Laurann Dohner - Wrath

“I can’t allow you to escape. If Mary doesn’t call the one who holds my female every hour, he’s been ordered to shoot her in the head.” He turned her in his arms, threw her over his shoulder as if she were as light as a body pillow and growled.

“Act as if I hit you hard enough to knock you out,” he ordered. “Don’t move or talk. I’m going to try to save you. I know you have no reason to trust me but I don’t wish you harm. I will treat you as if you are the mate of another one of my kind. I would hope someone would do the same for my female if ever given the chance.”

Lauren went limp over his shoulder, knew no amount of struggling would get her free of someone so strong, and closed her eyes. Regret swamped her over telling him the truth about her ex-coworkers’ whereabouts. She shouldn’t have trusted 140 but she wanted him to know how hopeless her situation was. She couldn’t help Mary get her sister back, that was a lost cause, and now she was useless. That meant they’d kill her.

He moved fast, her body swayed with each step, and she knew when they entered her home again because, even with her eyes closed, she felt it when they stepped out of the sunshine.

“I didn’t tell you to kill her,” Mary snapped. “Fucking stupid animal.”

“She’s not dead. I struck her and knocked her out.” Anger made his voice deepen. “The ‘fucking stupid animal’ will tell you how to get your sister back if you’ll allow me to speak. I know where she is. I made this one tell me by torturing her with pain.”

Lauren listened, confused over his lies, but willing to try to trust him. She was all for anything that would keep her breathing. The silence was long until Mary finally spoke.

“Where is Mel? What do you mean, get her back?”

“This one is mated to one of my kind. His scent is all over her and she told me that the NSO has taken your sister and her technicians. You can exchange her for them.” Bitterness laced his voice. “You are very aware of how far we will go to protect our mates. Hers will get your sister safely back to you if you return his female safely to him.”

“I don’t know about this,” one of the thugs grunted. “It sounds fishy.”

140 growled now. “You remember how protective we are of our mates. You have me leashed like a dog to protect mine. Otherwise I’d kill all of you. He’ll get your sister and her technicians to you, whatever it takes, to get his female back.” He turned his head, his hair brushed Lauren’s side where her shirt had ridden up and it tickled slightly.

“You keep your hands off her. Scent stays with a body for a long time and he won’t want her back if another male mounts her. He’ll insist on smelling her first before he accepts her back. I know your fondness for forcing females but leave this one alone. He’ll know and reject her.” His head turned again. “Order him to leave her alone if you want your sister and her technicians back.”

Lauren felt sick at hearing that last part. Her skin crawled thinking that one of those guys obviously was a rapist but 140 was trying to protect her from that too. The fingers gripping her thigh slightly squeezed, almost a reassuring gesture. She guessed he could figure out how terrified she felt.

“How do you know for sure that her mate has my sister?” Mary had moved closer.

“Her mate has them. She was so terrified she confessed everything to me. Trade her for them. It will be the only way you will ever get your sister back.”

The silence was lengthy. Mary sighed. “Fine. You better be right, 140. Since you’re so damn smart, how do we set up this exchange?”

“Leave a note and a way to contact you here. He will come for her soon. You know we can’t be away from our females for long without going insane.”

Mates go insane if they are separated for too long? That bit of information stunned Lauren but of course, 140 could be lying. He was bullshitting a lot to try to save her butt. Gratitude filled her. The New Species was buying her time and trying to protect her.

“It had better work, 140.” Mary sounded furious. The threat was clear that he’d pay if he were wrong.

“What do we do with Olson’s body?” It was one of the thugs asking the question.

“Leave him. I don’t want him staining my trunk.” Mary sighed. “Write down my disposable cell number and leave it on the couch next to her blood. He won’t miss it there, will he, 140?”

“No,” he growled. “He will not.”

* * * * *

Wrath waited impatiently for the team to gather and leave. He turned his head and stared at Shadow. The male met his gaze and smiled.

“You are impatient.”

“I don’t want to be late. I told Lauren I would be there between seven and eight o’clock.”

“Brass and Tim are arguing again.”

“I’m aware.” Anger surged through Wrath. “He doesn’t want a civilian staying in headquarters and he’s still upset we had her there in the first place. The walls aren’t thick enough to miss most of what is being said.”

“He insisted that a background check be done on her and he’s right for that. She did have a strong tie to ex-Mercile employees. She worked with them.”

Wrath snarled. “Lauren is not my enemy.”

“Tim is worried about the rest of us.” Shadow suddenly grinned. “She’s so dangerous.”

“That is not funny. She couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“I’m aware. I saw her face when you were fighting with Vengeance. She’s not used to brutality. She practically begged us to call an end to it. She worried about your safety.”

He allowed that information to sink in. “She will worry about my duties with the task force. We put our lives in danger constantly when we go out to retrieve our enemies.”

“I wouldn’t mention that aspect to her. Let her believe you mostly do paperwork.”

“I will not lie to her.”

“I didn’t suggest you do but I just wouldn’t offer more information than necessary.”

He thought about that. “Do you regret agreeing to work for the task force?”

“No.” Shadow shook his head. “It’s been good for me. You?”

“The same. I met Lauren.”

Shadow smiled. “You seem more healed since she came into your life. I’m glad. Perhaps one day I’ll meet a female who challenges me to face my fears.”

“I hope so.”

Tim stormed out of the office with Brass behind him. Tim refused to meet their gazes but Brass smiled.

“We’re leaving to pick up your female, Wrath. Tim and his team are going to give us backup support. He’s irritated that we’ve left headquarters so much without more of the human teams backing us up. It makes sense, especially after we were taken prisoner. We came to an agreement.”

“Thank you.” Wrath meant it. He turned his attention on Tim. “Lauren is no threat to us.”

“Women are always bad news.” Tim spun, stormed for the door and yelled over his shoulder. “Don’t let her paint anything pink, damn it! It’s still my building.”

“Pink?” Shadow glanced at Wrath and Brass. “What does that mean?”

“I have no clue,” Brass sighed. “No wonder their females seem to enjoy our company more. Humans are strange.”

Wrath had to agree with that assessment. He didn’t care if Lauren wanted to paint or what color she chose. Just having her at his side was all that mattered.

Chapter Fourteen

Lauren was scared and angry at the same time. The backseat was a tight fit with 140 sharing the limited space. She’d given up playing unconscious after her New Species protector whispered for her to sit up.

Mary and one of her men argued at the front of the car. The other man remaining followed in another vehicle. There was no way Lauren was going to get a chance to escape but she did glance out the windows to track where they were going. She’d learned her lesson to be more aware of her surroundings after leaving the task force headquarters but having no idea where it was located.