Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Aspen burst to life. She jumped off the bed, grabbed her lamp, and slung it at his head. It hit him hard, though not quite as hard as she would have liked. He didn’t back up or stumble. No, he sprung at her.
Her claws unsheathed, she slashed his chest and face while her bearcat went insane. He jerked back with a shocked curse. What, he thought she wouldn’t struggle?
He came at her again. He didn’t attempt to hurt her, though. He seemed more intent on subduing her. Well, Aspen wasn’t so easy to subdue.
She kicked. Punched. Clawed. Even jabbed her elbow into his throat. He still didn’t retaliate. He kept trying to pin her to the bed, but she escaped his hold every time.
Bending, she smoothly swiped the tire iron out from under the bed and slammed it into his temple. He staggered backwards, tripped over the broken lamp, and went tumbling toward the floor … whacking his head on the corner of the nightstand as he fell. Then he slumped to the floor, unmoving. Out cold. Her bearcat bared her teeth, satisfied.
Panting, Aspen wasted no time in grabbing her phone. She pressed the panic button, knowing a number of her pride mates would then receive an “I have a situation” message.
Her cell began to ring almost immediately. Havana. Aspen answered, “I have a visitor. He’s presently unconscious. All I can tell you at this point is that he’s a lion shifter, and I don’t recognize his face.”
Havana swore. “Me and Tate are on our way.” She rung off.
Just as Aspen crouched over the lion, she heard her front door burst open. Camden rushed into the room—no doubt having used his own key—quickly followed by Bailey. They both skidded to a halt as they took in the scene.
“The fuck?” spat the mamba.
Camden’s eyes went diamond hard and flashed cat. The air turned thick with an ice-cold fury that sent little bumps sweeping across Aspen’s skin. His neck corded, he stalked slowly and deliberately toward her intruder, staring down at the lion as though he wanted nothing more than to bludgeon him to death. Camden didn’t say a word, though. And that was bad. He only went so eerily silent when on the verge of losing his shit.
His gaze whipped to hers and then studied every inch of her. Her lack of injuries didn’t appear to ease his anger.
“Let’s find out who our friend is,” she said.
Grinding his teeth, he helped her search the lion’s pockets. They found a set of keys, a cell phone, and a wallet—according to his ID, his name was Jerome Sefton.
“Never heard of him,” said Aspen. Her brows flew up when she found a pair of handcuffs in the inside pocket of his jacket. A further search also uncovered a ball gag, some cable ties, a mini bottle of lube, a blank empty envelope, and what turned out to be a fake knife … like some kind of Halloween prop. “What in the pretty white fuck?”
“I am not liking this dude,” clipped Bailey.
As Camden roughly and promptly used the cable ties to bind the intruder’s wrists and ankles, Aspen slipped her hand into Jerome’s back pocket. Pulling out a lone key that looked far too familiar, she handed it to Bailey. “See if that fits my front door lock.”
It turned out that it did. And where the fuck had he gotten that?
Having fastened the strap of the ball gag around the back of an unconscious Jerome’s head, Camden hefted him out of her bedroom and tossed him on an armchair in the living area. The tiger still hadn’t said a word, his rage a palpable thing. Her bearcat wanted to rub up against him and comfort him, but now wasn’t the time.
Just as Jerome began to stir, the Alphas, Luke, and the Head Enforcer, Farrell, arrived. Aspen quickly filled them in on what happened and revealed what a search of Jerome’s pockets had uncovered. In the meantime, the guy tried his best to talk around the ball gag … right up until Bailey’s mamba slithered onto his lap.
Looking at the lion’s ID, Tate pursed his lips. “I haven’t heard his name before now. And I don’t recall seeing him anywhere.”
“My guess is he’s a loner for hire,” said Farrell.
“Let’s see if you guessed correctly.” Aspen looked at Camden, who stood beside their captive … as if so intent on being the one to snap the guy’s neck that Camden wasn’t prepared to move from his spot. “Could you remove the ball gag?”
Camden none too gently did so.
Flexing his jaw, Jerome swept his gaze over everyone, looking the height of confused. “What is this? What’s going on?”
Was he for real? Aspen folded her arms. “You tell me. You broke into my apartment.”
His brow knitted. “I didn’t break in. I have a key.”