Grey and I sat in the front seat of the car. Gabby, Bethi, Luke, and Clay sat in the crowded back. I studied the building across the poorly lit street. When Sam had returned, he’d told Bethi it looked like a dance club. I’d been to a human dance club before, and this one didn’t look right.
The windowless brick building was in a bad neighborhood. Rough looking humans lingered in a nearby alley and broken bottles littered the sidewalk. No normal human would want to go here.
I glanced in the back seat at the two women. Neither was, in fact, normal.
“Ready?” Bethi asked.
“She’s still in there,” Gabby confirmed.
“Let’s go,” Bethi said, nudging Luke to open the door.
Neither male was happy about this excursion, but I was more than ready to leave the confinement of the vehicle they’d filled with the scents of their concern and frustration. Music thrummed louder as I opened my door.
Unfolding myself from the front seat, I breathed in the night air. Something tickled my nose, but the reek of stale alcohol and used cigarettes from the nearby dumpster made it impossible to identify.
Bethi’s excitement became palpable as she stepped from the vehicle. Luke would have his hands full with her.
She’ll need watching, I sent to Grey.
Luke will watch her closely.
Bethi gave Luke a quick kiss and moved out of the way so he could shut the door. He did watch her closely, but only in the hungry way a Mate watched his female.
Gabby gave Bethi a worried glance, then the pair started forward, crossing the street as we followed. I monitored the area for movement, but no one seemed to notice us. Luke made a small sound of disgust as he opened the red door that marked the entrance. A stronger reek of stale booze and smoke rolled out toward us, along with the overly loud music.
With a resigned look, Grey stepped in first.
My ears are going to start bleeding, Grey sent me.
Holding the door, I let the rest enter then followed. Again, a scent caught my attention, but it was too broken and faint to pick out.
The girls stood on their toes, trying to look around the room. Instead of doing the same, I eyed the human male who was working his way closer to Gabby. When he caught me watching, I slowly shook my head at him, and he backed off.
“That’s her,” Gabby said, pulling my attention from the crowd.
I followed her gaze across the room toward the stage secured behind a floor-to-ceiling wall of chain-link fence. In the center of the stage, on a huge mat that spread across the floor, a tall redhead stood on the balls of her feet. Her fists were up defensively as she sized up the man across from her.
For a moment, all sound stopped.
A sudden storm raged in the center of my gut, twisting my control. While I fought the shift, I surged forward. A growl escaped when the humans didn’t move aside quickly enough. Ahead, she watched her opponent, swung for his head, and dodged his counter swing. Emotions tried to boil forth, but I carefully kept all of them under control despite the fact that someone was trying to hit my Mate.
On some level I understood it was a matched fight, that she was willingly pitting herself against a male twice her size, but that knowledge didn’t calm the storm raging within me. I needed her out of that cage. Afterward, we’d talk about why she would never do it again.
Something clamped down on my shoulder, but I shook it off, my focus never leaving her.
She ducked under a swing and came back with an uppercut to the man’s jaw. The man staggered back and shook his head as I reached the cage. I watched him closely, waiting for him to try to hit her. The cage wouldn’t be enough to keep me from him if he did.
The man brought his hands up and stepped toward her. I growled.
Instead of watching the man as she should have been, my Mate glanced at me. Her opponent noticed and drew back his fist. A snarl ripped from me and I watched as, in slow motion, her head snapped back from the blow.
The thin control I had on my change evaporated. Fur burst forth, and I crashed into the cage as she staggered from his blow. I threw myself against the fence again and again, and the brackets on the ceiling loosened their hold, raining down bits of plaster.
The music stopped and yelling broke out behind me. But that didn’t matter to me. All of it was just a backdrop to the scent of her blood. In a deep part of my mind, rage boiled. It wanted to break free, to destroy everything and everyone. But it didn’t. Unlike my change, I kept every emotion in check. There was too much at risk if I let anything free.
My Mate shook her head, glanced at me, then yelled, “Brick, move!”
I snarled and hit the fence again. The wood splintered around one of the floor brackets as it pulled free. Almost there. She gave the man a shove then ran past him toward the side door.
Son, you need to calm down.
I wanted to listen to the familiar voice in my head, but I couldn’t. She was running.
Leaving the fence, I tore toward the side door. My first attempt to open it resulted in long furrows of split metal. The second time I removed the hinges with a swipe and pulled the door free just as another door slammed shut. I sprinted into the dark hall, following the scent of her blood. How badly was she hurt?
The door at the end flew open when I slammed into it. Bodies lay in fallen heaps nearby. I didn’t spare them more than a glance as I took off after my fleeing Mate. Her red hair flew behind her like a matador’s red cape.
Beyond her, at the mouth of the alley, panicked screams filled the air as people ran from the club. Some fell only to be stepped on by those behind them. And my Mate was running right for that mess.
My plan to grab her changed when she turned to look over her shoulder. The sudden drop in her speed caused me to barrel into her, knocking her over.
Her fingers pressed against my chest as she shook her head. The feel of her body under mine, mixed with the sweet copper scent of her blood, was enough to rob me of all but one thought. Mine. I dove for her neck, ready to sink my teeth into her flesh, but a band of flesh-covered steel wrapped around my throat, stopping me.
“Run,” Grey said a moment before he heaved backward.
I roared in disbelief. How could he?
“Get off me.” My Mate punctuated her words with a swing to my face. She hit hard enough that my teeth clacked together.
I grunted in surprise, and Grey gave an extra heave. She twisted out from under me, jumped to her feet, and ran.
“I’m sorry to do this, son. I command you to shift and keep your bare ass right here until we get you clothes. Now.”
I shuddered as the weight of his words tried to smother my need to run after her.
Bethi came into the alley as my fur receded.
“What the shit? Weren’t you listening to what I said back at the Compound? When I said we needed her, I meant on our side, not running away screaming from us. She took off in a car.”
Grey got off me, and I slowly stood. Gabby averted her gaze, but Bethi continued to glare at me.
“She’s my Mate.”
“Yeah, I figure that out when you went ballistic. Do you have any idea how bat-shit crazy the whole ‘hey, we’re here to maintain the balance between three races’ line is going to sound to her without adding this Mate crap to the story?”
“Luv,” Luke said softly.
“Do not ‘luv’ me.” She groaned and grabbed her own hair like she wanted to pull it out. “You guys and your caveman hormones are making this infinitely more difficult.” She stopped pacing and marched right up to me. “Do not test me. If you pull something like this again, I’ll have my knife so far up your—”
“All right,” Grey said. “We need to leave. Clay, can you find some clothes for Carlos back there?” He waved to the prone bodies near a dumpster.
Clay nodded and jogged past me. Grey faced me.
“Are you in control?” he asked.
“Barely.” Only Grey’s command was keeping me where I stood and in my skin. The tight hold I always kept on my emotions wasn’t helping me with the need to shift.
“Pull it together,” Bethi said, giving me a deadly look of warning for someone so small.
Clay jogged back with a pair of pants and tossed them to me. He took Gabby’s hand, and they started walking toward the mouth of the alley while I tugged on the grotesquely dirty and ill-fitted covering.
As soon as I was done, the rest of us followed Clay and Gabby. The streets were empty. Further away, I could still hear yelling. It wouldn’t take the humans long to come back.
“She’s miles from here,” Gabby said.
Grey intercepted me before I could reach the driver side door. I went to the passenger side while the other four got into the back.
“I don’t think we should go after her yet,” Bethi said. “I really want to, but I know what it’s like to be that freaked out. She won’t listen until she has a chance to calm down.”
Tension coiled in my shoulders. Leave her alone?
“We need to keep an eye on her though,” Bethi added, relieving me.
“There aren’t any Urbat near here,” Gabby said. “She should be fine for a while. Long enough for us to get Carlos some real clothes. He sticks out without a shirt.”
Grey pulled away from the curb.
Not back to the hotel, I sent Grey. If we went back there, I knew I would be left behind when they went to find her.
Son, we can’t risk you losing control again, Grey sent back, confirming my thoughts. Returning to the hotel is for the best.
My family was killed in front of me. I couldn’t do a thing to stop it. The first time I see my Mate, she’s in a cage, being beaten. I doubt any male would have reacted differently, I sent back to him.
He sighed.
“Gabby’s right. We’ll need to stop and get Carlos some clothes,” Grey said, taking a turn. “Winifred says there’s a big and tall store on the other side of town. It’ll give the girl time to cool down.”
Thank you, I sent to Grey.
“She’s not moving as fast anymore,” Gabby said. “I think she’s stopped driving and is at her home. I think she’s still upset though. Her spark is bouncing around in a tiny space.”
Gabby continued to keep us updated as Grey drove to the store. A human joined my Mate then they left to go somewhere else. I struggled to stay calm after hearing she was moving again. It got easier when Gabby reported they’d stopped.
Since Grey had been quick enough to grab my wallet and the keys from my shredded pants when I’d first shifted, he gave Bethi and Luke some money so they could run into the store to get clothes for me.
While we waited, I thought back to the club. The Elders encouraged Jim and me to take some time to live in the human world to understand their ways better. Unlike Winifred and Sam, I didn’t attempt to obtain a job requiring a higher education. At six-foot-six and close to three hundred pounds, I fell into the role of security and was paid very well for the calm way I dealt with any situation. It was easy to do when you didn’t let emotions become involved.
Seeing the girl in that cage had changed everything I thought I knew about me and my future. I thought of the cub in the grass. My Mate was a key in helping my sister. I didn’t think any male had ever needed a female as much as I did.
Bethi and Luke returned with my clothes, and Grey drove until he found a gas station with bathroom access on the outside of the building. They waited while I went inside to change. Bethi had purchased what I’d asked for and an extra change of clothes as well. When she’d angrily tossed the bag at me, no explanation had been necessary. She thought I would shift again.
Staring at the clothes, I recalled the way the woman had looked in the cage. The way her red hair had glinted under the industrial lights. The graceful way she’d moved. A shudder ran through me. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I would be ready the next time I saw her. The first time had been a shock. I wouldn’t lose control again.