Page 60 of Unbonded (Pack’s Companion #3)

I dig my heels in and roll away from the ring of alphas who are shouting and pulling their guns.

There’s a chattering sound that makes my teeth ache, and I realize it’s boots on the metal stairs.

A moment later, men in tactical vests pour into the room like a black tsunami.

Someone gets a shot off, but Declan’s still whistling, and most of the buyers are standing frozen in shock.

The newcomers swarm over them, punching and snarling, and a loose gun skids my way.

I scoot forward so fast my muscles scream, but I hiss in victory as I snatch it up with my cuffed hands.

I've never fired a gun in my life, but that doesn’t mean I won't give it my best damn shot!

“Get the fuck out of my way.” The biggest alpha, his voice distorted with rage, breaks away from the incoming wave.

Even the frozen alphas are falling back from the nightmare in their midst, his dominance shoving them aside like they’re holes in the air.

I’m too low to see his face, but I can smell him, and my entire body clenches in need. “Bram!”

He turns, his eyes narrowed, but even through the dark slits I can see the glow of eyeshine.

Bram is the nightmare.

But not mine.

I drop the gun and hold my hands up, beseeching.

When he catches sight of me, he growls and seems to swell to the limits of his tactical vest. Not relieved, but furious , his gaze tracking from my cuffed wrists to my tear-streaked face.

When his glowing eyes travel down my soaked gown, I can’t stop my body from twisting, another wave of heat slicing through me.

I cry out his name again, and this time he comes, shoving an alpha so hard he slams into a metal shelf.

I squirm up, flopping onto my ass, and he drops to his knees between my shaking thighs. He gives another low growl and his thumb presses against the raw pad of my bottom lip. “Bitten.”

It’s like he’s dredged the word from the bottom of his soul.

“By me. To hold the pain in.” His teeth clench and I shake my head, trying to grab his vest with my cuffed hands. “I don’t care. Just kiss me. Please, Bram!”

I’m begging – the first time since King dragged me out of the coffee shop – and he doesn’t make me wait.

His clenched fists soften, sliding around my back, and his mouth descends on mine.

Not in some violent display of passion, but the way you’d kiss the life back into something you thought you’d lost.

Another hand touches my cheek, and I look up into Corbus’ beautiful face. He’s dressed like a dark angel, and there’s a simmering emotion in his eyes that I’ve never seen before. “ E bent mijn liefje, je bent mijn hart , Kate.”

I don’t know what he’s saying, but I soak up his scent as I collapse against him, my tears soaking into his collar. I can feel all the pain and fear bubbling up inside me, but I pull back, now worried for another reason. “Corbus! I had to give your ring away. Is it safe?”

He cups my face, his lips brushing mine. “Yes, my love, but I don’t care about that now. All we want is to take you home.”

Home.

I don’t think of the building, as beautiful as it is, but of the people who’ll be waiting there.

“Yes! Please.” Now I’ve started begging, I can’t stop, and the tears come down harder when I see Lachlan's face. His sunshine smile is so shattered, the dam breaks wide open on my barely-there bravado, and I feel like my heart is about to burst. “Lachlan…”

“Oh, sweetheart. Katie. Thank fuck you’re okay.” He stares down at my bound hands, and a horrible grating sound comes from his chest. “Where the hell are the keys?” I squirm, trying to get my arms around him, and he cups my face, storm clouds in his eyes. “Did they touch you, Katie?”

“They tried. I stabbed that one and puked on another.” It’s only then, I realize I’ve been kissing them with this mouth, although Bram doesn’t seem to be waiting for an apology.

Instead, he’s back on his feet, heading in the direction of the alpha with the bloody cuff.

But King is in his path, and when he catches sight of Bram, he tries his best to claw his way out of reach.

But the alphas are an unmoving wall caging him in.

Half are still frozen, while the others are either down or nursing bloody wounds.

Corbus and Lachlan tighten their hold on me as Bram grabs King by the neck and drags him back in our direction.

“Fuck! Let me go! I didn’t even touch her, I swear! ”

“You stuck a gun in my side and then forced your tongue down my throat,” I spit, glaring up into his face.

“You dragged me into this nightmare, just so you could keep me after they auctioned me off. How did you put it? You hoped I wasn’t going to take too long to heal, so you could have me for yourself. ”

A growl reverberates in Bram’s chest, but Lachlan is on his feet, every line of his body humming with violence. “You blackmail her, kidnap her, and then assault her?” He punches King so hard in the gut, the other man falls to his knees. “You don’t even deserve to look at her, you piece of trash!”

King coughs and gags, but before he can get his feet under him, Bram drags him over to the nearest window and rips away the black plastic.

With a thump of his fist, he sends the glass plane crashing into the alley below and shoves a cowering King up against the ledge.

Night air swirls around the shattered glass, the hint of stars peeking through the rain clouds.

Bram steps back, but when the other man stares fearfully over his shoulder, Bram just nods at the window. “Jump, asshole. ”

The command crackles across my skin like an electric charge.

My hair stands on end, and it’s not even directed my way.

King stares out into the darkness for a single heartbeat, then clambers over the ledge.

His clothes catch on the broken glass, but it doesn’t stop him from throwing himself out of the third-floor window.

I shudder in Corbus’ arms, but Bram is already turning and looking for his next target. Most of the alphas are still recovering from the force of his command, but Brennan has pulled a knife and is backpedaling towards the door. “Come one step closer,” he shrieks, “and I’ll gut you like a pig!”

Bram is on him in half a dozen strides, knocking his wild swing aside and punching him in the throat with a crushing blow. Brennan gives a gurgling scream, but Bram grabs him by the hair and wrenches his head back, exposing his bobbing throat. “You were going to sell my mate. For your cut , right?”

“It’s your fault,” Brennan wheezes, his hand clawing at Bram. “You stuck your fecking nose in my business…”

“Take that blade and cut your throat.”

Brennan’s eyes bulge in terror, but it doesn't stop him from obeying the uber command. I see the knife flash, but Bram swings him away and dumps him on the floor. Probably to save me from witnessing his messy end, but I’m not interested in Brennan.

I’m watching Bram, who stares back at me, his vengeance slowly turning to something hotter, wilder, hungrier…

“Take me home, mate.”

I could be talking to any one of them, the way they close around me like a pack.

But it’s Bram who scoops me into his arms, his heart pounding like a drum under my ear.

He grunts as he tears the cuffs from my wrists, the metal twisting and tearing like paper in his grip.

I burrow against his chest, his ink and leather scent overlaid with a menacing smoky flavor.

It should probably frighten me, but it zips across my skin, leaving electric sparks in its wake.

Now that my mates are here, I don’t even care if they take me on the dirty floor, and I wriggle in Bram’s arms, licking a hungry stripe up his neck.

I think I’m about to get my wish until a large alpha steps into our path. As he inspects Brennan’s body, he has a fading glimmer in his gaze – eyeshine, or something close to it - but then cocks a brow at Bram. “You finished causing mayhem, Webber?”

“Not even close,” Bram growls. “I want bank details. Names, accounts, the works. I want to know everything about every prick who ever had anything to do with this operation.”

“Patrick will do that. You focus on getting her into a nest.”

Bram shows his teeth again, but Corbus touches his arm, turning those menacing eyes back our way. “He’s right. She needs you, mijn broer . She’s in heat and she needs her mates.”

Bram gives the other alpha another soft growl, but he backs away with his hands up, only breaking eye contact when Declan throws an arm over his shoulder.

I wait until his bright green eyes land on me and then give him a thumbs up.

“Thank you.” I’m not really sure what I’m thanking the pretty alpha for, but I think he’s responsible for some mayhem of his own.

“My pleasure, spitfire.” When Bram curls his lip at him, Declan just laughs. “You should come by the club, big guy. We can always use another battering ram in our arsenal.”

I have no idea what that means either, but Bram just shakes his head and carries me down the stairs.

I curl my face against his neck, soothing myself with the angry thud of his heart until we’re out in the fresh air.

A circle of men in black vests escort us to an SUV, but Lachlan jumps behind the wheel.

The men pile into the next car, and Bram wedges me between my two alphas on the back seat.

“Everyone buckled in?” Lachlan asks, already gunning the engine.

“I’ll cover the speeding fine,” Corbus says, and we pull away just as a row of police cars arrive.

“We don’t have to give them a statement?” I’m already concocting the lies I’ll spin to keep Bram out of jail. “Are we allowed to just leave the scene of a crime?”

“We were never there,” Corbus tells me with a reassuring squeeze of my hand. “Close your eyes, my love, and we’ll wake you when we get home.”

But now that my adrenaline is fading, sleep is the last thing on my mind. I stare up at Bram, his eyes the same shade as his golden halo from the passing streetlights. “Can you stop it, Bram?”

I’ve just watched him command a man to slit his own throat, after all. Can’t he force my heat to stop? Or at least postpone it for a few weeks until I’m ready to face it?

He presses a thumb to the pulse in my neck, but gives a slow shake of his head. “You’re too far gone. And if I tried, I'd be worried about hurting you worse.”

My heart squeezes with disappointment, and Lachlan looks at me in the rearview mirror. “Dr. Green is on her way to our place. She's going to help, Katie.”

“But my last heat is happening now ,” I whimper, that bravado in the warehouse crumbling under the cold, hard reality. “And I'm not ready to lose this part of me.”