Their faces mere inches from each other; she locked her gaze with his. “You better be careful, or these guys you’re going to see will be the least of your worries.”
He not only saw the fear in her eyes, but he scented it hovering at her pores. It made him want to reassure her. “I look forward to anything and everything you want to do to me after I get rid of this threat.”
She kissed him. It was a soft brush of her lips that had both man and animal rejoicing in her touch, in knowing she would be fine. His gut clenched and he inhaled her scent deep.
“I need you to be careful.” She whispered the words and pulled back, her lip trembling.
Seeing her concern in such clear display only added to his need to protect her. “I will be.” He stood to go. Only one thought filled his mind. “Let’s go hunting.”
Jordan watched the men, including the man she loved, march purposely out of her room. She turned to Ellie, who appeared to have lost all color in her face, and studied her closely. “How are you feeling? The last time I saw you four guys were kicking our asses.”
Emma snorted. “I highly doubt they left the attack unscratched.”
“I did see Jordan swinging that steel bar around at one guy.” Ellie jumped in.
“And this is why I like to keep something to defend myself within my vehicle. Do you now understand where I’m coming from? Shit happens, and we need a quick weapon, even a steel bar can help.” She pressed a button. The bed lifted her into a sitting position.
“Hey, I always carry around something to defend myself.” Emma shrugged. “I grew up in the ghetto with a paranoid family. You never walked around a bad neighborhood with no way to defend yourself. Especially if you’re a girl.”
Ellie leaned back on her seat, dropping her had on the back cushion. “I’ve never had to fight one much less three shifters at one time. With an Alpha family, it’s a given they will hurt you if you touch one of theirs. So this was unexpected and it proves that I need better training.”
“Ellie nobody could have fought three full grown big-ass shifters and lived to tell the story.” Jordan reached for a glass of water, but Emma slapped her hand away and proceeded to put ice in the cup before passing it back to her. “Besides, you were doing some serious badass kick fighting with wolf twist moves.”
“What happens now?” Emma asked the question on Jordan’s mind.
“Now the men will go searching for the attackers.” Barbara Wolfe walked into the room. She stopped beside the bed and hugged Jordan. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got my butt kicked by a big shifter with a bad attitude.”
Barbara laughed. “This is why I like you. I never know what you’re going to say.”
“Yeah, well that is usually a bad thing.” Emma chuckled. “Gets her into trouble all the time.”
Ellie grinned and moved over to give her mother space on the sofa. “Did anyone else go with them?”
“Once your father heard, he sent some of the enforcers with them. There will be no catching my boys off guard.”
Jordan’s sides hurt, but she was too interested in what was being said.
“I may be the only person that doesn’t understand what’s going on with Caleb’s pack.” Emma said, glancing from Ellie to Barbara.
“It started some years back. Caleb was a teen. He left the pack to spend time with his sick mother. She and his father had problems and she’d moved away. His father died unexpectedly, so his uncle Rocco took over the pack.”
Emma’s brows puckered. “Doesn’t whoever want to take over have to fight any others that want to lead?”
“Caleb’s father, like Ellie’s father, comes from a long line of strong Alphas. When his brother decided he would take over, nobody fought him that right.”
“What happened with Caleb?” Jordan asked, watching a nurse inject something into her IV. The effect was instant. The pain slowly dissipated.
“Caleb returned some years later, ready to take over, but with his father dead and Rocco as Alpha, he wasn’t going to fight him for the right. Until now.”
Jordan yawned. “What happened to get things this crazy?”
“Rocco started acting erratic. Giving young girls to his enforcers even. Girls that refused to mate. Some of the women have disappeared, and Caleb refuses to let things get worse.”
Ellie stood and sat beside Jordan on the bed, patting her hand. “So does what happened mean that Caleb has traitors in his own little group?”
That was what Jordan wanted to know as well.
Barbara nodded. “Seems like it. Now he’ll need to step up and decide how to proceed. Whoever helped attack Ellie and Jordan is probably giving Rocco all the details of Caleb’s plans.”
“Sounds like what he needs to do is clean house.” Emma sat at the foot Jordan’s bed, rubbing her feet over the blankets.
Barbara frowned. “Clean house?”
“Yeah. It’s what we say in my family when you need to get rid of whatever is messing you up. You need to clean house or in his case clean his pack of the rats that are only there to destroy things.”