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“Get gone,” Lance snarled, tossing the men across the floor.
He ran to where Anna had pressed herself against the wall, crouching in front of her, hands raised. Fuck, she was scared. Her face was ashen. Tears streamed down her face.
Lance had never felt so helpless and frightened in his life. Her scent was sharp. Hurt, discomfort, fear. Her emotions batted against him, a thousand blows he more than deserved. Fuck. He was a total piece of shit.
“I’m sorry, so sorry. Please baby, I won’t hurt you. Never hurt you,” he murmured, “Just gonna get you help. You can tell me to fuck off afterwards, but I need you to be okay, first.”
Lance lifted her off the floor. He rushed to where Gerri was currently rummaging through the closet to find her coat.
“It’s the black one,” he growled cradling his precious cargo close as he sat down on the bench rubbing her back in large circles with his left hand.
“Look at me, love, it’s okay. You’re okay,” Lance breathed in and out slowly, encouraging her to follow the pace he set.
She had some color back, but she was still wheezing. He felt helpless, stupid. Like a total asshole. All in that order too.
“Here,” Gerri tossed it towards him, and he plucked it out of the air with his right hand.
“Here, love,” he held the pump up, shook it once, and she leaned forward to suck in as he pressed on it.
Annalia sucked in the medicine greedily. Trembling slightly in his arms like a flower petal at the mercy of a winter storm. Just as beautiful too. She nodded and he held up the pump.
“Again?”
Yes, she needed it again. He understood. Lance shook the pump one more time and pressed the medicine into her mouth. Finally, after some minutes, she was breathing calmly.
“Thank you,” her raspy voice met his ears, and he closed his eyes.
Thank fuck. She was okay. No thanks to him.
“Annalia, I-”
He wanted to explain, but she shook her head and turned to Gerri. He felt her tremble, knew she was weak and hurting. All because of him. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Gerri,” her voice was rough, “Can you take me back?”
“Of course,” Gerri glared at Lance, taking Annalia’s hand, she helped her stand. Then the woman was leading his mate away.
It was too much, too soon. He’d met and lost his mate in the span of a few hours. Lance’s Tiger clawed furiously against his skin. The beast wanted out.
Fuck it.He took off outside, allowing his Tiger to surge forward. Lance raced towards the woods that lined the parking lot, shredding his suit to pieces as his Shift took hold.
The nine-hundred-pound beast was enraged. He’d lost his mate, but she was close. Too far to see her, smell her. But she was with Gerri. That was good. Gerri would protect her.
He should’ve killed those hyena fucks for touching her. But she was safe from them now. Gerri had her in the metal and glass machine. Anna was in there, and at that very moment, she was moving away from him faster than his Tiger could calculate.
Still, the beast gave chase. Snarling loudly, Lance pushed his long, muscular, feline body hard through the forest that lined the highway. He needed to know she was safe. To see her with his own eyes.
Asthma. His sweet mate had asthma. A dangerous condition, if not addressed. Clearly, she had meds, but if he’d known he would’ve taken her somewhere with less people, less perfume, less flowers.
He’d fucked this all up. He roared into the night, landing on the snow-covered ground for split seconds before taking off once more. Pushing himself, he followed the sedan from his path among the trees. Until finally, it turned off the highway, into a hidden driveway. Then it stopped.
Good. Home. Lance waited as his mate exited the vehicle. The driver did not touch her, good thing too. He leapt onto the porch once she’d finished waving goodbye to Gerri, and the car drove away.
Of course, his Tiger hadn’t expected the sweet female to brain him with one of the large metal pokers he had hanging over the outdoor chiminea.
Yowl. Lance shook his head and sat on his back haunches. Fuck, that hurt. He just wanted her to be safe, but clearly his Tiger had other ideas.
Lance stood up, albeit a little shakily, and chuffed at his mate. Surely, she could tell he was there for her. His beast’s understanding of women was a little more one-dimensional than his human side.
Meaning, he expected her to know she belonged to him and act accordingly. He did not expect her to lift the poker and smash it against his skull again.
Pain exploded in his head for the second time. And for one single moment, Lance’s beast saw two women who looked very much like his Anna standing before him, looking furious but beautiful too. However, the next words that flew from her lips, had him floored.
“Back off you two timing pussy!”
