Page 29 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

The men surrounding him cursed and fled, falling over themselves to get out of the cage. As they went, one of them drew a handgun and aimed it Jake’s way.

Oh, hell no, Cane thought, throwing himself at the man, knocking him off his feet and the gun out of his hands. While Cane fought the man, two more explosions sounded, followed by the thumps of concrete chunks raining down. They weren’t big enough to kill anyone, but enough to hurt. The people still around the cage scattered. Cane shook his head. Jake was still a goody two shoes, even when he was being a badass.

Landing a solid punch on the man’s jaw, he went limp beneath Cane. A moment later, strong hands were gripping him under the armpits and hauling him to his feet. Jake pulled one of Cane’s arms over his shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist.

“What the hell, Cane?” he demanded. They took a step, only for Cane to grunt as pain shot up through his feet from walking on the chunks of concrete Jake had made.

Realizing the issue, Jake bent down and lifted Cane in a fireman’s carry. The pressure from Jake’s shoulders didn’t do the tender spot in Cane’s abdomen any favors, but it did save his feet.

As they were moving out of the blast radius, two cop cars came flying into the garage, followed closely by a couple motorcycles.

Jake set him down against a wall of the garage well outside the blast radius. Cane sank down to his ass, gratefully leaning his back against the wall and stretching his legs out in front of him.

“I’ll ask you again,” Jake said, voice like a fire poker. “What the hell, Cane?”

4

Jake had never been so pissed. Or so scared. The emotions mixed like a dangerous cocktail in his gut, leaving him feeling like he’d explode at any moment. Of all the things he thought he’d stumble into on the drive to find Cane, an illegal fight hadn’t been one of them. An illegal fight that Cane was participating in had been even lower on the list.

Cane looked up at him, covered in sweat and blood. His right eye was swelling, already turning shades of deep red and dark purple. It’d be black before the morning. Jake didn’t like seeing him like this. As he watched, Cane’s expression morphed from pain to defiance.

“What,” Cane said, voice like the acid coating Jake’s insides. “We get mated and suddenly I’m not supposed to do the things I enjoy?” Every word was scathing and brimming with sarcasm.

Jake shook his head. Even hurt, with the cops about to be breathing down their necks, Cane was trying to turn this situation into a joke, albeit a bad one. Maybe that was the only way he felt in control of things. When Jake didn’t immediately respond. Cane lifted a hand and gingerly felt around his eye, pulling his fingers away with a wince after only a slight touch.

Jake moved closer to him and knelt, reaching out a hand.

Cane recoiled, green gaze mistrustful. Well, the half of it Jake could see.

“I won’t hurt you,” Jake said, some of the anger bleeding out of him, replacing itself with more worry. Why would Cane put himself into such a dangerous situation? When Cane didn’t protest again, Jake laid his hand over Cane’s eye and said the words of a spell in a whisper between them. He couldn’t heal Cane’s injuries. It wasn’t his talent, but he could help with the pain a bit.

Cane sighed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Jake,” Knox, the hellhound lieutenant, called, coming up behind them.

Holding Cane’s gaze, Jake asked, “Please let me handle this.”

Cane nodded.

Standing up, Jake stepped over to Knox. Behind Knox, Jake could see one of the cops talking to the two men who’d been left in the cage. One of the others was taking pictures of the scene. Specifically, the craters he’d made.

“What happened here?” Knox asked, looking from Jake’s face to Cane’s.

Jake kept his voice low. “Cage fight gone bad. Cane was fighting. Won his fight and then some of the people in the crowd turned on him and the people running the fight. Three of them went into the cage. Two of them subdued Cane so the third could beat on him.” He shifted his stance. “I might have taken measures to break it up.”

Knox arched an eyebrow. “There are craters in the concrete.”

“Like I said, measures.”

“Fine. Since you, and now him”—Knox indicated Cane—“fall under paranormal jurisdiction, I’ll talk to the cops. Although, they may want to question him further about what he was doing being involved in an underground fight ring at all.”

“Understood.”

Knox nodded. “You can take him home. One of my guys will escort you. If I need either of you, I’ll call.”

Jake held out his hand. “Thanks.”

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