“Marshall, we’ll get this done, in and out, real easy and quick like. It won’t be like the medical van incident where the bitch was still there.”
My bear broke free, and I wasn’t strong enough in that moment, as my human, to stop him. I felt the shift take over, the feeling of my bones breaking and realigning, of my skin being replaced with fur, of my hands turning into paws.
I was on all fours now, and growled low, my focus trained right on the two bastards who were about to see what exactly it meant to fuck with a mated shifter.
They turned and looked at me, their eyes widening, the bottles they held dropping to the asphalt, the sound of shattering glass filling my head. I moved a step closer and they moved one back. The scent of their fear was putrid in the air, and it pleased me.
I tipped my head back and roared, showing them my teeth, reveling in the fact they were about to piss their pants, they were so scared. I didn’t need to tell them why I was here or what I was about to do.
I didn’t need to remind them of what they had done to piss me off, that they’d fucked with my mate. I didn’t need to tell them anything because I didn’t fucking want to. They were going to get what was coming to them, and I’d feel a little bit better about it. I might not have been able to protect India when they’d shown up, but I would avenge her.
What I wanted to do was kill them, tear their throats out, feel their blood on my fur. But death wasn’t in the cards for them today. I’d scare them, rough them up, make them see that what they were doing had repercussions.
And if they ever fucked with India again, I would come after them and tear their limbs from their bodies.
And then I lunged forward, about to make things right where India was concerned.
Chapter Eleven
India
I stared at Oli, seeing the dried blood on his face and chest, his dark hair matted together where it had stuck to the strands. I covered my mouth with my hands and just shook my head, not even sure if I wanted to ask more.
He’d come to my place about twenty minutes ago, this intense air about him, almost frighteningly so. He hadn’t kept me wondering about why he looked the way he did. He’d told me everything, how he’d found the men who’d trashed the van and hurt me, how he’d hurt them.
I dropped my hands to my sides, feeling my eyes wide as saucers. “And you’re sure you didn’t kill them?”
He made this low, almost frustrated sound and lifted his hand to scrub the back of his neck. “I should’ve killed them. I wanted to.”
“But all the blood.” It looked worse than it was, I was sure. He wore a white shirt, so the red splatters seeped, spreading out on the material.
“They each felt some pain, superficial wounds for the most part. They hurt you, India, left marks on you.” The sound that came from him was distinctively animal. “What I gave them wasn’t even what they fully deserved. They’re crooks, abusers. They’d been talking about robbing an elderly man when I came upon them. They’re lucky I let them live.”
Even in this moment, I couldn’t help but stare at his biceps, at the way the muscles bunched under his tattooed flesh.
This shifter, my mate, was fiercely protective, and although maybe I should’ve felt something akin to disgust given the fact he’d hurt the men who’d trashed my van and left marks on me, I felt nothing but relief.
I felt nothing but myself growing closer to Oli.
I cleared my throat and looked away, not sure what to say in this moment, how to react. My arousal seemed misplaced given the circumstances, but it was there, front and center, something I couldn’t deny.
“You’re more than welcome to get cleaned up in my bathroom. I don’t have anything that would fit you...” I felt my pulse quicken and my face heat at where my thoughts were going. Here was Oli, covered in blood, yet all I thought about was him with nothing on.
“I actually have a bag of extra clothes in the truck.”
I glanced up and saw he was grinning, no doubt able to sense exactly where my thoughts were, exactly how my body was reacting.
He left out the front door and was only gone a few minutes to grab his bag before he came back inside. I showed him where the bathroom was, leaning against the doorframe as he set his bag on the ground and turned to face me. For a second neither of us moved or spoke.
He came up to me and I tipped my head back so I could look into his face.
“The very thought of not being able to protect you...” He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. He held my cheeks in both of his hands, leaned down and kissed me soundly. I was shoeless, so when I curled my toes they rubbed up against the cold tile floor, sending shocks of sensation up my legs.
“Are you mad at me?” he murmured against my mouth and I found myself shaking my head right away. “Because the last thing I want is for you to be upset with me, but I had to do this, India. I had to avenge you.” He pulled back and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. I opened my mouth involuntarily.
“I’m not upset with you.” I said those words honestly. “But what if you hadn’t found them at the grocery store? You would’ve had to let it go, right?”
He shook his head. “I would’ve found them eventually. It was something I had to do, avenging you, making things right. It wasn’t something my bear would allow me to let go of.” He leaned down and kissed me again and I moaned, the sound leaving me at the feel of him pressed up against me.