Page 67 of Bad Blood Panther

The guards jerked at him, but Xander dug in harder. “Fuck you. Fuck your rules, and your time schedule, and most of all fuck your alpha. If I don’t see Jenny, I don’t fight.”

“You don’t fight, you die.”

“I’m pretty sure the idea is for me to die anyway,” he said. “But if I don’t see my mate right fucking now, I’ll make you do it right here, and your alpha doesn’t get his show. Your choice.”

They stared each other down. Finally, one of the guards said, “Take the pussy to see his female. Maybe she can talk him into having a little spine.”

Xander gave him the double middle fingers. That earned him a backhand across the face, but it made him feel better.

They led him to a small cabin behind the three main houses, dragged him up the porch steps, and shoved him inside without knocking. Xander stumbled forward, catching himself just before he fell.

“Xander!” Jenny ran over and caught him in her arms, hugging him fiercely. “Oh, God, Xander. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he said. His hands were still cuffed in front of him, so he lifted them over her head and encircled her in his arms. His cat’s agitation settled immediately.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Hey, come on. Stop that shit,” he said. “None of this is your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I should have realized that meeting was bullshit, and they would come after you.” He looked around. “Where’s Brandon?”

Jenny shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said. “They took him away from me a little while ago.” He could feel her growling.

Fuck. “Why?” he asked.

Jenny bit her lips, not meeting his eyes.

“Jenny?” he said. “You need to tell me. I need to know what we’re up against here.”

“Cindi says Alton can’t admit that Brandon’s not his,” Jenny said. “It’s like he’s insane about it. He’s willing to accept Cindi’s cub, too, I guess, but if he admits Brandon isn’t his son—that I fooled him—he’ll lose too much status, and he’ll have to maybe face the fact that he’s probably sterile. And he just can’t handle that.”

“So what, he’s going to kill me to prove Brandon isn’t my son?”

“He needs to defeat the man I left him for,” she said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I think he wants to make me and Brandon watch you die.”

Xander held her to him. There was no way he was going to let that happen. He’d fight until his last breath, and hope that somehow Flynn managed to bribe or coerce a plane out of somebody and get here in time.

Out loud, he said, “We’re going to fucking fight them, Jenny. Both of us. Me in the ring, and you out here. We’re both staying alive, and we’re both getting out of here. Because we’re rebels, and we never do what we’re told. And that includes dying.”

She nodded. “Rebels forever,” she said.

“That’s my badass panther.” He kissed her forehead, then leaned his against it.

“Listen,” he murmured, aware of the guards outside the door probably listening to what they were saying. “Reach in my right front pocket. There’s a tracking device in there. Flynn gave it to me. Once I shift and leave my clothes behind, I can’t keep it on me. You take it. That way the crew can find you, okay?”

“Find us,” Jenny said firmly.

God, he loved her. “Find us,” he said. She nodded, slipping her hand into his pocket and taking the tracker. He said, “I wish I had time for all the things I want to do when I feel you stick your hand in my pants.”

“Perv,” she said, with a shaky laugh.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “But I’m your perv.” He could see her trying really hard to smile at him.

He said, “We don’t have much time, and there’s not much to say, except I love the fucking hell out of you and Brandon. I just want you to know that.”

She nodded, blinking back tears. Then she said, “Claim me.”

He couldn’t have heard her right. “You want me to claim you. Now?”

“Yes. Now. So when you go out there, you know I’m yours, and not his. Always.”

He looked into her eyes, saw the love and certainty there. Jenny bowed her head and bared her neck. Xander, wishing they were doing this anywhere but here, whispered in her ear, “I love you, Jennycat. I Claim you.” He bit her on the big muscle where her shoulder met her neck.

He tasted the blood, felt the heat. The words echoed in his mind. I love you… love you… love you… His ears roared, and then he and Jenny were enveloped in blue light. He’d seen it before—the magic of the Bad Blood bond. And now Jenny was a part of it. She gripped his hands, and he felt a sudden rush of energy, like a golden wave pouring over him.

They were one. She was finally a Bad Blood. Together, they could do anything.

“You can take these guys,” she said. “Whoever it is, you can take them. They have no idea who the fuck they’re dealing with.”

Xander kissed the wound on her shoulder, already healing. “You betcha, babe,” he said.

“I’m serious,” she said. “You don’t know what you have inside you, Alexander Fierro. But I do. We’re going to get out of this, and we’re going to be a fucking family. Dead glitter creatures and poop monuments and all. And I love the fucking hell out of you too.”

The guard opened the door. “That’s all the time you get, pussy.”

Xander gave her one last kiss, and then he let them take him to the arena.

Save your family. Don’t get killed.