Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“Dominic.” The voice was male. Flat. Seemed far away. “Dominic, he’s not getting up, man. He’s out. You hear me? He’s out cold. Mila needs you.”
Mila.
His chest heaving, his muscles quivering, his body sore in too many places to count, Dominic pushed his way out of the fog of fury and really looked at the male beneath him. The cheetah’s face was . . . well, it was a fucking mess. Bloody. Puffy. Almost purple. His nose was broken, his eyes were swelling, and his cheekbone looked fractured. Tate was right. The asshole was out cold.
Standing, Dominic stepped over the cheetah and swept his gaze over the pallas cats. They were all watching him as you would a rabid animal, and he couldn’t really blame them.
Vinnie took a slow, nonthreatening step toward him. “We have this, son. Go to Mila.”
Flexing his aching fists, Dominic gave a curt nod. “If he has anything helpful to say, I want to hear about it.”
“You will,” Vinnie told him. “Let Sam heal you before you go.”
A male took a cautious step toward him and reached for Dominic’s arm, but he didn’t touch him. He waited for Dominic’s nod before placing his palm on Dominic’s forearm. A surge of power crackled through him. Unlike Taryn’s energy, it wasn’t so much soothing as it was jolting.
Giving the healer a nod of thanks, Dominic rolled back his shoulders. The aches and stings had vanished, leaving only the lethargy that came from an adrenaline crash.
Satisfied, Dominic turned back to the fire escape and descended the ladder. A police car was parked on the road, and two uniformed cops were talking with the human woman whose toddler had been briefly used as a hostage. Some people were snapping photos of her while others were trying to get a good look at what was happening on the roof. From there, they couldn’t see shit, which was good.
As he crossed the street, he saw Mila standing just outside the grocery store, surrounded by a small cluster of her pack mates, including her parents, Ingrid, and motherfucking Joel. She shouldered her way through them and went to Dominic. Locking one arm around her, he palmed the back of her head as he pressed a kiss to her hair. He breathed her in, let the scent and feel of her pour into him and steady his wolf.
She pulled back, as if worried she’d hurt him, but he held her tight. “Shit, GQ, you have blood on—”
“I’m fine. Sam healed me. I was just a little banged up. I’ve had worse.”
“Did you get the asshole?” James asked quietly. “We couldn’t see what was going on from down here.”
“Vinnie and the others have him,” replied Dominic. “He’s out cold, but not dead.”
“He soon will be,” Valentina vowed, stroking her daughter’s hair.
Dominic flicked a brief glance at the police. “Will I need to give a statement?”
“No,” said James. “Those particular cops are part of our pride. They’ll put a nice story together. Probably to the effect that the asshole was chased out of the store for shoplifting, and that a bunch of people tried catching him but failed. He was simply too fast, and so he was probably a shifter.”
“He was a cheetah. Must be handy having some of your pride mates in the police,” Dominic mused.
“It is at times like this,” said Ingrid. “How else do you think our species managed to stay under the radar? We have plants in many places.”
“Take Mila home, Dominic,” Valentina told him. “I will get her groceries and bring them to her.”
Eager to get out of there, Dominic hiked Mila up his body and pulled her legs around his waist.
She frowned. “I can walk.”
“Don’t care.” He started for the apartment building, but then Joel slipped into his path. His wolf bared his teeth. “Not now,” Dominic gritted out. He didn’t even want to know what the male wanted; Dominic needed him gone.
Joel’s jaw hardened. “But I think Mila should—”
“Not. Fucking. Now.” Dominic shrugged past him and carried her to the building. He didn’t put her down until they were in the bathroom of her apartment, where they stripped off their clothes.
Standing under the hot spray, they soaped each other down. Her touch was gentle and soothing as it washed the blood from his skin, but he was soon rock fucking hard. With the adrenaline still in his system and his fear for her safety still fresh, he soon had her pinned against the tiled wall as he powered in and out of her.
No sooner had they dried off, her parents appeared. Valentina fussed over them and put away groceries while James fielded calls from anxious pride members, assuring them that Mila was fine and just needed some rest and privacy. After talking Mila into canceling her upcoming performance at the Velvet Lounge that night, Dominic called Trey, gave him a rundown of what had happened, and promised to keep him updated.