That she could be taken.
That a scalpel could slice into her delicate flesh as she screamed until her voice broke, until her scent was a red haze of agony in the air around him. That because of him, despite his wariness, his constant vigilance against coming in contact with his mate. Despite all his precautions, he had failed her.
“Commander?” Dagger questioned him, his tone holding the faintest sound of wariness. Not fear, but definitely a sense of high alert.
“Rule, ease it back.” Lawe stepped next to him, calling Rule’s attention to the fact that he was glaring at the Wolf as he reached out to the added strength his brother offered no matter where he might be in the world.
At that moment, Lawe’s hand landed on his shoulder despite the discomfort he knew Rule might feel at this point.
There was no discomfort, though. His entire body, every sense was alive with the agonizing knowledge that his mate could be in danger. There was no pain greater than that.
His gaze bored into the Wolf’s. “Find her.” His voice felt rough, jagged. “Find her before anyone else does.”
He didn’t bother to make a threat. The flicker of Dagger’s dark gaze and the scent of concern, of immediate intent to do what was required, was all that mattered to him.
The Wolf nodded, turned and immediately loped into the night as Rule fought against the primal rage building inside him.
“We have men at the bars?” he asked his brother.
“Heading there now,” Lawe assured him. “You need to pull back. If she sees you like this, Rule, you’ll terrify her.”
What she would see was the animal in his eyes, eyes that gleamed in shades of blue so brilliant they were nearly neon.
“She ran.” The snarl was impossible to hold back.
Swinging his head around to meet his brother’s darker gaze, Rule glared back at him, his hands clenching the weapons holstered on both thighs.
“Did she have a reason to run?” Lawe asked softly. “Think about that, Rule. What reason did you give her to run?”
“I didn’t harm her.” He knew what Lawe was thinking. That somehow he must have hurt the woman that the animal inside him had claimed. The woman the man had already fallen in love with.
“Physically,” Lawe agreed. “I would never have imagined you had hurt her physically, Rule. But what happened otherwise?”
What happened otherwise.
What the hell had happened?
Explaining it was a bitch, but he knew hiding it wouldn’t work, as Lawe would just keep probing until he figured it out.
“I pulled away as I felt the barb emerging.” Releasing the hilt of the blade holstered at his thigh, he pushed his fingers through his hair restlessly, his senses continually testing the air around him for Gypsy’s scent.
“You did what?” Lawe stepped back, staring at him in shock, as though the information was far too much to take in.
“What?” Rule growled, furious, humiliated with his own weakness. “I could feel it emerging. Fuck.” He turned away from his brother as the other man blinked back at him, the disbelief growing. “What the f**k is your problem?” he snarled as he immediately rounded on Lawe once again.
“You pulled free of her before releasing?” Lawe cleared his throat as though suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation.
Rule shifted, suddenly even more unwilling to discuss this subject than ever before. “Maybe, just as it began.” His teeth clenched at the admission.
“And umm, exactly at what stage was your mate in?” Lawe asked, wincing as he rubbed at one side of his face uncomfortably.
His mate had been locked in her release, holding to him, her delicate little nails digging into his shoulders as the fist-tight sheath surrounding his c**k rippled around him with a fiery pleasure that had shocked him.
“Fuck, Rule! No damned wonder she ran out on you.” Lawe’s eyes widened, filling with shocked amusement as the memory surged into Rule’s conscious thoughts and echoed into Lawe’s.
That damned link.
Rule pulled back immediately, breaking that awareness they had of each other that enabled them to draw on the other’s strength or knowledge.