Page 92 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

It comes through the middle of my chest as a cold spike that isn’t mine. My foot moves toward the brake before I catch myself. Nothing on this road warrants it, only a delivery van and a woman walking a spaniel. The terror comes again anyway, fainter, from somewhere deep inside. It’s not mine. It can’t be mine. I’m not scared. My wolf throws itself at the inside of my chest so hard that for one breath I can’t tell which of us has the wheel. There are no words in the panic, only a pull toward Jessa and my girl.

I put my foot down.

Her car sits nose-in behind the building, still ticking as I pass it. Out front at the curb, a truck waits with a fire department decal in the rear window.

The elevator can wait for somebody else. I take the stairwell three steps at a time, letting my hearing open wide as I climb. Somebody’s kettle is climbing toward the boil, and a baby is crying two doors off it. Above the noise, cutting clean through, I find her.

“Mia, run! Get out of the apartment!”

I hit the landing. Four doors down, a door stands open, and I’m through it before her voice stops.

Jessa is on her knees on the boards with her back to the man, both arms locked around my daughter. Her head is down, her shoulders braced for what’s coming. Blood runs off her cheekbone into her hair. Bella is face down across the room with a woman’s knee planted in her back. The man standing over Jessa has four furrows torn open through his sleeve. His fist is raised, his eyes wild, and I can smell his blood, the four grooves on his arm visible.

My wolf snarls, enraged, and I’m across the room before I know it, my hand grabbing his wrist.

His eyes widen as he sees me. “Who the fuck are—” Recognition dawns on his face. “You’re Steele.”

He pulls his wrist away from my grasp and drags the back of his torn arm across his mouth, blood smearing across his face. “This is family business. Stay out of it.”

“You put your hands on my family,” I snarl. “Don’t tell me to stay the fuck out of it. Now take your hands off that girl before I tear them off at the wrist.” The words are directed toward his sister.

Her head snaps around toward Jared, who shoves himself up to his full height, chest heaving, adrenaline riding him so hard he can’t hold still. “Your girlfriend’s got my wife hidden somewhere. She’s got my kids.” The spit flies with it. “So you tell her to open her mouth, Steele, or I’ll beat it out of her while you watch.”

My wolf sees red. He’s forcing his way out, and I can’t stop, the anger so vicious that I can feel the veins bulging in my forehead. It’s my wolf who grabs Jared by the throat and tosses the burly fireman across the room and into the glass cabinets, which shatter on impact.

“You’re going to beat her?” The words come out as a rough inhumane sound. “You dare to touch what’s mine? I said get off her!” My head whips to the side, the wolf in my eyes as the roar leaves my mouth. The woman scrambles back, terrified.

Bella, who is crying now, crawls over to Jessa, who pulls her into her arms protectively.

My wolf wants to shift. He wants to rip this man to pieces. I stand in front of my family, glowering at the two siblings. The woman hurries over to her brother, who drags himself up the wall with one hand, his body covered with cuts from the shattered glass.

“What did you do to him?!” The woman half sobs, half glares at me. When I turn my gaze toward her, she flinches.

“You bastard!” Jared takes a swing at me, and I drive my boot into his stomach. He doubles over and drops, retching.

“Marcus, the girls!” Jessa cries out in alarm.

I don’t turn around. “Take them out of here right now.”

She moves. I hear her whisper, and then the three of them are hobbling for the door. The sister lunges after them. There’s a block of knives on Rachel’s counter, and I pull one free. I throw without turning my head an inch. The blade goes past the woman’s ear near enough to shear three hairs off her, then buries itself in the plaster. She drops where she stands and sits down hard on the floor, putting both arms over her head.

“Next time I won’t bother with a knife.” I still haven’t looked at her. “I’ll take your head off with my hands. Man or woman, I’ve got no preference. You touch my mate, and I’ll kill you.”

Jared forces himself to his feet. “You can’t do this.” His voice is hoarse with a hint of fear. However, anger and ego override common sense. “Denise, call the police.”

“Call them,” I say coldly. “I’m sure they’d be interested in seeing how you assaulted my family. You think you’re the only one with reach in this town?” His face goes pale at my words. “You think just because you can push your own wife around, I’d let you put your hands on mine?”

“I want to know where my wife is!” Jared spits out. “I’m getting answers one way or the other.”

He rushes toward me, and I grab him by the neck, slamming him into the floor. My hand tightens around his neck, and I let him see the wolf in my eyes. “If I were to kill you right now, nobody would know it was me. I have enough people to cover my tracks. You’ve spent your whole life in a town that fucking worships you, so let me tell you how tomorrow goes.” My face is an inch off his. “Your job is gone by morning, and your name goes into the dirt with it. Every man who ever bought you a drink will cross the street when he sees you coming.”

He swings at me. It’s a decent punch. He’s thrown plenty of them. I catch it in my palm, then squeeze. A bone in his hand gives with a wet crunch, and the scream he lets out fills the whole apartment. Denise covers her mouth and sobs. I let my claws dig into his neck.

“You freak. You’re not human,” Jared gasps.

“No, I’m not.” I lean closer. “And that’s why you shouldn’t cross me.”

He swings with the other arm because he’s stupid as well as brave, so I let it come, break his rhythm with an elbow, then put him through Rachel’s television. Glass sprays across the floor. The stand buckles under him, and Jared comes to rest in the wreckage with one leg twisted beneath him. He doesn’t get up.