Shaw (Alpha Geek #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,25

her cousins’ side. Especially not when they were hurting innocent people. Shaw might not have been as honest as she thought, but he was a defenseless human against three very angry panthers.

“You’re going to put the money back in an account,” Carl was saying to a purple-faced Shaw.

“A very specific account,” Carson added. “Ours. We’ll give you the account number, and you’ll have less than an hour to transfer all of the money back.”

“Not…poss…ible…” Shaw was gasping for breath as he tried to respond.

Poppy was weighing her options for attack. She knew that Carl had been injured in a fight with a pack of rival panthers a few years back. He had a weakness in his left knee. She would strike at it. Carson was particularly fond of his dick and would take serious offense to any sort of hit to that area. Curtis, who was taller and larger than his brothers, would be the most formidable opponent. Unluckily for her, Poppy couldn’t remember ever winning against him in the so-called childhood sparring. He played dirty and never played fair. She couldn’t recall one single weakness. At the very least, she could incapacitate the other two and then try to drive off.

Maybe she would be so kind as to also save Shaw.

Don’t be an idiot, her panther roared. You have to save him. Save our mate.

Poppy broke into a run and slammed her leg, heels and all, into Carl’s left knee. The limb bent at an impossible angle, and he fell like a tree on the cold pavement. The sharp heel of her stilettos had no doubt created an added layer of pain to the injury, but there was no time to celebrate the expertly delivered blow. She turned on Carson, and with a quick succession that would have made Mohamed Ali proud. Move like a butterfly, sting like a bee, she caught him right in the crotch.

One, two, three hits right in the tender area.

He grabbed himself and coughed up bile, before vomiting violently onto the ground. Served him right. Shaw fell to his knees, gasping for breath and his hands around his neck, trying to claw at the collar of his dress shirt.

“You little bitch,” Curtis roared. He shifted into his panther.

Poppy knew he would. The shift cost him precious time. There was a reason Poppy hadn’t shifted. She wanted to be able to drive away and quick. While the large panther charged at her, Poppy took Shaw onto her back like a sack of potatoes and rushed toward the car.

She had underestimated Curtis.

He was flying through the air, his terrible jowl wide open to showcase fangs that were nearly a foot long and inches wide. She tried to turn, dropping Shaw onto the ground, but it was too late.

Curtis was on them.

Or on Shaw, to be exact.

A loud scream pierced the air, and the metallic scent of blood made Poppy’s stomach roll. Curtis had Shaw in his mouth, moving the tall, lanky body like it was nothing but a chew toy, through the air. Shaw was gurgling in pain as Poppy shifted into her panther. There was no way she could fight against Curtis in her human form.

Finally, a sleek panther, she sideswiped Curtis, sending him sprawling. Shaw’s limp body fell to the ground. There was too much blood pouring out of him. He was already vibrating in shock, close to death.

She wouldn’t get to yell at him for lying.

He wouldn’t be able to explain himself.

They would never get the chance to see if they could repair their budding relationship enough to make it work.

Fury made her blood thunder in her ears. She snapped her jaw at Curtis’s paws and crunched down, hard. The bone didn’t break, but he inched away from her, assessing his next move now that he was injured. She didn’t give him time to plan something. She launched herself at him, with her mouth wide open, roaring through the night sky. She bit down on his neck, hard.

It was enough for her to run back to Shaw and drag his body to the car. She shifted back into her human form and draped his dying body onto the back seat.

Poppy knew he didn’t have long, but she had to focus and put some distance between them and the terrible trio. She pushed the accelerator to the floor and rushed to the nearest hospital. Even with all of her medical training, there was nothing she could do for him in the back seat of