurt on my watch. She seems innocent enough, like she doesn’t have any involvement with the crime world, just that she’s born into it.

I envelop Skylar in my arms and hold her tight to my chest while Creed takes that pent-up rage out on the stranger again. Only this is more of an onslaught than the other attack. Creed destroys him. Skylar trembles in my arms and I can feel her heart pounding against my chest.

I need the others. Surely, if someone has bothered to set up this attack, then they have backup.

“Sam, Clay,” I hiss into the walkie-talkie as Creed continues his fight. I’m pretty sure the man underneath him has gone limp now, but he won’t let it end. Is this to impress Evan or because of Skylar? “Come here now. Skylar’s bedroom. Shit is going down.”

I pocket the walkie-talkie and turn to Skyler. “It’s okay,” I rasp reassuringly to Skylar. “Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen to you now. We’re here, it’s fine.”

I find myself smoothing down her hair like I can calm her down just by stroking her. This comes from the animal within me. Not all of my wolf is violent.

“What’s happening?” Skylar asks with a trembling voice. “What is Creed doing?”

How does she even know that’s Creed? She hasn’t seen his wolf before now, and she only just barely met him as a human. She would only know him if she had intimate experiences with him. Is that possible? They didn’t appear to know one another when we were all introduced.

I have so many questions and no chance of getting them answered. Not with Creed continuing to beat on the man who I don’t even think has a face anymore. I can’t tell Skylar that, though.

“Creed is fine,” I reassure her instead. “You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

“What the hell is happening here?” Sam slips in through the window, shock plastered across his face. “Oh my God, has Creed gone crazy?”

I nod, wishing I could explain it all. Instead, I focus on this exact moment because it’s the only thing I can control. “Yeah, he did it to stop this asshole from attacking Skylar, but we’re getting into overkill territory here.”

Sam nods and determinedly surges forward to pull Creed off the man. It’s never safe to attack a man when his wolf is free, but it doesn’t look like Sam cares about getting hurt himself. He wrestles and fights against Creed before he eventually pulls him back.

“Oh shit.” Clay sidesteps the fight the moment he sets foot in the room. “Fucking hell, what is going on? How did this happen?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer, but goes to help Sam. I should be in there, being the muscle and everything, but I can’t bear to let Skylar go. I can sense how badly she needs me and I don’t want to let her down.

Maybe this is why Creed seems so obsessed with her. There is definitely something different about Skylar. The moment I laid eyes on her I was struck by how gorgeous she is. But I have seen other beautiful woman in my life and none of them have brought out this primal, protective side of me.

Am I starting to catch feelings as well? I didn’t understand Creed before when he was talking about Skylar and how special she is, but now I get it. I can feel it. Creed must have touched her at some point. He must have experienced this feeling before. This sweet, warm, intoxicating feeling that fills my veins and buzzes with excitement. All I can think about is kissing Skylar, and seeing what she looks like underneath her clothes.

I only let Skylar slip away from my grasp once I see that Creed has thankfully shifted back into his human form. He has his hands gripped on his knees, sweat pouring from his forehead, and he is desperately trying to catch his breath.

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