Page 153 of A Broody Mate for the Human

“Luna,” the guard yells.

Cabbage-guy steps forward, a spray in his hand. For a moment I believe it’s pepper spray, but when he empties it towards Annie and her guard, I don’t smell anything. The guard coughs, and Annie scrunches her nose.

Other than that, she remains in her regal posture and steps towards the men. “Let her go,” she says, or rather, commands. Wow, is this really my Annie? There is no fear in her eyes or tone. “I won’t ask twice!”

“You won’t ask twice, little Luna?” Tom cackles. “Not sure who you think you are, but with wolfsbane around you, you are nothing more than a weak, pathetic woman.”

“We could take her with us,” cabbage head snickers.

I’m staring at them in shock. Would they really go that far? Annie, however, remains completely unfazed while her guard is seething. “Over my dead body,” he huffs.

“Your wish is my command.” The one holding Esme frowns, and to my horror, two more men appear. One of them lunges towards Annie’s guard. Fortunately, the wolfsbane in the air seems to affect all of them, so at least they aren’t at full strength. But still, they easily outnumber the one guy.

Annie seems to think the same because, in a sudden surprise movement, she rushes forward and lunges at the man about to tear the guard’s head off. She easily dodges a few of his attacks while the guard gets the upper hand against the other guys.

Esme struggles against his grip too.

“She is just a girl,” Tom yells. He delivers a punch to Esme’s stomach before sending her flying towards cabbage-head. Then he strolls towards Annie, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her away. She wiggles against his grip, elbowing him against his stomach. He lets go momentarily, groaning, before he tugs her towards him, slapping her hard. There is blood running out of Annie’s nose, and I’m fucking seething.

What do these monsters think they are doing!?

I’m about to jump into the fight when I can feel her voice coming through.Stay out of it,Annie begs.I know it’s hard, but trust me, please.

More men seem to be coming, overpowering Annie’s guard and holding him back.

I feel my heart break slightly when I see how Tom slaps her again and hits his knee against her stomach. Annie doubles over, but before she can fall, he grabs her and pulls her up, his back pressed against his chest. “You know,” he whispers, his hand moving over her face and smearing blood all over her before he moves his hands downwards. “I will ask my alpha to hand you to me as a reward for delivering the traitorous bitch to him. I’ll make sure to tame you. Maybe we can all take turns.” He pushes one of his hands under her shirt and the other into her pants, all the while holding her in a death grip.

The guard screams in anger, trying to wriggle free, while Tom starts ripping her shirt down.

Okay, that’s it! I know Annie told me not to intervene, but I’m not going to stand by and watch her getting beaten and raped. Before I can act on my newfound resolution, something in Annie’s eyes flashes.

Wait a moment…

Doesn’t wolfsbane usually prevent their wolves from coming forward?

Wait… wait…

She mind-linked me before… how…

The door to the rooftop flies open, and Annie uses the moment of distraction to let her claws out, ripping them through Tom’s arm. He screams in pain when he lets go of her. “I told you.” Annie frees herself from the grip and delivers a punch to his jaw. “I would only askonce! And the good thing about wolfsbane is that it affects you as much as everyone else.”

There are footsteps to be heard, and Ella comes running towards us with the rest of the guards. Matthew follows them too. He must have heard the commotion. While running I can see Ella using an inhalator, pumping something into her lungs, before throwing it towards Matthew, who does the same. The guards have their own inhalator it seems.

The first of Tom’s men to try to dash towards Ella gets knocked over fast. She lets her canines out and rips his throat out. I’m contemplating throwing up, but at the same time, I’m engrossed by the whole scene.

“Luna,” Ella yells.

Tom must have realized something is awfully wrong as he tries to scramble to his feet while Annie rushes towards cabbage-head who is holding an unconscious Esme. In fear of Annie, he just tosses her towards Annie and runs. The others are hot on his heels.

“Forget about me,” Annie yells at her entourage. “Go after them! Only shift when absolutely necessary.”

Ella nods and runs off, the guards following her, aside from the three who stay back to protect us. “Give Cameron and Esme the spray,” Annie commands them. “They were hurt.”

A female warrior who stayed with us hurries towards the guard, Cameron, who tried to protect Annie. Meanwhile, I find my ability to move again and run towards Annie and Esme. Annie instructs me to hold her head while she takes one of the inhalators and presses the tip of it into Esme’s mouth, pumping something into her lungs. “It works faster if taken in advance like Ella did it,” she mutters. “But it should help her heal.” She turns to me, brushing over my hair. “Are you alright, dear?”

“AmIalright?” I breathe out. “Are you?”

“I tried to stall for time,” she admits. “Wolfsbane has no effect on me. Don’t worry too much. I heal fast.”