~
“Let her go…” Jenny demanded as she started towards them…
Bonnie bit down hard into the flesh of his hand and found some level of satisfaction in the deed of doing him harm. She tasted his blood in her mouth a moment before he cursed and yanked his hand away…
“Get out of here!” Bonnie shouted at Jenny. She was more than desperate in her need to know that if anything happened then at least her friend was safe.
Jenny did the opposite.
Instead of running from him she ran at him, but that was her first mistake. With a grunt of anger at Bonnie’s attack, and being caught red-handed; he backhanded Jenny hard across the face…
Bonnie struggled for freedom as Jenny was knocked backwards. She couldn’t take her eyes from her friend, even when, with a fist in her hair and an arm around her waist; he wrenched her backwards away from her.
Jenny went down hard. Bonnie was sure that she heard the thud of her friend’s head as it hit the wall, and she cried out in anguish before his hand came down over her mouth once more.
Jenny slid the rest of the way to the ground.
Darkness tried to take her, and she fought it hard – trying to latch on to something real, something concrete, through the pulsing pain within her head, and the disconnected feeling that she had with the rest of her body.
Bonnie needed her help now, and she would be damned if she let her down.
Cooper come for her. Found her in the middle of nowhere, and now she was in the worst possible danger … she doubted that the man had hunted her down only to shake her damn hand…
Jenny palmed the ground and pushed upwards. Sheer bloody will and determination saw her on her knees as she fought the nausea and waves of dizziness within her.
She managed to turn her head on her neck against the grating feeling within her bones, but when she was finally able to focus, she realised that Bonnie was gone.
“No…!” Jenny bit out.
She fought against another wave of nausea and held on as she took as deep a breath in as she could, and she yelled it back out again just as loudly as she could.
“Bailey!”
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It had sounded faint to his ears over the level of chatter that was going on all around him, but it was there, and there was no mistaking the level of desperation that forced that cry from his mate’s lips.
Bailey pushed up at the same time that Karl did. Both men had heard it – which meant that Bailey wasn’t losing his mind.
In a heated rush they started in the direction that their mates had gone. Bailey caught up with Karl in a heartbeat, and the big man was scenting the air looking for trouble…
“You get that scent…?” Karl growled, pushing off into a run…
“Jenny’s blood…” Bailey tossed back over his shoulder, moving faster and getting in front of the shifter, before he disappeared out of sight around the corner of the building.
Karl’s heart was pumping hard and his body was primed for action as he turned the corner and took the sight of them in.
Jenny was down on her hands and knees, blood coming from a wound to her head, and Bailey was already biting into the flesh of his wrist to heal her with his blood…
Karl sniffed the air and found his mate’s scent – fear – a lot of fear. His bear rose up within him and he couldn’t keep the beast back.
The sound of shredding clothes and one big bear bursting from inside of Karl made Jenny’s eyes widen at the sight of the man shifting into his beast … before she could push Bailey’s wrist away; she already tasted his blood on her lips, and the moment that realisation dawned on her as to what he was doing, she felt him fist her hair and keep her lips against his flesh…
She cursed and protested, but to no avail…
“Sorry, sweetheart – your need is greater than mine, and it saves a trip to the emergency room,” Bailey bit out against her protests.
Karl’s bear took off after his mate’s scent.
“Bonnie…” Jenny spat out the moment that he released her from his hold…
“Bear’s gone after her…” Bailey assured her.
He palmed her face within his hands and watched his blood work against the wound on her head.
Bailey had to bite down on his need to kill the guy that had done this to his mate. He’d taken that scent, and he’d felt his bloodlust rise within him for justice, and he knew that if he got his hands on that man before Karl – he’d rip him apart.
“Go!” Jenny demanded.
“You’re my…”
“Go, or I’ll go myself…” Jenny might still have felt weak, but she was getting stronger by the minute, and if anything happened to Bonnie…
“You … are …” Bailey bit down on a grunt of annoyance. “Do not move. If you have moved an inch by the time I kill the bad guy and get back here…” he warned, but before Jenny could say another word – he was gone.
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Karl made a beeline for that scent, and it was getting stronger with every step that his bear took – not that he was taking steps – hell no, he was running as fast as his bear could navigate the small spaces between the woodland tree trunks.
He scented Bailey in the air, and heard the vampire veer left around him. He knew that the vampire wouldn’t run headlong into the fight, but Karl also knew that he had no choice.
His bear wasn’t interested in tactics – just getting to Bonnie as quickly as possible and before anything bad could happen to her.
He heard the scuffle of commotion ahead of him and pressed on, willing his beast to go faster, get nearer so that he could take a bite and rip the guy limb from limb…
His eyes took her in.
The sight of his mate in the clutches of another man was bad enough, but the fact that she was being half yanked, half dragged, and was tripping over the debris on the ground with the noises of protest and pain that she was making, sent his beast wild with rage…
Cooper turned at the sound of the angry bear. His eyes took in the sight of the beast running right at them, and he lifted his arm and aimed the gun at Karl…
Bonnie drew a harsh breath in and her mind whirled as her eyes locked onto the metal in the Cooper’s outstretched hand. There was a loud crack from above at the same time as a shot rang out, and both sounds dulled her senses, made her freeze for a heartbeat or two…
She felt the overwhelming need to protect the bear. She raised her hand and slammed her fist down into the crook of Cooper’s arm, forcing the gun downwards as a second shot rang out, and Bonnie felt the hard yank of an arm around her body as Cooper was torn away from her and tossed sideways…
She felt and saw the world spin around her. One moment she was in the grip of a madman, and the next she was behind the back and broad shoulders of the vampire…
There was a roar from the bear that was almost deafening in her heightened state of awareness. A big part of her was so damn thankful that Karl wasn’t dead from the gunshot, but another part was more than fearful for his safety…
She didn’t want anyone else getting hurt for her…
“Jenny…!” She said, gripping Bailey’s shirt and trying to yank and pull him around so that she could make him understand what had happened.
“She’s fine – but miffed at me for giving her my blood to heal her…” Bailey tossed all the information that she should need back over his shoulder and felt her grip on him ease slightly…
“Karl…” she tried to sidestep the vampire to see what was happening, but he turned towards her and blocked her way, her vision…
“You might not want to watch this part…” Bailey warned her with a small wince as he pressed his lips together and offered her a sympathetic look…
“What…? No…!” Bonnie tried to sidestep the man, but he was everywhere.
The sounds of Karl’s angry bear rang out through the trees as she tried to get around Bailey … she heard the cries of a man … the pained torment as the bear did his worst … and she looked into Bailey’s eyes and understood what he was hiding from her…
“He’s protecting us … me…” she said with so much clarity and determination that the vampire was more than impressed by the strength of her character in that moment.
“Yes, he is, and he wouldn’t want you to see him like this…” Bailey assured her.
Bonnie bit down on her need to know that her mate was alright. She nodded once as all of the fight within her to get away from Bailey seeped away…
“You need to walk away now. Go back to Jenny …” Bailey looked deep into her eyes and she found herself mesmerised by his vampire charms. “Do not look back.”
Bonnie turned on her heels and started away from the vampire, away from where Karl’s bear was grunting and growling as he took out the threat to his mate with deadly swipes of his razor sharp claws and fangs that tore him apart.
Bonnie didn’t look back.