Page 11

Chapter Ten

M alik blinked and found Duke, Striker, and Corbin on him, pinning him to the floor of his hotel room. Garth was close and partially shifted, and Rurik was next to him, holding a weapon on Malik .

“W-what the fuck?” Malik demanded, realizing he was naked and under a pile of his teammates. “Get off me .”

Corbin locked gazes with him. “Are you finished acting like a fool ?”

Unsure what Corbin was talking about, Malik lay perfectly still, thinking of the last thing he could remember. As his thoughts went to biting Brooke during sex, he gasped. “Brooke! Where is Brooke? Did I hurt her ?”

Striker grunted. “Och, the wee lass ran out of here crying, thinking you did nae want her and that you used her. When I last saw her, she was leaving the resort to get far from you .”

“Asshole,” said Duke, easing off Malik. “Shifting into a fucking lion? Cat-shifters are dicks .”

Corbin cleared his throat and stood, righting his shirt sleeves, looking as if Malik had given him a hard go of it .

Striker was the last to move off Malik. The Scotsman boldly looked down at Malik’s groin. “I dinnae think you were packing something like that. Impressive. Glad you dinnae participate in the dick-measuring contest .”

Ignoring him, Malik pushed to his feet and looked around for his pants. “Clothes. I need clothes and to find Brooke .”

Duke thrust him backwards. “The last damn thing you need is to find her. She messes with your head .”

Corbin nodded in agreement .

Rurik lowered the weapon. “Is the female your mate ?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” demanded Malik, shoving Duke out of his way. “Where are my pants ?”

Garth, now back in human form, tossed a pair of pants at him from the closet. “Dress, but I agree with Duke. The woman ties you in knots. It’s for the best you let her go. Nothing can come of it all, Malik. You know it, and so does every other male standing here .”

Malik shook his head. “You’re wrong. I have to find her. How long was I shifted for ?”

Garth checked his watch. “About two hours. Took all of us to hold you down for a while there .”

Two hours? He’d been out of control for two entire hours ?

Boomer came into the room with a tranq gun. “Oh, he’s back to normal. Guess this won’t be needed .”

“Do nae be too sure,” said Striker. “Tut wants to find the female again .”

Boomer’s brows went up. “Not that I think you should be around her, but I saw the cleaning crew in the room she and Edee were sharing. I heard them mention something about the girls who had been staying there had checked out early and instructed that their luggage be shipped to them .”

The air left Malik’s lungs as he wrapped his mind around what Boomer was saying. “She’s gone ?”

“Can you blame her?” asked Boomer, stepping closer. “From what Striker told us, you were a total douchebag to her .”

Striker gave a curt nod. “Aye. And I dinnae know the two lasses had checked out .”

Malik yanked his pants on and ran for the door, only to be stopped by Striker. The wolf-shifter shocked him by lifting him into the air and then body slamming him to the floor. The force it took to do such a thing to Malik of all people was staggering. He never knew Striker possessed it .

Striker stood above him and pointed down at him. “You do nae deserve her. Leave her be. She’s better off without you. You’ve lived a charmed life, Tut, and wouldnae know a guid thing if it bit you in the arse. Find a woman who does nae care that you bed anything that moves. Brooke isnae it .”

Boomer put a finger in the air, opened his mouth and then closed it again before facing Corbin. “Did my ears deceive me or did Striker just lecture Malik about being a manwhore ?”

“Your ears are fine,” said Rurik, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m with the wolf. The American girls were okay, you know, for Americans and all .”

Duke rolled his eyes and pointed to Striker. “That shit they gave you two back in the labs is messing with your heads and your personalities. Malik, the man who makes sleeping with a different woman nightly an art form, wants a human woman for keeps. And the Scot is offended for the woman .”

Malik eyed Striker from his spot on the floor. “You took the suppression drugs too ?”

“Aye.” Striker put a hand out to him, helping him up. “They’re nae stopping me from wanting to do you great harm .”

Garth snorted. “He had hopes for bedding the redhead. We tried to tell him that was never going to happen. He saw it as a challenge. You’ve gone and ruined that for him now .”

“Aye.”

Malik’s jaw tightened and he desperately fought to keep from showing his raw emotions. “I know I don’t deserve her but I’m asking for your help here. I need to find her. I need to know she’s okay. I need her to understand that I chased her away because I claimed her, not because I didn’t want her. She’s all I fucking want !”

The room fell silent .

Garth spoke next. “You claimed a human ?”

Malik rubbed his eye, fighting pending tears. “Yes and no. I mean, I couldn’t stop myself from biting her during sex and saying mine , but she’s human so it doesn’t count. That doesn’t mean I want her out of my life. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything and I have to know she’s okay .”

Seconds ticked by before Corbin took out his cell phone. “This is Captain Jones. I need some information on the following two humans.” He lowered the phone. “Malik, what is Brooke’s full name ?”

Malik gasped. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Why didn’t I ask? I asked her to marry me and move in with me but I didn’t stop and think to ask her name ?”

“Fuck me sideways. Tut asked a woman for something serious?” Duke shook his head. “They’re ice skating in hell .”

The men shared a look and Corbin hung up the phone. Corbin looked around at the men. “Fan out and ask the staff if they know where the women went. We’ll assure they are safe and well and then we’ll get Malik as far from the woman as possible .”

Malik tensed. “W- what ?”

“The suppression drugs are messing with your mind, dude,” said Boomer. “You claimed a human. That’s seriously whacked .”

Rurik nodded. “Yeah, whacked .”

Garth tossed Malik a pair of shoes and a shirt before walking towards the door. “We’ll check with the front desk for any leads. Malik, why don’t you ask the valet service if they know the women’s destination ?”

He nodded, put a shirt on, not bothering with the buttons, and slipped on his shoes before rushing over and grabbing his cell. He hurried out of the room. Striker was right behind him. They took the stairs and were in the lobby before Garth and Rurik exited the elevator. Malik ran out of the resort and looked around out front, catching the faintest hint of honey and lotuses .

He called Brooke’s phone from his. It rang and rang but she didn’t answer. Her voicemail picked up. “Brooke, my sweet, I’m so sorry. Please call me the second you get this .”

Striker was staring off in the other direction, his gaze narrowed as Malik disconnected the call .

Malik tensed. “What is it ?”

“Maybe nothing,” said Striker. “Call the lass again .”

Malik did as requested, and Striker ran over to the landscaping near the front door. He stepped into it and came out with Brooke’s bag. It was ringing .

Malik’s stomach dropped as he remembered Brooke telling Edee that she never went anywhere without the bag .

Garth came out front, his face long. “Malik,” said Garth somberly. “Rurik has the front desk man in the back, pressing him for answers .”

Striker put his hand on Malik’s shoulder but looked at Garth. “What is it? What did he say ?”

Garth sighed. “That they were paid handsomely to look the other way while men in large vehicles took the women against their will .”

Nothing else was heard by Malik as his lion thrust upwards. He caught sight of Boomer walking out and Garth motioning to him. Boomer ran at Malik fast, a tranq dart in hand .

Try as he might, Malik couldn’t contain himself, and knew his friends would do what they thought was best to protect him, even from himself, but that didn’t change the fact that someone had Brooke .

Someone had his woman .