by Mandy Rosko
“You’ll bring him back, right?”
Dane looked her right in the eyes. “I promise I will.”
The fact that Miranda didn’t feel Garret was gone from this world counted for something. Dane had to remind himself of that fact. Mates were sensitive to each other. Sometimes they felt each other in small ways. Other times, it was bigger, but Dane sure as hell felt it when Emily’s heart was no longer beating. If Garret had been captured and killed, Miranda would have had a sense of it. He was sure of it.
Katie said nothing, but Dane’s eyes were drawn to the silent woman. She stood in the middle of the group of betas and omegas. There was tension in her shoulders and a shine in her eyes as she held her hands tightly in front of her. Tight enough that her knuckles were white.
He nodded to her, signaling that he would return Jax as well. That stupid dragon was too big to be killed by anything.
Katie swallowed, nodding back.
“I have to go,” Dane said to Lois.
She nodded, forcing a smile that almost reached her eyes. “Yeah, I know.” She laughed a little. “This might be a good thing. With you not around to distract me with sex, I might be able to get some work done for my clients.”
“So long as there’s a benefit to my absence,” he said, leaning in and kissing her.
Her mouth was warm, lips plump and soft as always. He didn’t want to pull back, but he forced himself to do it before he ended up sending the omegas away so he could have her alone again.
When he pulled back, he thought of making some sexy parting joke that would make her smile and blush, like telling her to think of him when she ultimately had to touch herself, or to not forget him when he was gone for the younger, more energetic betas that would be in the house, but now didn’t seem like the time for that. It would probably come out forced and make her worry all the more.
Instead, Dane put his hand behind her neck, threading his fingers through her fire engine red hair, and drank in her features. “I’ll be back soon.”
Lois smiled at him. “You’d better. Those teenagers behind me are starting to look good already.”
His eyes flew wide, then he laughed, kissed her one last time, and shifted into his bear shape, the bigger, more agile one that could run faster and hopefully catch up with Garret sooner. He ran into the woods, away from the house, already thinking about how sweet it would be when he came back home.
Epilogue
“My brother is going to kick your ass for this.”
Dennis stared at the bratty little blonde, tied to a chair with silver wire wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Silver could only make a shifter bleed or put them in pain if it was stabbed into the body, like a bullet or a silver-tipped knife.
Silver touching the skin without penetrating it, however, could still be discomforting, and it was a drain on both energy and strength.
Laurence had puked just handling the stuff. Apparently, it made him nauseous, so Dennis was opting to keep the other man away from it, and the girl by extension.
Dennis hadn't liked the way Laurence had looked at her.
“Don’t you ever talk?” the woman snapped, pulling briefly against the silver that trapped her. “Do you really think you’re going to get away with this? Garret’s been wanting your head forever. Now, oh now, you really blew it.”
“The way you pretend to be fearless of me is only somewhat entertaining,” Dennis said, noting with pleasure how the woman’s shoulders tensed, how her blue eyes flew wide.
He continued. “Though I will give it to you that it has been almost a week, and you’ve still managed to keep up the outward appearance that you’re unafraid. That takes some talent.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Dennis smiled at her, showing off the fang at the corner of his mouth. “Liar,” he said softly. “I can smell your fear on you. It’s in your sweat.”
“That’s because you haven’t let me have a bath since I got here.”
It wasn’t like bathing options were exactly suitable around here. This old factory used to have many employees before it was shut down around the time most business went overseas for their cheap labor. There were bathrooms, and one of the men had rigged a shower from one of the sinks, but Dennis wasn’t about to let this little sunflower here get naked among his group of rogues. Once upon a time, he might have trusted them with that, but over the course of several decades, things had certainly changed.
Dennis got up from the old sofa he’d been sitting on and approached her. It was so interesting, watching her make an attempt at bravery, even as he noted the way her bottom lip quivered.
Dennis leaned over her, and he didn’t care what it did to him, he put his hands over her arms, and the silver metal coiled around them.
“Did your brother ever tell you who I was?”
The girl glared at him. “He said you were banished from the pack for hurting one of the girls. You’re the one who killed my father.”
“That’s two out of three facts you got right,” Dennis said, hatred flaring up inside him at that tired old accusation. “I was banished from the pack, but I didn’t do jack shit, and I did kill your father. I took so much pleasure in killing him that I didn’t know what to do with myself for days. You want to know why?”
The girl shook her head. “I don’t care why.”
Dennis grabbed her by the throat, tired of her little act. “I killed your daddy because he killed my father. He killed him when he banished us from the only pack we’d ever had on the eve of the hardest winter in decades. Garret was my best friend, and he knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and he didn’t defend me or my father. I watched friends die that winter, starving and freezing, so don’t give me your pathetic little spoiled rich girl horse shit about what a villain I am.”
He stared at her, hating her even though she hadn’t been alive when it happened. It took several long seconds before he was able to see through the haze of his anger, to realize how tightly he was gripping her throat, and the wide, scared rabbit look in her eyes. He pulled away from her. His fingers had dug into the pale skin of her throat, already leaving red marks that would darken with blue and purple bruising.
Her heartbeat was loud in the room, but so was his. It was just the two of them in here. There was a desk, a couple of chairs, and the sofa, so he guessed this used to be the office of someone in higher management. It made it possible to have privacy and keep the others from seeing, hearing, and smelling too much of her.
At the moment, he wished there had been someone else around to tell him to stop, to shout some sense into him. Maybe keeping her in here all to himself, seeing to her care, feeding and bathroom breaks, hadn’t been the best of ideas. She was irritating him, and despite how much he hated her for who her brother was, he didn’t want to put bruises on the throat of the helpless.
The fear, the animal panic in her blue eyes left her, and she glared at him again. “You fucking coward.”
“Shut up,” Dennis said, grabbing his jacket. He needed to get the hell out of this office.
“Where are you going?”
“To wait for your brother to call with your ransom money. You’re pissing me off too much.”
“He’s going to call!”
“It sure is taking him a long time!” It was a low, childish parting shot as he slammed the office door behind him.
The woman inside shouted some obscenities at him, and he wasn’t going to stick around by the door when he thought he heard her sobbing.
She was under the impression Dennis had called Garret with his demands. Everyone in his pack thought the same thing.
His pack was getting irritated that the billionaire alpha wasn’t calling to immediately agree to their terms in return for the safety of his sister. The girl was getting frustrated because Dennis had, without meaning to, apparently implanted an idea in her head that Garret wasn’t calling for her.
The truth was Dennis hadn’t called yet. He’d kept the girl close for day
s, and he still had yet to call and make his demands known. Twenty million dollars was nothing to a man like Garret. It certainly wouldn’t make up for the death of Dennis’s father or friends, but it would set him and his pack of rogues up for life. They could live comfortably instead of moving from place to place, no more fights for revenge, and maybe Dennis could finally live in peace.
No, instead he was putting off what was essential for the survival of his pack, and his own mental survival, so he could bicker and argue with a spoiled little princess who had never known hunger or cold or loss. Hell, she had never known her father, so it wasn’t like she had to mourn his passing.
He just couldn’t figure out why. Why was he keeping her when he didn’t have to?
The End
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Other Books By Mandy Rosko
Other Paranormal Romances by Mandy Rosko that you might enjoy
Alpha Bites Series:
Alpha Book 1
Alpha Bear Book 2
Alpha Dragon Book 3 Coming Soon!
Things in the Night Series:
The Vampire's Curse Book 1
The Legend of the Werewolf Book 2
The Dragon and the Wolf M/M Novella
The Shepard's Agony Book 3
Things in the Night Box Set
Dangerous Creatures Series:
Burns Like Fire Book 1
A Shock To Your System Book 2 M/M
As Cold As Ice Book 3
Howling For You A Novella
Let Me Play a Trick on You A Novella Coming Soon!
Others:
The Princess' Dragon Lord
Sold To The Enemy
My Angel Lover, Have Mercy on Me M/M
Mate of the Wolf
Night and Day Series:
Night and Day Book M/M Book 1
The Calm Before the Storm M/M Book 2
All Hell Breaking Loose M/M Book 3
Book 4 Coming Soon!
Contemporary Romances:
Arrangement With A Billionaire
Book 2 Coming 2017!
Medieval Romances by Rizzo Rosko:
Lady Thief Book 1
Lady Deception Book 2
Copyright
Smashwords License Statement
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright Mandy Rosko 2016
Cover Art by Jennifer Munswami
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Mandy Rosko lives as a hermit and she works in Ottawa, Ontario. Every once in a while she peels herself away from writing and Internet surfing to socialize with real people. She loves videogames, Sailor Moon, and her dog. She’s hard at work on her next novel.
For More Information:
@rizzorosko
mandyroskoromance
www.mandyrosko.com
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