Page 38 of Brick
“Completely, I promise.”
Jade relaxed slightly, letting herself hope that the promise of privacy might ease the tension knotting her shoulders.
Or some sexy, fun times, for sure. There wasn’t anything that seemed to banish the darker demons of doubt in her mind than tumbling between the sheets with her sexy male.
Then, the rumble of vehicle engines revving shattered the quiet of the street.
Brick spun and tucked her at his back. She peeked around him and saw two vehicles moving toward them at a quick pace. Jade’s heart pounded.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
Brick snarled as the vehicles screeched to a halt, and six males spilled out, their movements predatory and dangerous.
Malrick was at the center, grinning smugly.
Brick pushed her backward. “Go through the woods and get to Adam’s.”
She turned to move when Malrick’s voice made her freeze in place.
“You didn’t think you could hide, did you?”
Brick gave her another nudge. “You were told to leave, Malrick. Do so or suffer.”
The male chuckled, his arms spreading wide. “I’m not leaving without her. She belongs to me by pack law.”
Jade’s wolf surged to the surface, her anger sharp and unrelenting. This guy had some serious balls. Or delusions. She stepped out from behind Brick, not wanting to abandon him to be so hopelessly outnumbered. She imagined her old alpha handing her over to this maniac so coldly, so callously. She wasn’t a thing to be bartered and traded, she was a person of value. And damn it, she had a mate now and she was tired of this male trying to separate them.
“I don’t belong to you by pack law or any other law.”
Malrick’s smirk twisted into a snarl. “You don’t have a choice in this.”
Brick growled, his body vibrating with barely restrained fury. “She said no three times now. I’ve had more than enough of this bullshit.”
“Then I’ll take her by force,” Malrick said. He jerked his shirt off and Jade inhaled sharply. He was going to shift.
“Run, baby,” Brick said as he undid his jeans and shoved them down his legs.
She stumbled backward and turned toward the woods. One of Malrick’s males appeared in front of her, cutting off her escape.
She looked over her shoulder to see her mate shift quickly, as did Malrick. The two lunged at each other, meeting head on as the males with Malrick stayed in their human forms.
But they weren’t watching the two wolves battle, their focus was on her.
Shit.
She backed up as the male closest to her extended his claws and bared his fangs, stalking toward her. The others skirted around the two battling wolves, making their way to her. She knew she didn’t have enough time to shift herself and if she didn’t strip before she shifted she could get tangled up in her clothes.
There was a house a bit down the road from them and she was pretty damn fast.
But maybe she could try something else.
Opening herself to her wolf, she lifted her head and let out a piercingly loud howl, the sort of howl that wolves would know meant there was a wolf in trouble. She turned to run toward the house and immediately crashed into the chest of one of the males, who grabbed her by her throat and lifted her off her feet, cutting off her second attempt at howling for help.
Her claws came out as her oxygen was cut off, and she raked them down his arms, digging deeply into his skin. He snarled and punched her in the face with his free hand, making her eyes water and her vision blur.
No matter how she kicked or struggled, he didn’t ease up on his hold.
Her ears rang and her world narrowed down to a pinprick.
