on her wrists and she cried out as her bones ached, as fire lanced them. He opened his mouth to say something.
She shrieked again as the door beyond her head burst open, as snow blasted inside.
And a terrifying roar deafened her.
Chapter 8
Saint barely stopped himself from shifting and killing Knox as he grabbed the male by the back of his neck and hauled him off the female. She remained frozen to the floor in the position she had been, her arms stretched above her head, her wide eyes fixed on the ceiling.
He pulled Knox to face him and roared in his face, relished the way the male closed his eyes and shrank back, how he lowered his head. His heart hammered, each breath he managed to pull down feeling as if it wasn’t enough air as rage burned up his blood, as his claws elongated and pressed into Knox’s neck. He wrestled with himself, with the urge to put the male in his place in a more physical way, seconds feeling like minutes as he waged an internal war.
Eventually, he wrangled the hunger to shift and fight Knox under control, but only because he didn’t want to scare the female more than she was already.
He turned and shoved Knox out of the door, roared at his back for good measure. Knox’s shoulders tensed and then he made a fast exit, practically leaping from the deck to land on the snow-covered path.
Saint breathed hard, wrestling his rage back under control, aware he was probably frightening Ember with his display of aggression.
He looked down at her, couldn’t stop himself from easing to his haunches beside her and checking on her. “You all right?”
Her wide eyes darted to his, the emerald bright against the stony backdrop of her irises, but she didn’t answer him, didn’t even nod or shake her head. She just stared at him, fear reigning in her eyes, stoking his rage.
The black need to hurt Knox.
“Stay in the cabin,” he grunted and stood, stormed out of the door and slammed it behind him.
He kept his senses fixed on her as he strode across the clearing, his gaze locked on Knox’s back as he hurried towards his cabin. The male flicked a glance back at Saint. Saint growled and bared his fangs, picked up the pace until he was running. He caught up with Knox before he hit the steps of his cabin, collared him again and ran up to the deck, and slammed his spine against the log wall near the door.
“The fuck were you doing?” he snarled in Knox’s face, his claws punching holes in the male’s jacket. The leash on his temper snapped when Knox didn’t answer immediately, and he hauled the male towards him only to smash him back against the wall, rattling the entire cabin. “Answer me!”
“Not what it looked like. I would never—” Knox slowly raised his hands beside his head, his tone even as he said, “She tried to escape. Fought me. I stopped her. She punched and then kicked me in the balls. You try keeping your cool when someone is brutalising your junk.”
Knox knew damned well that he wouldn’t have kept a level head in that situation, that he had reacted badly when Flint had clawed him there.
“I tried to stop her again when she went for the door.” Knox scowled. “She kicked off from the wall or some shit and next thing I know, I’m flat on my back and she’s beating the shit out of me.”
“Ember’s a cougar. They have powerful legs. You didn’t think of that?” Saint squared up to him, barely holding back his need to hit Knox, to pummel his face worse than the female had already managed.
Knox’s blue eyes widened. “She’s not Ember.”
Saint stilled, calm suddenly washing through him as he frowned at Knox. “What?”
“She’s not Ember,” Knox repeated. “She told me herself. Got damned crazy when I called her that name. Ember’s her best friend, and boy is that cougar pissed you wanted to take her from her mate. Damn near pulverised my kidney with her foot.”
Knox dropped his hand to his left side and grimaced as he held it.
Saint just stood there, struggling to make that sink in. The female wasn’t Ember, which meant she wasn’t mated to Cobalt. But she smelled like that male. Both times he had seen her, it had been near that male’s cabin.
“You’re sure of this?” Saint frowned at his friend.
“Ask my kidney. What’s left of it. I’ll be