Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
My fingers tremble as I turn Madi’s face one way and the other to see where the blood is coming from. “How did this happen? They outright kidnapped my mate and dropped her in the middle of the Pack Games!”
I want to kill every one of those red-eyed fuckers all over again.
“Alpha.” Billy follows me into the bathroom, and I snarl at him. He stops short, but I keep my teeth bared.
I don’t trust anyone right now. Not with Madi.
The Adalwulfs tried to kill my mate.
Madi shudders and lets out a softly pained gasp.
Billy steps back, angling his head. “Alpha, you’re hurting her.”
I look down. He’s right, I’m holding her too close. The scent of her blood is driving my wolf mad. I need to strip her down and see where she’s wounded.
She blinks at me, shivering. Blood trickles from her temple down her cheek where a twig grazed her. If she was a shifter, that shallow cut would be healed by now.
But she’s human. And I have no idea what the fuck to do.
I kick the hot water knob on with my boot, too enraged and protective to put Madi down even for a moment.
Then I whirl to face my pack brothers who now crowd the doorway. “Would somebody please tell me what the fuck happened on the island?” I roar. Sully knew about a security glitch. “Did Sully know something happened and didn’t fucking tell me?” I point a finger at all of them. “Did any of you know that my mate had been kidnapped?”
Vance and Nickel draw back as if I’d struck them. These are the men I normally trust with my life. But right now I don’t know who I can trust. Who fucked me over. None of them wanted me to mate Madi.
“We knew nothing,” Jake answers first.
“I swear it,” Billy says.
“On my life,” Nickel chimes in.
“I’ll try Sully now, but I’m sure he didn’t know either.” Billy pulls his cell phone from his pocket and hits a button.
“I will tear out the throat of anyone who played a part in this.” I pin each of them in turn with a murderous glare.
“We’re not the enemy, Alpha.” Billy pockets his phone, shaking his head, apparently not reaching Sully. “We’re here. We have your back–as always.”
I recognize the truth in his words, but my wolf is still out for blood. “I need to know how they found Madi. And how they breached our security on the island,” I bark. “And I need reports from all pack security. Was anyone else hit? In the Berkshires, in New York?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
They start murmuring about setting a guard. We’re still in unknown territory, reliant on an ally’s goodwill. I don’t like it.
“Call in reinforcements. More Adalwulfs might still be out there–” Billy is saying when Madi shivers. I kick the door shut in their faces, so I can tend to her in privacy.
“Count the bodies,” I shout through the door, quickly but carefully removing Madi’s clothes. “Document it. But keep it under wraps for now.” I can’t announce to my pack that our rivals kidnapped my mate and tried to get her killed when I haven’t even told them I have a mate.
“Yes, Alpha,” Vance answers.
I sit on the side of the tub, cradling Madi against my chest.
I work carefully. Madi is in shock, her lashes fluttering open and closed.
“You’ve got me,” she murmurs.
“I’ve got you. Here.” I strip off her flimsy sundress. There are scratches on her face, and the palms of her hands are torn. Her feet are bare but somehow not bleeding. Her calves and knees are bruised and chapped from the cold. Her right ankle is bright red and a little puffy.
I tease a twig from her hair. The rock in her engagement ring flashes on her bloodied, battered hand.
“Fuck, Madi.” I press my forehead against the back of her hand. “Fuck.”
“It's ok.”
Why is she comforting me?
“No. It’s not.” I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again. Knowing my fragile, human mate could be taken from me at any time will forever haunt me.
I lift her into the tub, arranging her body in front of mine. The water turns red from the blood and mud on my body. “You’re going to be okay, just stay with me baby. We can’t warm you up too quickly.”
She whimpers, shrinking from the water even though I kept the temperature tepid. “Your heat makes my skin burn.”
My heart thunders against Madi’s back. After a few moments, her breath grows stronger. Her skin warms. I sense the life force returning to her body.
“I’m okay.” She sits up, rallying like we’re still at battle.
“It’s okay. It’s over. You’re safe now.”
She moves to stand up, though, so I lift her with my hands at her waist. She climbs out of the tub, still favoring her right leg.