Captive Mate - Eliot Grayson Page 0,25

or authority; he looked like someone’s freckle-faced teenage kid, and the blue hoodie and jeans he was wearing didn’t help. And checkered high-top Converse, gods help us all. Dor moved to his side immediately, taking up a station at his shoulder and leaning casually against a tree.

If Parker hadn’t done his research, he’d dismiss Fenwick instantly, too. I wondered what he’d think of Dor. The sword on his back was intimidating, but it was also so long and so heavy-looking that it didn’t seem possible anyone could wield it effectively. Would Parker think it was an affectation, a showy piece that wouldn’t do much in a real fight?

If so, he was in for a rude awakening. I’d seen for myself what Dor could do with that sword. Imagining Parker impaled on the pointy end of it gave me a glow that warmed me more than the sunlight.

The sound of a car engine — no, several car engines, fuck, that meant Parker had come in force after all — sent the whole scattered group into action. Matthew’s iron grip on my arm meant I went with him as he took up his position right in the center of the access road. The councilors stood on his other side, which left Ian and Nate next to me. Fenwick and Dor exchanged a few quiet words and then sauntered to the side of the road, keeping themselves separate and sending a clear message: they were here as observers only. As I watched them, they…faded? What was I looking at? They were still there, but if you didn’t know it your eyes would pass right over them.

Fuck. So much for Nate’s hope that they’d be useful.

And then I couldn’t look at them anymore, because three huge black SUVs made the turn onto the access road and stopped about twenty feet from us.

The doors of two of the SUVs opened, and out stepped a whole gang of Parker’s weres, looking like they were spoiling for a fight.

Then the third SUV spilled out its passengers: all Kimballs, grinning like they’d won the lottery.

Double fuck.

Chapter 7

Enemies New and Old

Parker led the way, his usual swagger and smirk very much in place. He was objectively handsome, in a blond-and-stacked kind of way, but he was also such a stereotypical alpha douchebag, with his big black motorcycle boots and t-shirt with the cutoff sleeves. Not to mention the forced mating thing. Seeing him again, after months of trying to forget him, I was almost shivering with the desire to flay his flesh from his bones and watch him die screaming. Flanking him were Tyler and four more of his enforcers, with several more behind them, all of them dressed like Parker-clones.

And the Kimballs were right behind them: Bill Kimball, Sam’s younger brother, and Bill’s son Colin, along with two more weres I didn’t know by name but had seen in passing while I was living in the Kimball territory.

Of course, neither of them had a shaman — and even though I’d been sort-of allied with Adam for months, that gave me a little bit of pleasure amidst the fear that we were all about to die.

Shock at the Kimballs’ presence whispered through our little group like a ripple in a pond.

I could practically feel the tension rolling off of Ian; he was ready to lash out at the slightest provocation, I could tell, and I hoped Matthew or Nate could keep him in line. We were outnumbered. And I was still fucking manacled, unable to do a goddamn thing about it. Without my magic, I was basically useless. I could fight well enough in my own weight class, sure, but I was half the size of these goons and wasn’t an alpha. I didn’t stand a chance against any one of them.

Parker stopped directly across from Matthew about six feet away, still smirking. His eyes flicked to me for a second, and what I saw in them chilled my blood. If he got his hands on me, my life wouldn’t be worth living.

Without even meaning to, I moved just a little closer to Matthew, craving the warmth and strength of him. He was all that stood between me and the rapes and torture Parker would dish out.

Matthew shifted slightly at my side. What the fuck? Body language was everything to werewolves in a face-off like this. Was he going to show weakness in the very first moment?

But…no, it was on purpose. When I glanced to the side to see