“Go into the bathroom. Get the bathrobe. I know it’s gross but do it anyway.” She nodded as she rose from the bed. The room smelled of sex and passion. Anyone who entered would know he’d not been alone in here, which meant there was no way he could properly hide Elizabeth from what was coming. The good news was whoever now made their way up the stairs toward them was human. They’d tried to mask their scents, to eliminate them. His brother Az had a supply of herbs that allowed this trick, but Rex had always been able to smell through the lie.
Elizabeth wrapped the robe around herself before she turned to him. “Who is it?”
“Your twins.”
“What?” Her voice rose beyond which he would have preferred, and he hushed her again. “Stay in the bathroom.”
“No. If it’s the twins, you’ll need my help.”
“I need you safe. I’m going to shift.” His wolf paced within him, ready for a fight to defend their mate.
“You can’t kill them. If they so much as get hurt their mother will kill my family.” He shook his head. She still didn’t understand how capable he was of handling her problems. But she would. He would make certain of it. “She’ll never get the chance.” He pointed at the bathroom. “In there. Now.”
She bit down on her lip as her scent altered from terror to a combination of fear and anger. Good, it was better she was annoyed with him than downright scared. Frightened people did foolish things.
Elizabeth walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
I love you. He spoke into her mind seconds before the door opened. In a flash, he’d called the white light onto himself, his body moving fast into the shape shifting which came as naturally to him as breathing. Unlike some shifters, he’d never fought the ability.
He loved it, and when given the chance to run in the woods, craved the shift. Now he just wanted to kill these horrid creatures who had abused his mate for so long.
The door opened slowly. It was late. Perhaps they thought to find them asleep? He didn’t care. They slipped in together. One in front of the other like they’d moved in tandem their whole lives. This might very well be the last time they got the chance.
Leaning down, he growled his intentions aloud so they would hear them.
“Oh look, Penny, its wolf-boy. Should we turn him into a rat before we kill him or just kill him straight out?”
If the one on the left was Penny, that meant the one on the right was Charra. He’d hardly paid attention to them the first time he’d met them—all of his focus had been on Elizabeth. Now he regarded them as prey. They were neither tall nor short, standing, he would guess, at about five-feet-five. Like their height, they were of average weight. Their figures were nothing to write home about either. Bland brown hair, round faces, and small pug noses did nothing to improve their looks. All in all, they were the most unremarkable people he’d seen in a while.
They didn’t hold a candle to his Elizabeth, which must have been the reason their mother had chosen the type of curse she had inflicted on his mate. Jealousy. Pure and simple. These women were not in her league in external or internal beauty.
He leapt forward, catching Penny straight on the shoulders. They crashed together to the floor. She screamed, and his wolf shrugged. He hadn’t even done anything to the girl yet. His wolf had only wanted to show her how strong he was. Growling, he turned his eyes on Charra. She needed to see the hate in his gaze. If she had any brains in her head, she’d run.
“Kill him, Charra, kill him.” Penny’s shriek made his teeth ache to tear her throat apart.
The door to the bathroom swung open and Elizabeth screamed at the top of her lungs. Rex moved away from Charra. What was wrong? What had they done to her?
“No, don’t hurt him!”
He stopped his run. Him? She yelled like that about him? He was fine, why the hell hadn’t she stayed in the bathroom. Elizabeth, go in there and lock the door.
Charra must have realized what was happening because she lunged at him as he spoke with Elizabeth. “I can feel you talking to her, you freak of nature.” He whirled, ready to take off the woman’s head. Her mother would have to deal with only having one daughter returned.
The first blast rolled over his back. He’d been warded against most magic, thanks to his sisters-in-law. It wouldn’t work forever, but, for now, it seemed it was still intact. The twins could find a way around it, if they tried long enough, which meant he would have to make sure they didn’t get the opportunity.
Lips back in a snarl, he lunged at Charra. She would die first.
“Wait. I’ll kill her.” Penny’s voice cut through his haze. He turned around already knowing what he would find.