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Logan could not believe how fast the night had gone to the fiery pits. One moment he, Trick, and JJ were patrolling the border, looking for any sign of Sparrow, and the next, two vehicles came barreling down the mountainous road.
Shotguns broke the silence of the night. The tiger in him bristled at the intrusion into his territory. He was about to kick some ass.
Then he saw the woman at the wheel of the first car. She was pale, scared, and bloody. It was obvious someone had beaten her. A man from the second car jumped on the roof of the first. Logan had to check with his Beta because he could not believe what he was seeing.
After that, things went to shit. Another young woman popped up from the back seat, shooting the man trying to get into their car. Another man pulled a gun, shooting back and blowing a tire. The female screams twisted through his protective heart. It had been the moment he and his tiger had decided those men needed to die.
Being the stronger, he had rammed the second car, making it roll into the forest. Trick and JJ had disposed of the men quickly. What had surprised Logan had been the fact the men had been human, not shifters. How in the ever-loving fuck had humans moved undetected through two territories and get to his? A nasty suspicion made him snarl. Had that bastard Perry helped them?
It wasn’t the time to contemplate that, but he filed it away for later. The first car was still going fast, and the women were getting away. He wanted answers, and maybe they had some. What he needed was to make them stop before they encounter the sharp turn and kill themselves.
He, Trick and JJ ran in a parallel line through the forest, trying to get in front of the car. But it was too late. It flew over the curve, going downhill, stopping when it hit a thick tree trunk.
“Trick, shift. JJ, keep an eye out for other intruders.” The telepathic command was simple. He and Trick shifted. They needed hands to assess the women.
“Get the woman in the back.” Logan pointed to the slumped body in the back seat. He rushed to the front of the car. The young woman was still alive, and she was conscious. He let out a sigh of relief, hoping they wouldn’t die on him.
Logan grabbed the handle of the car. The bent metal was stuck. His tiger growled in annoyance, feeding him power. With one jerk, the door flew off the car completely.
The woman startled and groaned. Blood covered her face and clothes. Logan was afraid to touch her, but he unbuckled the seatbelt, allowing her some freedom. Her groans of pain broke his heart. No woman should endure this much pain.
Her eyes closed, and Logan felt the female surrender to unconsciousness. He inhaled deeply but couldn’t scent anything under the pungent smell of blood, fear, and pain. He couldn’t even tell if she was a shifter or a human. Grabbing her chin gently, he made her look at him.
“Hey, wake up. Don’t faint now. Come on. Open your eyes.”
She blinked, and he met the emerald green eyes of a cat. Well, his question had just been answered. Then her eyes closed again. Logan panicked.
“Come on, let’s get you out of this metal can.”
“What?”
“Don’t talk. Preserve your energy. You’re going to need it to heal. Careful now. I can’t tell if you have anything broken or internal injuries, but you are bleeding from a lot of wounds as it is. I need to take you to our healer.” He palpated her limbs as gently as he could, but her whimpers disturbed him and his beast.
“Sorry, darling. I just need to see how bad it is. Don’t feel any broken bones. But you need a healer fast.” He gently lifted the woman out of the wrecked car.
The young woman melted into him. She was so petite and light in his arms. He was afraid to hold her tighter because she would break.
Logan sensed her give up. The resignation in her eyes was clear to him. Her strength was gone because her body had taken a brutal beating and had lost too much blood. He knew she wouldn’t make it back to the healer. He needed her to stay alive, but for that, they needed a miracle.
In that instant, her entire body stiffened, and Logan was prepared for death to take her. However, nothing prepared him for what her cat did. The bite to his neck was swift and precise. The deep puncture had him still. He couldn’t pull back because his artery would rip open.
Logan kept still, but on the inside, he was burning with fury. How dare she mark him?! How dare her cat tie their lives together without his consent?! His tiger, however, was quiet, observing. It startled Logan to sense him so reserved. He was an Alpha! Why wasn’t the beast freaking out?
Logan breathed deep through the turmoil in his body, mind, and soul. She would pay for this. He felt the bond, thin and weak, sharing his energy with her. His unwanted, broken mate!
The female finally released him. He looked down at her tired, swollen face.
“I’m sorry.”
Silence followed the whispered words. She lost the fight with consciousness, melting into his arms. Her apology meant nothing to him at that moment. She had violated a sacred shifter rule. Marking someone without permission was punishable by death. But by the looks of it, she had already suffered a hard beating. Could he really blame her for doing what it took to survive?
Logan stared at the black-haired young woman. She was just a juvenile! How could they be mates when he was old enough to be her brother, even father? Was she even an adult? Did that even matter? She had marked him. The mate bond was present; weak, but real. Besides, she had been abused and fought her way out. She was clearly strong-willed and a fighter. Were those the actions of a child?
“Logan, they have Sparrow in the back seat!”
“What?” His head snapped toward the back of the car. Patrick was struggling to contain a half-naked young woman. She was just as bruised and beaten as the woman he held. The news hit him straight in the heart. His sister was in that car? What the hell?! Was she...?
“She’s hurt and unconscious, but alive.”
“Let me go!”
“Thank the Goddess! Trick, take Sparrow. JJ will take-” the woman finally got free and ran towards him, her eyes fixed on the unconscious woman in his arms.
“Sheila?! Sheila! Is she dead?”
Sheila. Logan memorized the name. “No, just out of it.” Her friend cupped Sheila’s face, slapping lightly to wake her up.
“Sheila, wake up! You need to wake up! Don’t leave me, please.”
Logan took a step back, but the woman followed, clinging to her unconscious friend.
“Woman, you need to stop. She’s not waking up anytime soon. Your friend is unconscious. She doesn’t have the energy right now.”
“Sheila, please.”
The young woman sobbed like her friend was already dead and buried.
“Woman!” Logan used his dominance to make her pay attention. She stilled, whimpering. “What is your name?” He asked calmly. She trembled.
“Eva.” The word was barely a whisper.
“Eva, I’m Logan. I need you to listen.” He kept the dominance in his tone. It seemed to lessen her panic attack. Eva nodded. Good. She was paying attention. “Sheila will be fine, but I need to get you three to our healer. I need you to be calm while JJ, my pride mate, caries you.” A whimper of fear escaped her. The poor girl was terrified of males.
“He will not touch you in any other way. I will kill him if he does. But you don’t have shoes and we have to walk through the forest. Can you let him carry you to the pride house? Think of Sheila. She needs a healer immediately.”
That seemed to do the trick. Eva nodded.
“JJ, carry Eva. Bring me and Patrick some pants from the stash. I hate running with my junk free.”
“Sure thing, boss. I remember the time I landed in poisoned ivy. That shit is evil and my junk suffered for a week.”
“I remember. Fun times.”
Two minutes later, JJ appeared in human form, wearing a faded pair of pants and holding two other pairs. His blond hair had a leaf in it. Logan chuckled.
“Here, hold her a second.” He passed Sheila to JJ and pulled his pants on. Eva didn’t look away from her friend once. She didn’t seem to notice JJ was there.
But the man noticed her. Logan saw the man’s eyes widen in surprise. Despite the rough look she had at that moment, anyone with a clear vision could see her beauty. His enforcer seemed enthralled. Too bad the traumatized woman didn’t notice JJ’s interest.
Done with his pants, Logan took Sheila from JJ. The closeness revealed the mark.
“What in the Mother’s name is that!?”
JJ was not a subtle person. He pointed at the mark. Patrick and Eva zoomed in on the spot.
“Oh, Goddess, Logan! Did she mark you!?”
Patrick was just as stunned as JJ. Eva let out a soft cry and started sobbing. The shock factor had done its work. Logan didn’t even want to think of what his mother was going to do or say.
“Yes,” he gritted through his teeth. He was still angry. “She was dying. Her cat took control to save herself. It means nothing. We are not mates.” Lie. “I don’t recognize her as mine. As soon as she’s better, she will leave our territory.”
“But the mating bond-” Trick began.
Logan cut him off. “It’s just a way to keep her alive. Right now, she’s taking power from me. I can feel it. As long as I don’t accept the mating and mark her in return, the bond will fade away. Now, we need to take them home. Especially Sparrow. I also want some fucking answers about what happened to her.”
The thought of the bond fading made his tiger roar. The beast wanted the bond? It baffled Logan. His tiger was a moody creature and rarely accepted outsiders. Now, in a matter of minutes, he has accepted a stranger as his bond-mate? What in the fiery pits of doom was going on?!
They never wanted the responsibility of a mate or the hurt when that mate died. He and his cat were fine on their own. Trick addressed him again, caution filling his voice.
“Will you punish her?”
“No! Please!” Eva cried out.
The question left Logan cold. The thought of hurting a female, any female, was just not to be acknowledged in his brain. “I don’t know yet. If she’s the one who freed Sparrow...” That was an appropriate answer. It didn’t reveal his weakness for the female gender or that female in particular.
“Yes! She did,” Eva interjected.
Logan saw Trick contemplating something and waited for the Beta to voice his concerns. He did so telepathically.
“We can contact John Black to send us a healer for the cats, and maybe they’ll recognize them.”
Trick’s idea was good, but there was one slight problem.
“We don’t know if they are members of Dark Claw,” Logan answered him. Trick just smirked.
“Want to bet on it? I always enjoy taking your money.”
“No, thanks.” Logan scowled, hating the fact he was always losing when he was betting against his Beta. “Let’s go,” he said out-loud.
Patrick took Sparrow into his arms, keeping the cover she had over her to protect her body. JJ lifted Eva carefully. The woman stiffened, but didn’t claw his eyes out. The enforcer tried to hold her closer to his body, to share his body’s heat, but she was stiff as a board. Logan cradled Sheila to his chest. Her breathing was even, but she was still bleeding from a few cuts.
“The night is growing old. Let’s get home and get the girls healed.”
The three men turned and ran, leaving behind the wrecked car and the dead human men.