Taming His Mate(13)

Kate focused on Stephen, willing his eyes to open. Indecision waged war in her head. If she ran for help, God knows where they’d take him. Even worse, what if they killed him? She couldn’t risk leaving him alone, especially since he’d ventured here to find her. And she damn sure couldn’t shift to attack the ass who’d drugged him. So what the crap was she supposed to do?

A tremor raced through her limbs as panic threatened to overwhelm her. She wrapped her arms around her knees. Any second, her shaky composure would splinter in two, and she’d wind up doing something stupid that would get them both killed.

For God’s sake, get a damned hold of yourself, Kate.

Closing her eyes, she sucked in a deep, grounding breath to clear her head.

Come on, Kate. You can do this. Stephen needs you. Don’t let him down.

He did need her. She may have failed him before, but she refused to fail him when he needed her most. So what if she couldn’t shift? That didn’t mean she couldn’t take the human bastard down. Her eyes snapped open, and she glanced at Stephen’s furry head. He was out cold, so she wouldn’t get any help from him anytime soon. It was up to her to make this work.

Resolve whipped through her veins. She could do this.

No, she would do this.

Kate examined the ground around her for anything she could use as a weapon. She settled on a sturdy, broken tree branch. She held the thick stick in her hand, testing its weight and grip. It would have to do. It wasn’t as if she had a lot of options.

Easing into position, she waited for her enemy to present an opportunity, any point of vulnerability she could use to her advantage. Thankfully, the dickhead didn’t make her wait too long.

He moved to Stephen’s side and squatted to retrieve the darts embedded in his fur. With his gun lowered and his attention focused elsewhere, the man presented the opening she sought.

Gathering her nerve, Kate held the tree limb in a death grip and launched herself out of the bush. Caught off guard, the idiot reared around just as she swung the branch, connecting with the side of his head.

The man fell back on his ass and clutched his bloody temple. “You bitch.”

Kate wasted no time, snatching the rifle that fell from his grasp onto the ground and aiming it at his chest. “Want to say that again?”

“You think this will stop us? This town and you people. You’re freaks.” He nodded at Stephen. “You and his kind need to be exterminated from this world.”

She raised the weapon and took aim.

“Wait.” He lifted his hand in front of him.

But Kate didn’t. With a squeeze of the trigger, a dart flew into his shoulder. She ran to Stephen and knelt beside him. Laying a hand over his furry chest, she was relieved to feel the slow thump of his heart beneath her palm. Of course, she had no idea how long the drugs would keep him under.

Well, crap. She had to get him out of there before the others showed up.

Certain the hunter was unconscious, Kate grabbed the rifle once more and searched through his gear for ammunition. Once the weapon was reloaded, she stuffed the extra darts in her pockets in case she ran into trouble with his buddies on the trek to her house.

Slinging the rifle strap over her shoulder, she bent down and wrapped her arms around Stephen’s middle. She attempted to lift him, but in his Wolf form, he was too bulky to carry. Resigned, she blew out a breath and hoisted his front half under her arms.

After the first few steps with his back half dragging the ground, she realized it was going to be a long walk.





***





When Stephen swam into wakefulness, his first thought was of Kate. Alarm slammed into him. Without a second thought, he shifted to his human form and bolted upright, his forehead smacking into something solid. An explosion of pain burst behind his eyelids, and he grimaced.

“What the fuck, dude?”

Cracking his bleary eyes open, he squinted at Jace, who stood over him, scowling and holding his chin in both hands.

Stephen swallowed against the dryness in his throat. “Where’s Kate?”

“I always knew you had a hard head, but damn, man.”

Ignoring his friend, Stephen shoved the covers off and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. “Where is Kate?”

Jace threw up his hands to stop him. “She’s downstairs in the kitchen.”

“What the hell happened?” Stephen rolled his shoulders, groaning from the ache in his upper body. Shit, had a bull trampled his chest then sat on him for good measure? He glanced around, and it dawned on him he was in Kate’s bedroom, in her bed. “How did I get here?”

Throwing the blanket over Stephen’s naked lap, Jace plopped down on the edge of the bed beside him. “My sister brought you.”