Eric leaned against the soundproof wall and crossed his arms. If he could turn this guy into a werewolf, he’d promote him to second as soon as he shifted. Hell, the dude’s muscle mass alone was comparable to any alpha he’d ever seen, and man, had he put up a good fight. Tearing him to pieces had been fun.

Sweat beaded on Alexis’s forehead as she repaired the damage Eric’s teeth had done. She’d screamed at him to stop during the entire attack, her voice cracking with anger or fear…he didn’t care which. Seeing her all worked up like that had gotten him all worked up, and now he was so goddamn horny his dick felt like a blocked water pipe about to explode.

He could force her to give him a blowjob, but he didn’t trust that bitch’s teeth anywhere near his family jewels at the moment. “How much longer you gonna be on your period, babe?”

She wiped her brow with her forearm and glared at him. “A week.”

Damn, she was sexy when she was mad. If she’d been clean, he’d have bent her over the table right then and reminded her why she really came back. She wanted him, whether she was ready to admit it or not.

“How’s the patient?” He pushed from the wall and strolled toward his mate-to-be. Peering over her shoulder, he marveled at the final flesh wound stitching itself back together with the help of Alexis’s magic.

She turned her face toward him, and her skin had taken on a grayish color. She’d never admit weakness, but healing drained the life right out of her. He gave her shoulder a shove, and she fell onto her side before rolling onto her back and squeezing her eyes shut. Frail little bitch.

The man’s eyes rolled beneath his closed lids, and Eric knelt, gripping his forearm and waiting for the tingle of werewolf energy to seep into his skin. He felt nothing. “Damn it, Alex, you healed him too fast.”

She grimaced as she pushed to a sitting position. “Any slower and he wouldn’t have made it. You almost tore his throat out.”

He shot to his feet and clenched his fists. “We’ll try again then. I’ll stay away from his neck this time.”

Alexis rubbed her forehead. “No, Eric. He’s been attacked and healed three times now. Doing it again isn’t going to change anything. Maybe it takes time for the magic to bond with his blood.”

“No. It’s almost a full moon; it should be immediate.” He narrowed his gaze at Alexis. “You’re distracted. That’s what it is.”

She leaned her back against the wall. “Of course I’m distracted. You’re insane.”

“No. It’s that damn cop. You’re still thinking about him.” He’d seen it in her eyes, even as she’d told the dude to leave her alone. She had feelings for a human. His nostrils flared as a jealous rage boiled in his gut.

“I’m not thinking about him. All I can think about right now is how I wish you’d clean up all this blood. It’s making me nauseated.”

What could a human cop give her that he couldn’t? At the moment, the one thing Samuels had that he didn’t was power. That would change soon enough. He had a new strategy in the works. His men were already out finding him someone weaker to practice on. Once he perfected the method, then he’d move on to creating strength in his pack. He’d need weaker wolves to do his grunt work anyway.

“You can clean it up when we’re done. We’ve got a new patient on the way.”

“You need to give this one time. Let him at least wake up before you hurt anyone else. The magic might hold.”

“No. He’s too strong. It’s not going to work.” A chime sounded in the hall. His minions had arrived with his next experiment. “Stay here with the dead guy.”

“He’s not dead.”

“Not yet.” He slipped out the door to meet them at the back.

Alexis took a deep breath and leaned her head against the wall. Her stomach churned at the coppery scent of fresh blood, but she pushed to her feet. She couldn’t let Eric see how weak healing made her.

She shook the man’s shoulder. “Wake up, dude.”

His eyes rolled from side to side, but they didn’t open. The third time Eric had attacked him, he’d nearly killed him. It had taken every ounce of energy Alexis had to keep the guy alive, and he was still unconscious.

She put her hands on either side of his head and tried to push more healing energy into him. If she could get him to wake up before the dickhead and his flunkies came back, he might be able to escape out the front door.

“Goddammit, Trevor, I told you no more women.” Eric’s voice grew louder as they approached the room. “Alexis is going to be my mate.”

Her skin crawled at the thought of getting her body anywhere near that meathead. She pressed her back against the wall as Eric slammed the door open and stomped into the room, followed by his two prospective pack members.

“You said you wanted someone weaker,” Trevor said as he lowered the unconscious woman to the floor.

“Not that weak. A new pack needs a solid foundation of strong werewolves. I can make males strong, but females aren’t going to cut it.”

“Sorry.” Trevor lowered his gaze, while Justin hovered near the door.

Eric scratched the scruff on his jaw as his gaze danced between the victims, his men, and Alexis. “Here’s the plan. Trevor, go get me the kid we talked about.”

Trevor rubbed the back of his neck. “The kid? Are you sure you wanna go there, boss?”

Eric puffed out his chest like an overstuffed peacock. “Are you questioning your alpha?”

He lowered his head. “No sir. I’m on my way.” He scurried out the door.

“Justin, after I take care of these two, dump them in the river, and then get your ass back here to help Alexis clean up the mess.” Eric cracked his knuckles. “I don’t want any contamination when the kid gets here.”

“Yes, sir.” Justin gave him a mock salute.

She stepped toward the woman. “Take care of them? What are you going to do?”

Eric smiled wickedly and shifted into his wolf form.

Alexis screamed.

He lunged for the unconscious man, going straight for the neck, and ripped his throat out before Alexis could move. Then he turned to the woman.

“Eric, no!” She threw herself on top of her. “Don’t kill her. Let her go.”

He paused, a low growl rumbling in his throat. His gaze flicked to Justin and back to Alexis.

Justin grabbed her arm, trying to haul her up, but she clutched the woman’s shoulders, hanging on tight. She couldn’t let him kill her or anyone else. This had to end.

“Come on, woman,” Justin said. “You heard the alpha. We have to get rid of her.”

“No. She hasn’t even woken up. Let her go.”

Justin pulled his arm back, fisting his hand to deliver a blow, but Eric barreled into him, knocking him into the wall. Alexis clung to the woman, her head spinning from exhaustion, nausea churning in her stomach. Eric would have to go through her if he wanted to kill another innocent human, and in her current condition, she’d be dead before she had the chance to shift.

Eric returned to human form and yanked Justin up by the collar of his shirt. “No one lays a hand on the alpha’s mate,” he growled.

“I’m sorry.” The lackey ducked his head, averting his gaze. “You want me to haul her off and take care of her myself?”

“You’ll have to kill me first.” Alexis tightened her grip on the victim’s shoulders.

Eric arched an eyebrow at her before turning to his minion. “Did she see your wolf form?”

“I knocked her out with the chloroform from behind. She never even saw my face.” He smiled smugly.

Eric grabbed Alexis’s elbow and dragged her to her feet before wrapping an arm around her. “You heard my future mate. This one lives. Dump her in the woods before she wakes up and leave her.” He pressed his putrid lips to Alexis’s head, and her stomach turned. “See, babe? I told you this would be a partnership. You saved a life today.”

She shook from his embrace. “And you took one, asshole.”

He shrugged. “As soon as we figure out the formula, no one else will die.”

She clenched her teeth. Someone else would die tonight, and it wouldn’t be another human.