“Jezzie!”
“What? It’s true. He didn’t have to be rude. I was trying to be polite.”
“He doesn’t care much for humans.”
“I didn’t do anything to him. He could have been nicer to me,” Jezzie returned, unconvinced.
“Having your parents killed and then skinned by humans in front of you will do that to a person,” Rion finished.
Jezzie didn’t say another word. Sinking into her seat, she twisted her fingers together. “Oh my God, that’s terrible. ‘Open mouth, insert foot’ moment, I guess. Were they taken by hunters?”
“Yes, but these hunters knew what they were killing. It was a very long time ago, when we tried to live more openly among humans. It is not my story to tell, so I won’t go further than that, but I wanted you to know his actions are in no way personal. All humans, as far as he’s concerned, are enemies.”
“Who can blame him? We know what it’s like, don’t we, Z?”
“Do we ever,” Zelina responded, shaking her head. “Either way, now you know everything that is going on. You know where I am, so we will be able to still see each other and hang out. Nothing has changed, just my location.”
“Yeah, you’re just in the next town over, so it won’t matter much.”
“Next town over! That’s thirty minutes!”
“No biggie, Z, really.”
“Not you, Jezzie. I’m talking to you,” Zelina said, turning toward Quin. “I was over, what, thirty-five miles away, and you smelled me and ran that far to save me?”
“I have a good nose?” Quin replied sheepishly. A red streak showed up on his cheeks, and Zelina laughed.
“He is the Alpha, inaestimabilis. His senses are better than all of ours. Take into account that you are also his mate, you have the end result.”
“Are you telling me I stink?”
“Okay, I suppose that’s my cue to leave. So, um, you guys have a good night. Z, call me later, whenever you are free, and we’ll catch lunch, my treat.”
Jezzie left the room amid the arguing back and forth, closing the door firmly behind her. Knowing her friend was okay, was loved, and would still be with her washed over the tension that was settling in her shoulders. She just couldn’t sit there as if it wasn’t breaking her heart too. Zelina would have more than just her to be with now. She would be surrounded by her mates and clan. She truly wasn’t alone now. Not like Jezzie.
Alone, she let the fear of what she had been told leak through. Sure, she wasn’t ready to run away screaming, but to know that what she read about every day walked the earth was both fascinating and terrifying. As a mate, Zelina would have their protection, love, and lifelong devotion. Other humans were not that lucky. If Brian was any indication, there were some out there who harmed unsuspecting humans.
Biting her lip against the thought that she almost got her friend killed, and the fear in the base of her stomach, she let the chill rush over her and turned. She ran into a solid wall that hadn’t been there when she’d opened the door. He disappeared as if he’d never been there, a blur of movement the only sign she wasn’t seeing things, and came up behind her. Her screech was stopped by his powerful hand covering her mouth. The ribbed flesh on the palm felt like scars against her lips. The scents of deep earth and fresh rainfall covered her, and she inhaled it over the hand holding her.
“Be calm,” a voice said, one that had made her knees grow weak moments before in the room.
Socha was holding her. His body pressed against the back of her, heat engulfing her, his other hand resting on her side, thumb softly circling. He leaned forward, inhaling her scent before his teeth scraped her pulse. Her pussy grew wet, and she clenched her thighs together to hold in the smell. When his nostrils flared again, she knew she’d failed.
“I could break you like a twig,” he whispered, hands clenching on her body. “Destroy you and toss you away where no one will ever find you.” He nipped her neck harder, a metallic scent wafting from the bite, telling her he drew blood. Fear spiked where desire had been before. “I could crush you under my body, take everything you don’t want to give, and there would be nothing you could do about it. You are weak, so very weak, compared to my strength.”
He pushed her into the wall, his body caging her in between a rock and a hard place. Gripping her chin and twisting her face to look at him, anger clouded his gaze. There was no softness there to find. She saw his parents’ death waiting there, crouching to strike her down if she so much as spoke. He growled low in his throat, the sound deadly and dark. She was terrified, the blood draining from her face, her pulse stuttering as she struggled to breathe. She felt the wheeze before it escaped her throat, felt the tightness in her chest. Fear, anxiety, loss, they always activated her asthma. She’d be on the floor in a minute. She clawed at her captor’s hand as she struggled to get the room to breathe.
“Jezzie?” he asked, his look turning to confusion. He canted his head sideways, listening, before his eyes widened and his mouth descended on hers. Sweet, hot, blissful air powered into her lungs from his mouth. She clung to him, her hands now shackling his wrists to her body. She swallowed his air until the wheezing stopped, the pain eased, and her heart slowed. Socha stepped back, tossing her away.
“Run,” was all he said before he growled at her again.
She didn’t wait, but turned on her heels and ran from the compound as fast as she could. She knew that Zelina was safe, that no one would dare to touch the Alpha, Beta, or the Lunar. She, however, was not that safe, and she would be damned if she ever stepped foot in that compound again.
Her heart was still racing when she pulled up to her home, stripped off her clothes, and climbed into the shower. It wasn’t until she was out of the water, drying her body with a big terry-cloth towel, that she realized the bite on her shoulder hadn’t gone away.
The End