Shaw (Alpha Geek #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,24

You don’t want to do this. I’m not alone.” She pointed her finger in Shaw’s direction.

Carl scoffed as he eyed Shaw. “You think this tall bean sprout is going to save you? We’ve been beating his ass since we were in grade school. Isn’t that right? He knows all about the Cains and what we do with little snots who think they can get one up on us.”

Shaw wanted to disappear into the concrete. It was one thing for him to admit to Poppy that he had been bullied, and it was another thing entirely to realize it had been done at the hand of her family members.

“You need to let us go,” Shaw heard himself say. It was stupid, he knew that. He wasn’t a shifter yet, and even if he had an animal in his head, in his blood, to protect him, they were still wildly outnumbered. “Poppy and I are just on our way home. Kindly fuck off.”

Shaw didn’t see the blow coming, and he didn’t have time to duck. Thankfully for him, Poppy was a shifter, and she was on the ball. She caught her cousin’s fist into her hand and pinned it behind his back with frightening agility.

“Don’t hit my boyfriend,” she growled.

The word bolstered him. He knew Poppy was probably only using it to make a point, but he wasn’t freaked out by it. Not in the least. In fact, it was nice to hear. Though that could have had to do with their present circumstances.

It would be hard to be terrified of one little word, when three pissed off shifters were circling like a pack of wild animals.

Chapter Twelve

Poppy

Poppy had never had such an excellent first date. Shaw wasn’t just her mate. He was a promising candidate that didn’t care about her family’s shady reputation.

But of course, that had all been too good to be true. She should have known. She wanted to kick herself for being so dense.

“Don’t hit my boyfriend,” she growled to her cousin as she pinned his meaty arm behind his back.

She hadn’t meant for those specific words to leave her mouth. Especially not when she still had Shaw’s words echoing through her mind. I haven’t been completely honest with you about who I am. Who in the fuck was he? Had he been a plant from her uncle, sent to lure her away from Dakota?

That didn’t explain how her animal was positive Shaw was her mate.

As far as she knew, the mating call of shifters couldn’t be messed with. Whoever Shaw was, whatever he had done to get mixed with up with the Cains, he was her mate. She would protect him.

Then she would kick his ass later.

That was her prerogative.

“Boyfriend?” Carson chuckled. “I don’t fucking think so. This pissant has been causing all kinds of problems for us lately. Did he tell you that he’s a hacker?” Her cousin must have seen the emotion playing through her eyes, because he laughed again. It was a cold sound, making her shiver despite her shifter constitution. “That’s right. He emptied all of our bank accounts. Including yours.”

Poppy’s heart stopped.

She knew she should try to school her features into a steady mask. She knew that she had to rein in any sort of emotions, but it was too late. A thin sheet of sweat pebbled along her brow, and she felt her expensive dinner climbing back up with a tide of betrayal.

No, it’s not true, her panther was trying to say. They lie. The boys always lie to get their way. You know this.

She did.

But judging by Shaw’s reaction, Poppy knew that Carson had told the truth. For once. And of course, it had to be the ugliest sort of truth bomb ever to be dropped in her life.

“We just want you to put the money back where you found it,” Carl said with a malicious smile on his ugly mug. He closed his hands around Shaw’s neck, choking him.

Carl was the same height as Shaw, but he had quite a bit of weight on him. It wouldn’t take much strain for the shifter to break her mate’s neck. Poppy was caught between feeling betrayed by a mate she barely knew and a family she knew to be evil.

She had a split second to make her decision to side with either one of them.

Though, if she had had the time to be honest with herself, it wasn’t much of a decision. She had always known that she would never take