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As if Bailey had the same thought, her tiny form suddenly darted forward even faster, going
around the gentle curve of the street. There were shouts and the sounds of shots fired, and
then Bethany was rounding the curve as well, getting her first look at the enemy.
They'd used their SUVs and Jeeps to create a kind of barricade across the street, between the
antique store and the florist, with men spread out behind them. They were all dressed in black,
wearing body armor, and looked like professionals. She ignored the looks of shock and
horrified awe as they got their first good look at her - although part of her cringed at knowing
Mr. I'm-Your-Mate would probably look the same way when he saw her - and focused in on the
real target.
Dr. Montgomery was bouncing up and down in one of the Jeeps, completely oblivious to the
target he was making of himself, pointing at Bailey's tiny, furry form. Well, trying to point.
Bailey was moving so fast that he was a second behind her every move as she darted back
and forth, easily evading the tranquilizer darts that sped her way.
Unfortunately for the soldiers, they quickly dismissed Bailey as a threat when they got a look at
Bethany. She snarled savagely, giving them a good look at her teeth, as she pounded towards
them, her back legs kicking out powerfully. Drawing as much attention as she could and
making herself as big a target as possible.
Behind her, she heard another wolf howl, and the thing inside of her quivered with relief and
happiness. She realized that she trusted Mr. Hot-On-My-Trail to keep her safe, even if Dr.
Montgomery's men managed to knock her out. So she didn't even bother to try and hide in her
shell - her soft bits could still be hit anyway, all they had to do was aim inside the giant head
and armholes. She wouldn t get the kill, but Bailey would and Bethany could assist.
Stinging needles hit her head and legs, bouncing off the rest of her body (or getting caught in
her fur), and lethargy swept through her immediately. The doctor had tested enough drugs on
the Bunson siblings to know exactly what to use on her.
Still, physics was going to work in her favor anyway. She heard the screams of Bailey's
victims, and smiled even as she lost control of her body and slammed into the vehicle barricade
like a bowling ball.
******
Seeing the huge, fluffy, white body of his mate stumble and then roll, crashing into the center
jeep in the middle of the road, Steele roared his fury. While some part of him was shocked by
the size of Bethany in her shifter form - she was at least three feet higher off the ground than
him, not including her ears - that didn't stop his protective instinct.
Screams were coming from the vehicles as a tiny, white bunny wreaked havoc on the soldiers,
blood dripping down its front as it attacked like something out of Monty Python. Darts were
bouncing off of their body armor as they tried to hit the vicious bunny and ended up shooting
each other instead - one of them took a dart to the throat and immediately went down. Those
who saw him and Kasim bearing down on them - a huge grey wolf and a monstrous lion - were
thrown into even more confusion as some of them tried to grab their regular guns, wanting real,
silver bullets instead of tranq darts now that they were faced with two apex predators.
The unholy sound of chaos, guns firing, screams, and snarls got even higher as Kasim leaped
and cleared the barrier, landing on the side where the humans were. He was a much larger
target than Bailey's tiny form, but his wicked claws and sharp teeth made it possible for him to
take out a soldier with a single swipe of his paw, rather than having to go for the throat like
Bailey was.
Steele skidded to a halt next to his mate, snarling and knocking the darts from her skin with his
snout. Since she'd basically knocked the jeep over, anyone who wanted to shoot at him or her
was going to have to come over the cars to do so, and going by the noises, they were a little
too distracted to even think about that right now. Only two darts had actually managed to bury
into her flesh, blocked by all the fluffy white fur. He sneezed as some of it got into his nose.
Wake up, wake up, wake up.
He didn't think Kasim and Bailey were going to be routed, but just in case... if they needed to
move out of here in a hurry for some reason, they couldn't do that with Bailey asleep. Her
shape in this form was just too big for one person to easily carry.
Everything he'd ever heard about mates ran through his head - most of which he barely
remembered and really wished he'd done a better job of paying attention to. Supposedly, he
should be able to share his strength with Bethany. Would that be enough to wake her up? He
had no idea, but he knew he had to at least try.
It wasn't hard to find that little knot of emotions in his head that was 'other.' Up until this
moment, he hadn't always been aware of it - especially when his own emotions were running
high - but now it was just this big blank spot. Even when she'd been sleeping, there had been
something there, taking up space. The lack of it was making his wolf feel even more panicked.
Steele pushed against that spot in his head. The screams and shouted orders fuzzed out as he
focused everything he had on the place in his head where Bethany was supposed to be. He
could hear more people coming, more violence heading towards them, and knew that this was
rapidly going to turn into a shit show. It wasn't just humans heading their way, but his own
people as well; Main Street was about to become a big battleground and his mate was lying
helpless on the ground!
Growling, his wolf pressed his body against hers, rubbing his scent over her throat and fluffy
cheek, sneezing again as her whiskers tickled his nose.
Come on baby, wake up... I need you.
That spot fluttered with something almost like awareness. Encouraged, Steele pushed harder,
imagining his own energy pushing into her emptiness and filling her up, trying to give her
himself.
It... felt like something was happening. He felt weaker. He felt her waking up, felt her emotions
snapping to life... and himself draining into her. It was like having his energy sucked up into a
vacuum, except that he was happy about it.
To his shock, his wolf suddenly shivered and he shifted back to human without meaning to. The
energy transfer stopped, as if the shift had broken the connection, even though he could still
feel Bethany in his head - that part of the connection hadn't broken.
Totally naked, he knelt in the street, stroking her sides. "Baby, wake up, please wake up."
A shudder went through her and she suddenly rocked, the way any animal did when it was lying
asleep on its side and something startled it. Her back legs kicked and Steele was glad that he
was standing up by her head.
"Thank god," he whispered as she rolled onto her feet, nose twitching, and whiskers brushing
his face. Her cute pink nose was the size of his hand and, if he'd been standing, her face would
be almost level with his - although her long ears put her well over his height. Right now it felt
like his legs were too shaky for him to get up; he was as exhausted as he was after a night of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]