“Cabal. Are you okay?” There was true shock now. There was always shock when the unwary saw the proof of the tiger streaked across his face.
He didn’t answer. He could feel the blood at his shoulder, the slice across his flesh. It was there. It wasn’t fatal. An inconvenience, nothing more.
He bared his teeth in lethal fury. It wouldn’t stop him from killing this woman.
As the Breeds converged around them, his hand went out, his fingers locking around her throat as he slammed her against the side of the car.
Not enough to hurt her. The male was weak; he was merciful where the animal wanted nothing more than to rip her lying throat out.
“Return my mate.” He kept the order simple. Words weren’t as easy as they had once been, not with the growls that were tearing from his chest.
“Get him off me, Jonas.” Her voice was rough, filled with fear as she stared up at him.
She stank of terror and guilt. And he wanted her blood. He wanted to taste it, feel it pouring over his fingers and know that any fear his mate was feeling at this moment was felt tenfold by this woman who had instigated it.
“I. Want. My. Mate.” His roar was an ugly, furious sound.
He saw Jonas’s reaction, smelled the wariness that emanated from the Breeds around him.
God help him, he was terrified himself. All he could think about was Cassa. She would be frightened. She would be waiting for him to save her. He would save her. Or he would kill anyone he suspected to be involved in her disappearance.
“I don’t have your mate,” she wheezed, her nails clawing at his wrists. “Let me go, Cabal. I don’t know where she is.”
“Cabal, let her go,” Jonas hissed at his ear. “Stand down. Now.”
He turned on the director, snarling in rage.
“Now, Cabal!” he barked.
“You back off.” He drew back, the rage solidifying into ice, into primal, feral determination. “Fuck you. No more games, Jonas. Not again. I’ll find her myself.”
He turned and loped across the parking lot, slammed his way back into the inn as he ignored the curious bystanders. He needed to get to his room. Weapons and needed supplies had been destroyed in the Raider, but he had more. He never went into an assignment without additional weapons.
Jonas, Lawe and Rule followed him. It was no more than he could expect. Jonas had his games to play, and it was Rule and Lawe’s job to keep him alive while he played them. He might not live much longer though, if he continued to play them with Cabal’s mate.
“Cabal, the van she was taken in is being tracked,” Jonas informed him as they followed him into his room. “We have a team on it now, keeping close behind. We’ll have her location soon.”
“Now.” Cabal threw open the closet door and pulled out the duffel bag he had carried in with him earlier.
“Cabal, we don’t have it now,” Jonas snapped. “For God’s sake, if you mated bastards don’t stop going apeshit like this, then I’m going to start shooting you.”
“Remind me not to tell Jonas if I get infected,” Lawe murmured to Rule.
“Better yet, don’t get infected,” Rule grunted. “I’d hate to have to shoot you myself when you start acting stupid.”
Cabal stared back at them in icy distain before pulling out the weapons he would need. There was a knapsack packed with ammunition and clips. He strapped a dagger to one thigh, a handgun to the other. From the back of the closet he pulled free a rifle stored in its weatherproof bag and pulled the strap over his head and shoulder to allow it to lie comfortably along his back.
“Dammit to hell, Cabal, we have this covered,” Jonas cursed furiously. “Let’s handle this the right way.”
“Your way you mean?” he asked coldly.
“That’s usually the right way,” Jonas informed him.
Cabal shook his head slowly. “Not this time, Jonas. Not this mate. You can ignore yours as long as you want. I’ve claimed mine.” He paused, pain streaking through his soul. “She claimed me.”
He brushed past the three men as he stalked from the room.
Watts hadn’t had time to reach Glen Ferris; Cabal couldn’t imagine he’d had anything to do with this kidnapping. The Coyote spy they had on the team that had broken him out of the prison would have reported it first thing.