When he pushed aside an over-interested patron, he was, for just a moment, mid-stride and off balance.
I twisted my arm, wincing as his claws ripped through my cloak and into flesh. But I used the grip to pivot around, my foot arcing through the air to nail him in the face.
Aaron howled as his nose got squashed for the second time in ten minutes, and I managed to rip my arm free to bolt for the back door.
The pack came after me.
I hit the door hard enough to slam it against the outer wall. But the alley was pitch black, and three strides out, I was completely unable to see.
What wasn’t there was a reassuring Dire with a sexy accent, or a glowering Bellati with a horn for a sword.Dammit.They must have gone around to come in the front.
I spun back toward the light emanating from the open door in time to see the entire pack tumbling out the exit after me. Some were yanking off clothes and transforming to beasts, a sight that twisted me into knots.
No way I could fight against that.
Aaron was a blur that emerged from their midst and, in a lightning move, grabbed me by the throat.
His nose streamed blood. I tried to add to his troubles by kneeing him in the groin, hard. But he was too fast for me, moving his thigh to intercept. I clawed at his hand, my little human fingernails leaving useless welts on his skin.
The muscles of his arm writhed with his beast, but he held back the shift. I tried hoofing him in the knee, but he altered his grip, grabbing my throat with his other hand and spinning me until I was pinned with my back up against him.
It was the same maneuver Matt had used on me in practice, but without any sexy titillation.
“You fucking bitch,” Aaron snarled in my ear. “You broke my nose. When I’m done with you, I’ll be sure to return the favor.” He pushed his hips against me from behind, and there was no mistaking what prodded at me.
“Hey, boss. You’d better share that morsel.” The pack swirled around us, some in beast form. Their eyes weren’t focused on Aaron, but on me, and I shivered at the lust glimmering in them.
“You’ll get your chance,” Aaron snapped, his free hand drifting up to squeeze my breast. But his fingers froze.
From the darkness beyond the pack, sharp teeth gleamed as a face emerged. The bones moved beneath the skin, and a voice with a distinct accent rumbled from the darkness.
“G’day, you bleedin’ bludger. How about you take your mitts off mymate?”
It was an Aussie phrase, but something about the emphasis onmatemade my heart do a strange contortion in my chest.
“Knew you’d bring the pup with you,” Aaron growled into my ear.
A pack member was sent flying through the air from where he’d stood in the back doorway. And a smooth voice spoke from the dim light within. “Unfortunately for you, she didn’t bring just him.” The tall hooded form of the Bellati stepped into the alley.
Aaron’s entire body went rigid even as what prodded me deflated.
“Get them,” he ordered as he yanked me backward.
The pack howled as it surged ahead. Matt’s and Sebastian’s forms disappeared in a blur of teeth and claws.
Aaron didn’t stick around to see how his packmates fared. He sank his fingers into my hair and yanked me down the alleyway. It hurt like hell, but all I could think about was Matt and Sebastian battling an entire pack of vicious Dires.
I struggled to get my feet beneath me, to find a balance point from which to bring them into play. But half pumped by his beast, Aaron was so damnedstrong.
He yanked on me again. The pain fed into the simmering rage and ignited it. What lay deep inside me uncoiled and found a focus.
I had my hands wrapped around his arm, trying to take the strain off my scalp. My awareness narrowed to that point of contact, and then beyond it...
Through flesh, and bone, and blood. Until I was surrounded by the beat of his heart.
I followed it to the source.
And grabbed hold.
