Derek put the clip to the gun in his pocket and made sure the gun was empty before he stuck it in the back of his pants and climbed on top of a crate so he could reach the window.
The last thing he needed was to blow himself another ass crack.
He wormed his way out of the window and nearly fell on his face. The wind was pretty much knocked out of him on that clumsy fall on his chest, but he was still alive.
Derek groaned, forced himself to his feet, and started to hobble off. Now that he was outside, he could better hear the wailing of the men inside his shop, as well as the destruction as they tore through the place, knocking over his shelves. He cringed at the sound of glass shattering.
Whatever was going on in there, they were occupied. They thought he was trapped in that room, and they were going to spend a couple hours trying to get the door open before they realized Derek was no longer inside.
Or they would give up and leave right now, walk out of the shop
empty-handed, just to see Derek slinking away.
He picked up the pace, heading down one of the alleys behind the street just to keep himself from being easily seen.
The first place he thought to go was home, but then he stopped, frozen in place.
His bag. His fucking messenger bag with his cell and wallet and everything else he used during the day, it was still inside the shop. Those guys were going to find it for sure. There was no way they were going to mistake it for a piece of merchandise. They were going to find it, open it up, find all his identification, and then they would know where he lived.
Mason Returns to His Mate 33
Derek slammed the side of his fist down on the brick wall behind
him. It hurt, but he did it again. What was he going to do? What the
hell was he supposed to do now?
“Hello?”
Derek jumped. There, just down at the other end of the alley, was another shadowy man. This was different from those three guys Derek had just escaped from, but that didn’t mean they weren’t all working together or something, and that didn’t stop Derek from bolting in the other direction.
Right into the arms of another huge guy.
He flailed, brought his fist up, and caught the guy in the cheek before his wrists were grabbed in a surprisingly strong pair of hands. He wanted to elbow the guy, but he couldn’t, and when that huge hand went over his mouth, he really started to kick and buckle.
This man was strong, though, and even though the other guy came to hold down Derek’s legs, Derek got the feeling that his attacks weren’t really doing anything to the man holding him.
Warm breath wafted over his ear. “It’s me, you idiot.”
Mason’s growling voice was just the thing Derek needed to stop. Had it been anyone else, he would’ve kept on fighting until the death.
“Let him go, James. I got him,” Mason said, and the other man in the alley with them released his feet. Mason then put Derek back on the ground, releasing him.
Derek spun around. “Some guys just tried to kill me. They know about you.”
“Yeah, I figured from the panic in your scent that you weren’t just out for a stroll.” Mason put his arm around Derek’s shoulder and led him down the alley. “Come with me. I’ll take you home. You’ll need to lie low for a bit until―”
“I can’t go home,” Derek said.
“You have to. It’s the only―”
“No, you don’t get it. All my ID is back at the shop. There’s no
way they won’t find it and figure out where I live. Those guys are
34 Marcy Jacks
going to come for me. We need to call the cops,” Derek added, almost as an afterthought. Not that it would’ve mattered, considering he had no phone on him, but why it hadn’t occurred to him to contact the police before was something he didn’t quite understand.
“We can’t do that. Not with hunters . The police won’t have
anything on them.”
“Except breaking and entering and trying to kill me!”
“Shh!” James snapped.
Derek couldn’t believe he was being so stupid when they needed to be quiet. “I’m making sure those fucks get put away as long as possible for this.”
Mason lifted a brow at him. “Did they break in?”
“They―” Derek stopped. That was right. Derek had opened the door and let them in. “They still attacked me.”
“And you’ve apparently killed one of them,” said James.
Derek couldn’t have been more stunned in all his life. “What? No
I didn’t.”
“I’m scenting blood and death coming from your store,” James said, looking down at him curiously. Then his nostrils flared as he sniffed again. “Do you have a weapon on you?”
Derek wanted to groan. He pulled out the Glock to show them. “I do, but there’s nothing in the magazine. See?”
He pulled back the slider and showed them. “The clip is in my pocket. I didn’t even get this gun until I got out of there. I didn’t shoot anyone.”
“We heard a gunshot,” Mason said, also looking down at Derek. “You sure you didn’t do anything by accident?”
Derek opened his mouth to reply again then shut it as he remembered the way he’d pushed away the gun the old man was holding and then shoved him.
He only saw that one man, Billy, chasing after him when he turned around, not the other two, and that older man had been crying pretty loudly.
Mason Returns to His Mate 35
Derek paled as the thought came to him that he might’ve accidentally killed someone. “It was self-defense. They were pointing a gun at me,” he said.
Mason gripped him by the
