Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,78
suspicious about the man who spoke, something about the detective sending him. A loud noise and flashes of light.
He still struggled with the fog in his memory when something grabbed him and forced him back into a prone position. A gruff voice barked from directly over him. “Dodge, it’s Rafe O’Shea. You’ve been shot. Three to the chest. We’re trying to stop the bleeding. Evershaw is on his way. You need to lie still and let us help you.”
Dodge clenched his jaw as more voices and movements and bright lights intruded on what little concentration he had. “Persephone. Where.”
O’Shea didn’t answer. He gave orders to someone else and more pressure landed on Dodge’s chest. Someone moved him to the side to shove something lumpy under his back, trying to put pressure on the exit wounds. He remembered doing that for other guys in much worse conditions. His mind drifted to worse places, intense firefights, car accidents while pursuing bad guys and charging through the jungle. Confronting the worst of the worst. He’d survived all that. Endured. Avoided major injuries.
And then... the moment he needed to protect his mate, to save her life, he failed.
He ground his teeth and his heels dug into the floor as another bright flare of agony ripped through him. More voices. More movement. Someone talking about an ambulance and blood transfusions.
Dodge managed to grab the front of O’shea’s shirt as the wolf alpha moved next to him, and dragged him close enough to growl. “Persephone. Where.”
He didn’t want her to see him like that, bloody and weak. But he needed to know she was okay. She had to be fine. The world was a cruel place but surely he’d done enough to earn time with his mate. She couldn’t have been taken from him. His heart cracked and splintered when O’Shea didn’t answer immediately.
Dodge tightened his grip and glared at the other man, baring his teeth in the clearest threat he could manage. “Where.”
O’Shea’s lips thinned into nothing, and his eyes flashed gold at Dodge’s challenge. “They took her. She’s gone.”
Dodge howled, the sound ripped from his throat. It wasn’t a noise a human was meant to make, but he had no other way to express how his world collapsed around him.
She was gone. He’d failed her.
Dodge snarled and released O’Shea, trying to claw his way upright so he could find her. He had to find her.
They shouted at him and bodies landed across him, trying to pin him, but Dodge didn’t care. He had a mission. It didn’t matter if he died. He had to save Persephone.
More boots in the hall. Shouting. Then Evershaw’s face loomed over him, his gold eyes flashing with lightning, and the alpha’s will rolled through Dodge and stole what remained of his strength.
Dodge howled again, furious with the alpha for stealing his vengeance, and fought Evershaw’s hold as much as he could. Everything slowed down until the only thing he saw was the alpha’s damn face. Dodge heard nothing but the sounds of deep water all around him. He groaned and forced sound through his clenched jaw. “Persephone.”
“I know, mate,” Evershaw said. “We’re looking. We’re on it. Stay still, you fucking lunatic. You’re no use to her dead.”
Dodge didn’t believe him. He’d already failed her. He clawed at consciousness as Evershaw leaned into the pack link and the rest of the room faded away. Dodge’s wolf fought to get free, to get to the surface so they could hunt down the bastards that hurt their mate. Had taken their mate. Threatened her. Tried to kill him.
He roared and howled and fought, despite the alpha trying to keep him still. He had to find her. He had to. His life was over if he didn’t.
Chapter 32
Percy
My head ached abominably. Like someone drove a stake through my temple, and it throbbed in time with my heartbeat. At least my heart still beat, though. Everything else was cold and wobbly, blurring in and out of focus as I forced my eyes open. I didn’t recognize my surroundings right away. The last thing I remembered was a man from the car putting a cloth over my mouth, then everything went dark. And then I woke up in a chair, freezing my ass off, wearing almost nothing.
The stainless steel and tile floor gave it away eventually, after I managed to keep my breathing just on the right side of hyperventilating. And when I recognized the location and the fact that I was tied to a