Valor was ready to kill. He would’ve shifted and flown directly to Kara. From here, I could faintly smell her, and it drove him mad. I gritted my teeth as he thrashed and tried to force the change.
Jury eyed me carefully. “Come on, I’ve got a lock on her. We can’t shift here. Can you control Valor?”
Slowly, Valor eased back, and I shook the pressure out of my head, willing him to understand.
I will allow you to handle it for now. But if it doesn’t go well, I will take over to protect our mate.
“He’ll behave as long as we’re doing well,” I said.
“Fair enough.” Jury turned and walked into the woods. I followed hot on his feet.
I would’ve walked a thousand miles to save Kara, but we made it in about twenty minutes.
“Two guards,” Jury whispered. “I recognize their scents from our driveway. They’re the two that took her. I still only smell them, Tye, and Kara.”
I nodded. “Let’s take care of them.”
We walked out of the woods as close as we could get to the luxury cabin. They stood in front of the door but weren’t doing a great job guarding. We were nearly on top of them before they noticed us.
Hand-to-hand combat was a joke with these two humans. We knocked their guns away and within seconds they were both unconscious.
“I already called my dad,” Jury whispered. “So keep in mind, the Black Claw PD are on their way.”
I nodded and opened the door, going inside silently. The living room and kitchen were empty. Kara’s scent was here, but she must’ve been in another room. I was heading around to what looked like a bedroom when a sound stopped me in my tracks.
All logic left me when I heard her scream. She was at a lower level. I sprinted back to the kitchen, nearly ripping the door to the basement from its hinges. I launched myself down the stairs, skipping several as I flew down them and into the large underground room.
Tye was on top of Kara, trying to force her knees open as she screamed around a gag. Her hands were bound, and frayed ropes lay on the bed at her feet. Amazing how much detail I noticed as I all but flew across the room. Her ankles and wrists were red and raw, and there was a gash on one arm, but she hadn’t noticed me as she fought and struggled against Tye.
And her clothes, though a bit ripped, were still on. Thank the heavens.
I put a hand on Tye’s shoulder and yanked him across the room with one hard pull.
Kara spotted me and sank back on the bed in relief, tears pooling in her eyes.
At some point after leaving town, I’d lost the ability to feel her emotions. It was like cutting off the lifeline I’d made with her. As soon as I saw her again, I felt it. A faint impression of her emotions. She was scared and in a panic, but largely unhurt.
I might’ve been able to control myself, but as I looked at Kara, Tye punched me in the kidney.
It didn’t hurt that much. Just enough to send me into a full blood rage. I roared in fury and turned on him, losing myself in a red haze. The noises and voices around me were muffled, the pain in my knuckles only a faint idea. The next thing I knew, Kara had her arms wrapped around me. “Stop! You’re going to kill him!”
I looked down to see Tye covered in blood. He was still underneath me, and my knuckles were stained bright red with his blood and mine. They healed even as I watched them. I’d busted them open on his face.
He wasn’t dead. I heard his heart beating. But I’d rearranged his face. He’d never look pretty enough to try to seduce a woman ever again. My lip curled at the fact that I hadn’t done more, but I was also glad Kara had stopped me when she did.
Jury must’ve gotten Kara loose while I went berserker. I nodded my thanks at him just as the smell of my family hit me. I registered footsteps overhead. The police were here. Jumping up, I wiped Tye’s blood on a blanket on the floor by the bed, then pulled Kara into my arms and held on tight. She clung to me. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t have left. I thought I was helping, but I should’ve stayed and never left your side.”
We hugged each other for a while. Maverick and James got Tye upstairs and into an ambulance as I kept reassuring Kara that I’d never leave her again. “I want to claim you, to make you mine, as soon as you will let me. I’ll do it right now if you’ll let me.” I knew Valor was giving her similar reassurances.
I wouldn’t let her go, not to give statements to the police. They were my family, and they understood the whole mate thing, so they let it slide.
“How’d you know where she was?” Maverick asked as if he didn’t already know.
“I was following,” Jury said. “We had a bad feeling. I called the police when they took her, and I figured out where they were. Rico was close by and I knew we couldn’t wait.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Maverick said. Of course, Mav knew exactly how we found her, but he had to put something down for the record.
It was a good thing Mav had jurisdiction up here in the county. Otherwise, we’d have had to come up with a more detailed explanation.
“Make sure you don’t leave town,” Maverick said with a wink at Kara.
She stayed quiet, still reeling from the ordeal.
“No problem.” I buried my face in Kara’s hair, taking in the cinnamon scent of her that
