He was shifting from foot to foot, sweat dripping from his brow.
“I’m going to toss her ass out the moving vehicle once I’m on the road,” he spat.
That wasn’t instilling any confidence in me.
I locked eyes with Leighton one more time, trying desperately to see some kind of sign or confirmation. She couldn’t give one, because if Tobias caught on, it wouldn’t work.
“No,” I said, taking the risk no one else would, and throwing the full weight of my aura behind my words. “You’re going to let her the fuck go.”
Tobias flinched.
Mercury cursed, jumping into action.
ButLeightonwas ready.
She ducked, and Tobias—caught between my bark and Leighton’s will—was too slow.
The gun went off, missing her and blasting a hole through an old dresser that laid against the wall. Leighton grabbed Tobias’ wrist and twisted, the matte metal falling to the ground before Mercury reached her. Half of Soren’s hired hands were pinning Tobias to the ground before my packmate got there, but all I could do was stare.
My pulse was pounding, the sound of blood rushing filling my ears. The panic was back, but this time it was almost… happy panic? Did that exist?
I watched as Leighton and Mercury embraced, their lips slamming together for a quick kiss. I was incapable of moving as she came over to me, placing her hands on both of my cheeks with a grin.
“Thank fuck you were here,” she said. “Mercury never would have done it.”
Then she kissed me too, and it unfroze me. I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing until she gasped for air against my lips. She tasted a bit like blood—from a bitten lip or tongue, I imagined—but mainly she tasted like I’d always expected her to. Like fucking heaven.
I kept her against me until Mercury forced us apart, pointing down at Tobias.
I couldn’t help but laugh. They had him bound like a pig to the slaughter. Arms and legs both tied together. They hadn’t bothered to gag him, and he was cursing.
“We’ve got about three minutes until this place is swarmed with cops,” the guy in charge said. I vaguely remembered his name being Bastian. “What do you want done with this one?”
His question was directed to Leighton. She tipped her head to the side, grabbing the gun I wore at my waist. If she killed Tobias, I didn’t think anyone in the world would be upset by it.
Instead, she aimed haphazardly and shot him in the lower leg. Then in the shoulder. Two quick gunshots that made me cringe from the noise and proximity. Tobias screamed, throwing curses and rolling around on the ground pathetically.
“Not going to kill him?” Mercury asked, almost disappointed.
“There’s something satisfying about knowing he’ll have to live with this failure,” Leighton said. She addressed the next question to Bastian. “What happened to Noah Connolly?”
“Soren wants him,” the man said with a shrug.
“Tell him to sell his son off for an alliance, because his daughter isn’t fucking available. I’m sure there’s some pack that wants to bite in a beta asshole.”
“Noted. If we’re leaving this kid, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I walked past Tobias without looking at him again. Honestly, the blood kind of freaked me out, considering how much of it there was. He might die despite Leighton sparing him, but that was no longer our problem.
Placing my hand on the small of Leighton’s back, I stayed close to her as we ascended. Mercury did the same. “Kiara’s safe, right?” Leighton confirmed. “She feels… pleased.”
My bond with her barely pulsed anymore, fading as time passed without me biting her in return. I felt a hint of pleasure, though, and knew Ambrose was already taking good care of her. She’d been in rough shape when we’d wandered past.
“Ambrose has her,” Mercury confirmed.
“Perfect. Let’s get her home, because she deserves a better heat than the one she’s gotten,” Leighton said.
A flash of arousal rushed through me, and I pressed closer to Leighton once again. With my nose buried in her hair, we made our way off the property before the cops arrived.
