Kirsty had barely drawn a breath when she went soaring through the air before her back slammed against the hard ground. A rogue Wolf pinned her beneath it as its head lowered to snap at her face. She scarcely had time to panic as she automatically raised her arms, using the shotgun to hold off the beast. She rammed it firmly between the largest teeth she had ever seen.
Her vision closed in on those horrendous, blood-soaked, razor-sharp implements of her impending doom. Everything else around her started to fade out as she fought for her life. This was what today came down to. Her on the ground, a mere human against a magical beast that outsized her a gazillion times over.
Aye, she wasn’t getting out of this one alive. Not without her fairy godmother popping up and blowing its arse to kingdom come. Kirsty was pretty damn sure that wasn’t happening.
Didn’t stop her fighting with every last ounce of strength she had left though. Her legs kicking wildly, her arms straining but losing ground quickly. She screamed as its claws raked her side, blood and goodness knew what else dripping down onto the ground beneath her. Holy shit, she couldn’t hold out any longer. She. Just. Could. Not.
Blackness started at the outer edges of her eyes, pain in every part of her body. Her heart felt as if it were about to explode in a bloody mess in her chest. And the stench. Fuck. The stench of the rogue’s breath as it snarled down had her gagging in her throat.
Don’t puke, don’t puke, she thought again and again, knowing she’d choke if she did. As if that were the most important thing right now, instead of being ripped apart by this monster that wanted nothing more than to eat her alive.
The darkness grew and grew until Kirsty was certain her next drawn breath would be her last. Her final thought was, Wonderful. I find Mr. Perfect and lose him the next day.
Her eyes slid shut, the briefest of moments before unconsciousness took hold. She waited for the pain to encompass her as the rogue finally devoured her. But it never materialized. Maybe fate was being kind and sparing her those last seconds of agony. Finally, she slipped under, nothing but cold darkness waiting.
Kade broke through the trees with a desperation he had never experienced. His eyes taking in the scene in his camp, in his home, his anger growing to heights he never thought possible.
Then his eyes landed on Kirsty. His mate stood with that damn gun of hers surrounded by rogues, Muir already in battle, young Keir standing guard over a wounded female and his beautiful mate trying to protect the women and children.
What the fuck was she thinking?
He had no more time to think as he sped toward the threat and into battle. Kade had to destroy the rogues that endangered his camp, his people, and his mate. He would rip them all to shreds and then he’d deal with his feisty and reckless mate.
He plowed into the fray, heading straight for the ringleader. He’d recognize that bastard Archie McDonald’s beast anywhere, even though he was trying to sneak away. Unfortunately, two of the traitor’s men had other ideas and slammed into him, forcing him to fend them off and allowing McDonald to slink away. Never mind, he would get that fucker one way or another, once he had taken care of his rogue followers.
The rogues were filthy fighters, sneaky and tag-teaming. Kade’s anger rising by the second he used all his strength and guile to fatally wound one, its body dropping to the ground with a thud. Great. Nope, not so great. Two more joined the battle. Now he was facing three. Hell. He would make these dirty bawbags pay for what they had done this day. Starting with these three.
His huge paw swiped one, knocking it out of the way, so he focused on the other two when he heard the unmistakable report of a shotgun right next to them. His huge head swung toward the sound, his eyes locking with Kirsty who stood over the dead body of the Wolf he had knocked away.
Emotion overwhelmed him, anger at her stupidity, concern, and downright fear for his mate. Kade made to go to her, ready to grab her and whisk her away to safety, but the two rogues had other ideas as they attacked him full force once more.
He had his hands, or rather claws full fending off their attack but his mind was definitely not in the game. His only thought was “Where the hell was Kirsty?” and was she safe? He knew he was not giving his best in the fight, the rogues scoring hits that normally he would never allow, but he couldn’t help his mind wandering to his mate. Not to mention him trying to catch glimpses of her.
It was one of these moments that stopped his heart. It simply stopped beating when he glanced over one of the rogues attacking him and saw another knocking Kirsty to the ground. Its jaws wide open, ready to snap her in two. A frenzy of fear consumed him, his Alpha power overwhelming him uncontrollably, his strength doubling, tripling in seconds.
He had never felt such strength before, the force of it flowing through him in great waves as he destroyed the two rogues he had been battling against mere moments before. He decimated them, tearing them apart, his eyes flitting repeatedly to Kirsty as she fought to stave off her attacker.
She had her gun in the rogue’s jaws, but he saw her weakening as his own grew to monumental capacity. Her gut-wrenching scream as the rogue injured her. The scent of her blood assaulting his nostrils was the last straw, driving him insane with fury.
He finished off the rogue that was left, rushing toward
