Wolf Untamed (SWAT - Special Wolf Alpha Team #11) - Paige Tyler Page 0,100

scratching and biting at him as Diego pinned her arms to her sides and held them there. Hale jumped in to help while out of the corner of his eye, Diego saw Trey continue through the apartment, weapon drawn, undoubtedly looking for other threats.

“How the hell do we stop her?” Hale asked, trying to get a grip on her legs. “It’s like she’s on a bad LSD trip.”

“I don’t know,” Diego said. “Just keep her from hurting herself.”

Hale let out a grunt as Beth twisted around and sank her teeth into his forearm. “Who’s going to keep her from hurting us?”

Diego didn’t have an answer for that, mostly because he was busy avoiding a swinging fist as Beth got an arm loose and attempted to smash him in his face. He’d finally managed to get her arm restrained when Trey hurried back from the bedroom.

“There’s some kid in one of the rooms playing a video game like a frigging zombie,” he said as he came over to help with Beth. “He won’t stop playing that stupid game no matter what I do.”

Diego had no doubt it was Kevin. The fact that the kid wouldn’t stop playing threw him for a loop though.

He was prying Beth away from Hale’s arm when he picked up a strong whiff of the same blood he’d smelled when he pushed the door open. Shit, it was Dave’s blood. It had the same tangy, slightly acrid odor he’d smelled at the salsa club when the jackass had busted his lip. And at the bank when those college kids had tried to rob the place. There’d been blood on the temple of the guy he’d fought. The moment it had rubbed off on Diego’s uniform, whatever hold Dave had on him disappeared.

As Beth continued to twist and turn in her effort to get away, he caught sight of something red on her neck directly below her ear.

Blood.

And it was still wet.

“Get a towel,” Diego ordered. “Dave’s blood is on her neck, and we need to wipe it off.”

Hale looked like he wasn’t sure about the logic of leaving him and Trey alone to deal with Beth, but then released his grip on her flailing legs and jumped up. That earned him a kick to the crotch before he could get clear, but he kept going, limping slightly as he ran for the kitchen. He came back a moment later, dropping down beside Diego.

“Don’t let the blood get on you,” Diego warned, holding Beth’s head still so Hale could wipe it off.

It was startling watching how fast the change happened. One second Beth was snarling and snapping, the next she relaxed, her body going limp. The moment she saw Diego and his pack mates, her eyes widened, a look of pure terror on her face.

“Brandon,” she murmured, trying to sit up. “Where’s Brandon? He’s here for Brandon!”

“He isn’t here.” Diego put his hand on her shoulder, gently keeping her where she was. “Calm down and tell us what happened.”

Beth looked confused for a moment, frowning like she was trying to remember something. If she was like most of the other people Dave had gotten his blood on, she might not remember anything but a few phantom images that didn’t seem real…if they were lucky.

“It’s all so blurry,” she said, putting a hand to her head as Diego helped her sit up.

Beside them, Trey got to his feet, murmuring something about going to check Kevin for Dave’s blood.

Diego nodded, then waited as patiently as he could while Beth shook her head repeatedly, like she was trying to jar loose a memory. A few moments later, Trey came out of the bedroom guiding Kevin to the couch. The kid seemed out of it, kind of like he had after smoking weed.

“Dave showed up at the door,” Beth finally said, wincing like it hurt to say the words. “I told him Bree wasn’t home, but he pushed his way in. He said he already had Bree and that he was here for Brandon.”

Diego’s heart seized in his chest, fear shooting through him as he fought the urge to jump up and run after Dave right then. He couldn’t do that, though, because he had no idea where that asshole psycho had taken them.

Tears filled Beth’s eyes and rolled down her face. Diego’s sympathetic side wanted to tell her to stop if it hurt too much to talk about, but he couldn’t do that until he knew what had happened to Bree