Soul Bonded

chapter TWENTY-TWO



Katie’s startled gasp sent Rafe stumbling away from her. His wild, luminous eyes instantly lost their amber sheen, reverting to pretty green and transforming him back into the man she’d already come to love. He turned and hid his face, cursing audibly under his breath. With that, the peace she’d created for them vanished. Awkward silence lingered in its place.

She wanted to tell him that everything was okay—that she was okay—but her throat wouldn’t work. While she’d understood that touching him carried the possibility of unchecked passion, she hadn’t expected that at all.

Rafe curled his hands into fists, knuckles going white. “I’m going outside.”

She stepped out of the way without protest. “Rafe, I’m sorry. I was startled. That’s all.”

He brushed past her, then hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. “Get the gun. Whatever happens, do not come after me.”

“All right.” Hating that her reaction to his appearance must have seemed like disgust, Katie reached for him but stopped short of making contact. “Please be careful. I want to finish our conversation.”

He grunted, then opened the door and stepped outside to a round of jeers and catcalls. He slammed the door in her face before she could make out what was being said, but she didn’t need to hear specifics to know that it was going to take all of Rafe’s considerable resolve not to rise to their baiting. Between his pent-up sexual energy and his simmering rage over their threats to her life, Rafe had to be on the verge of explosion. She just wished that he would let her do something to help. Even with his eyes gone wild and a sky-high libido, he still hadn’t attacked her. The opposite, in fact—he’d allowed her to push him away.

Rafe wouldn’t hurt her. She knew it in her bones—all she had to do was figure out some way to make him see that, too.

Sighing, Katie jogged to the coffee table and snatched up the revolver. She didn’t trust Lisa and her friends not to instigate trouble. More directly, she didn’t trust Rafe to keep his cool in his current state of mind. There was too much bottled up inside him, and it made him vulnerable to the threats and taunts she knew were being hurtled at him outside. Aware that Rafe wouldn’t approve, she took a chance that everyone was too distracted with antagonizing each other to notice as she cracked open the front door an inch.

The first thing she heard was a crude remark from Lisa. “Driving you crazy, isn’t it? I could smell her cunt from here. It’s only a matter of time before you tear that bitch to shreds.”

“Back off.” Though Katie couldn’t see anything through the narrow opening she’d created, Rafe sounded like he was standing close to Lisa. Too close. “Let me pass.”

“Or what?” Lisa snorted. “You ready to go against your Alpha and attack me? I’m not ready to cross mine.”

“Then get the f*ck out of my way!”

Rafe’s booming voice echoed off the bare trees and set Katie’s heart racing. She tightened her grip on the gun, ready to use it. If he started a fight, she wouldn’t be able to stand by and not try to help. Even if that’s exactly what he’s asking me to do tonight. She closed her eyes and waited, hoping that nothing would happen that forced her to disobey Rafe. She wanted to do as he said and stay put, but not at the cost of letting this situation escalate out of control. If they injured or killed Rafe now, her life was forfeit. Even if she did manage to somehow hold them all off for the night, there would be no happy ending.

Rather than react to Rafe’s outburst with violence, Lisa laughed derisively. “Shit. You are frustrated, aren’t you?” He didn’t answer. She increased her volume, as though he was walking away from her. “I know you’ve f*cked her at least once. You reek of it. What’s wrong? Are you afraid of frightening her? Breaking her?”

Rafe’s heavy, deliberate footsteps ascended the porch steps and came closer. Katie pulled the door closed, muffling the sound of Lisa’s taunting words. Breathless, she stepped to the side and waited for Rafe to return to safety. Instead, she heard him turn and clomp back down the porch stairs for another trip to the shed. Concerned that Lisa would really amp up her venom now, Katie immediately eased open the door again. After a brief hesitation, she summoned her courage and widened the opening so she could glimpse the confrontation.

She could only see Lisa’s shoulder and half her face because a wooden support blocked the rest of her view. It was more than enough to witness the viciousness in her every movement. Lisa stepped in front of Rafe as he tried to pass. “Was it worth it? Killing my mate for a human you can’t even touch? One too fragile to satisfy a wolf’s needs?”

“Katie is worth a hundred of your mate.” Rafe shouldered his way past her, striding past a dark-colored wolf who sat erect and watched the proceedings with unwavering attention. “More, even.”

“I don’t know about that, but she sure does taste good,” shouted a familiar male voice. The biter.

“Is that right?” Lisa waited until Rafe approached her with an armful of wooden boards, then lunged at him to knock a few off the top into the snow. “Does Katie taste good?”

An unfamiliar male voice called out, “If the rest of these fools leave her alive until tomorrow morning, I plan on taking my time and finding out just how sweet she is. There’s nothing quite like human p-ssy. Am I right?”

Rafe bent, disappearing from view, then straightened with the boards once again stacked in his arms. “Anyone who touches Katie is going to suffer a particularly painful death. That’s a promise.”

The naked brunette who’d gotten f*cked on the ground sidled up to Rafe and reached between his legs. “As painful as that massive hard-on you’re wielding?”

White-hot anger surged through Katie as the stranger fondled her bond-mate. Rather than pull away, Rafe stood his ground and stared down both women blocking his path. “Remove your hand or lose it.”

“You can’t tell me this doesn’t feel good.” The brunette leered, moving her arm in a slow rhythm that suggested just how intimate she was getting with Rafe. “That human of yours obviously can’t take care of you the way you require. But I can. Seems like the least I could do before we kill you tonight.”

Rafe lunged forward, shoving past the women with an aggressive growl. “No, thanks.”

Lisa grabbed a hammer from atop Rafe’s stack of supplies as he walked past, then drew back to swing at his head. Katie burst out of the cabin without thinking of the consequences. She raised the revolver, took quick aim, and pulled the trigger. Sparks flew as the bullet struck metal and the hammer flew from Lisa’s hand. Ten heads swiveled to stare at her in shock. Katie’s hand shook as she realized what she’d just done, and how easily she could have missed her target. Even though she hadn’t hit Lisa or the other woman, her impulsivity might have just started a war.

Rafe pointed at the door. “Go inside. Now.”

Katie turned and fled without looking back.