Marked (Primal Obsessions #2) - Cara Wylde Page 0,12

doing?” she whispered fearfully.

“Shut up.”

She swallowed heavily, and I tried to focus. She smelled like someone who liked to cook and bake, care for the plants around the house, and wait for her man with hot pancakes in the evening. She smelled like someone who needed to nurture those around or her life had no meaning. I could understand why the cub had attached himself to her. She was motherly in her own way, though by looking at her body, I could tell she’d never had cubs of her own. I’d seen her naked back at the motel, and when I summoned that imagine, my cock grew slightly hard in my pants.

“Please…”

That snapped me out of my trance. I was almost on top of her, and she was freaking out.

“Please don’t hurt me…”

“As if there’s anything left to hurt,” I snapped. “What happened to you?” I pulled away. Her scent was sweet and intoxicating. If I didn’t watch myself, I was in danger our devouring her whole. I pointed at her black, swollen eye. “Start with that. Who punched you in the face?”

“I… I told you. No one. It’s from the car crash. And then… I ran through the woods… fell a few times.”

“Bullshit.” I grabbed her left arm, and she winced in pain. I checked every inch of it. “It’s not broken.” She let out a sigh of relief. “So, you’re not going to tell me anything? Why were you speeding? You left your car in the middle of the road. Who does that, Rosalie?” She was silent. I cocked an eyebrow. “My guess? Someone who’s running away from something.”

She shook her head gently.

“If you don’t start talking now, I’ll make you,” I growled. I didn’t have time for this crap. I needed to know exactly whom I was dealing with.

“I… I’ll tell you. But I have some questions of my own first.”

“Do you now?” I chuckled darkly. Oh, she was amusing. “Let’s hear one.”

“What are you? Are you… human?”

I threw my head back and laughed. She gasped and jumped slightly, which I understood, really. My laughter was thunderous and tended to scare people.

“The woman in the driver’s seat,” she tried in a shaking voice, “She turned into a bear, and I… I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to call 911, but then… I got scared. You’re like her. The child is like her. What are you?”

“Bear shifters,” I finally said. “Half human, half beast. We are strong, fast, but apparently, as you proved today, not invincible. You killed one of ours, Rosalie. I hope you know… this will not end well for you. I hope you understand. Brooks will have his revenge.”

“Brooks?”

“Milo’s father.”

“And you are?”

“Lincoln.”

“Oh.”

“And this is Colt,” I pointed at my friend who was just coming through the door. He dumped a pile of wood planks on the floor. I shook my head at him. “Why did you bring them in, idiot? We’re boarding the windows from the outside, so she can’t pull the planks off!”

“Fucking genius you are,” he cursed as he gathered up the wood and tools.

“Well, one of us has to be.”

“Wait… no.” The human female was finally starting to register what was going on here. “You’re… you’re locking me up? Why? I didn’t do anything.” From shocked, she turned to hysterical. “I didn’t cause the accident, I swear! And I didn’t mean to take the child! I just… I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave him there…”

I stood up and made to go after Colt. “You keep saying you didn’t do anything.” I tsked. “But you refuse to tell me why you were speeding like a madwoman, why you abandoned your car like that… I’m sorry, Rosalie,” my voice took on a sarcastic tone. “You’re just not very believable.”

She jumped to her feet and limped toward me. I stopped in the threshold. Colt started to nail the planks to the windows, and that made the female shake with fear and anxiety. It was just downing on her that she was in deep, deep trouble.

“It was stolen! The car was stolen!”

I grinned. “You’re a car thief, then?” I studied her from head to toe. Well, she was a fine piece of ass, even with all those green and purple bruises. Some of them must have been weeks old.

“N-no. I had to get away, that’s all.”

“Get away from what? Or whom?”

She furrowed her brows at me. “That’s none of your business,” she spat between gritted teeth. For the first time, she