Page 93 of Dominion
“Melissa. Steele—alpha’s promise you’ll give her pack protection.”
Shit.What in the hell was he getting himself into? Stone wanted him to vow his own life to protect her. Well, that’s what wolves did.
“Yeah,” he grunted. “Alpha’s promise.”
“Thank you.”
He closed his eyes and rubbed a hand across his face. He’d live to regret this.
Because his pickup was full of painting supplies, he left it in front of the house and jogged the few blocks to his own place, where he hopped on his motorcycle and checked the address Ben had texted.
His wolf instincts kicked into gear before he got there, putting him on high alert. He cut the engine and coasted silently up to a small two-story house. A dark blue Range Rover was parked in front, behind a white Toyota pickup. Tingles of warning raced across his skin.
The front door stood open and male voices barked inside.
He skirted the building to peer through a window. Three guys sat on the couch. They all sported guns and one wore a fancy suit.
A chill made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. Looked like Junior Rabago, a drug dealer out of Denver. He moved heavier drugs like cocaine and heroin through one of the local marijuana dispensaries. If Ben’s sister-in-law was tied to him, this was bigger trouble than he’d imagined.
Fuckity fuck fuck.He should not have offered an alpha’s promise to Ben for this. Now protection had just turned into a rescue. And he didn’t even have a gun on him.
Ben had said his sister-in-law was here now. Had they killed her already? Or had she managed to escape in time? He scented the air. He didn’t smell blood. Only the fresh scent of humans—mostly male, maybe one female. No wolves. He looked up the building. A window stood open on the second floor.
Was he nuts for thinking about climbing up there? Probably. But he couldn’t see what other choice he had. It was that or camp out here to wait for the guys to leave and they didn’t look likely to leave any time soon. He gripped the rain spout, hoping it was strong enough to hold his weight. It creaked, the metal scraping the side of the brick building when he swung onto it, but it didn’t pull away from the building. He scaled it to the roof, then crept to the area above the open window and lowered his body down over the side, his toes landing on the sill.
The screen came out easily and he tossed it down to the grass below. He crept into what appeared to be a bedroom, which had been completely trashed. The human female scent was stronger here—an alluring smell, despite the fact that it didn’t come from a she-wolf.
His instincts blared. Someone was in the room. He trained his sensitive ears and heard breathing. A rapid heartbeat. It came from the closet. Melissa? No—the scent was decidedly human.
He walked over and eased the door open, trying not to make any noise to alert the guys downstairs. Female clothing packed the closet—dresses and suits hung from hangers, filling the entire space. He didn’t see the woman, but the staccato beat of her heart and the metallic scent of fear drew his attention to the back corner.
With a swift movement, he yanked the clothing to the side and reached out to snatch her, clamping one hand over her mouth to keep her silent. He hadn’t planned for her knee connecting with his groin.
He doubled over, only barely preventing a groan from leaving his mouth.
The young woman tried to shove past him, but he grabbed her from behind, wrapping one arm around her waist, covering her mouth with the other hand. The contact sent a jolt of something unfamiliar through him. Like a warning, only more pleasant. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck. “Melissa?”
Maybe it wasn’t her. The human struggled with more force than he’d expect out of a human female, her body lithe and strong beneath the soft exterior. Wrestling her aroused his inner beast, his cock thickening as if this were some wild mating dance, instead of a life or death situation.
“Ben Stone sent me,” he growled low in her ear, in case she was the female he was supposed to save. Her apples and cinnamon scent filled his nostrils, exciting his body, despite the situation. Despite the fact that wolves aren’t attracted to humans.
She went still.
Okaaay. Ben Stone’s sister-in-law was human. Which meant Stone’s wife must be, too. He hadn’t heard that, although Stone’s pack would probably not be in a hurry to spread that information.
She twisted to look back at him, eyes wide with fear. Her beauty struck him like another jab to the balls. Her eyes were wide and blue, thick glossy hair hung in long reddish-brown waves. He’d never seen such a beautiful human in his life. He eased the hand from her mouth to reveal lush lips, trembling with fear.
“I’m the rescue wagon,” he said sardonically. It sounded more bitter than he felt, only because his attraction to her had taken him by surprise and he didn’t like surprises.
Her lips parted but she didn’t speak.
He didn’t have a weapon and those guys down there had guns. Which meant fighting their way out was a no-go, especially since she was a weak human. “We’ll have to go out the window. I’ll jump down and catch you when you follow.”
Her big blue eyes bugged out. “We can’t. This is a second story,” she whispered.
He turned her around to face him. “Do you know what I am?”
Please say she at least knew that her brother-in-law was a shifter.