Page 42 of Dominion
His lip curled in disbelief. He’d never heard that about mating a female. Besides, it was an impossibility. “She’s human.”
“So, it just means you have to be careful. Go for the shoulder instead of the neck. Avoid major arteries. She’ll heal up all right. She looks healthy enough.”
His vision changed and a growl erupted from his throat. He didn’t like Zolla talking about the way she looked. He didn’t like him talking about her at all.
Zolla held up his hands and lifted his chin, baring his throat to show subservience. “Hey, this is what I’m talking about. Once she’s marked you won’t be so crazy to let us all know she’s yours.”
“Fuck you,” he muttered. Turning to Mark, he said, “Did you bring the vest for her?”
“Yes,” Mark said, unzipping a duffel bag. “I have several Kevlar vests here, as well as firearms, in case you want to stay in human form.”
“I don’t. It’s just Ashley I’m worried about.” He found he couldn’t drop the topic of marking Ashley, though. Turning back to Zolla, he said, “If you were me—a wolf with more than one enemy who wants him dead—would you mark a female?”
Zolla tipped his head to the side. “Maybe not, but you might be able to think your way out of this better if you weren’t so jacked up on her pheromones.”
Ashley returned, her slight figure making her seem so vulnerable, so human. His blood surged to protect her. But in this case, protecting her would be keeping her away from him.
He held a vest open for her. “I need you to wear this for the meeting,” he told her.
“Bulletproof?” she asked, looking from him to Mark.
“Yes, ma’am,” Mark answered. “But your head is still vulnerable, so keep it down if any shots are fired.”
“Here’s how it’s going to go,” Ben cut in. “You’re going to drive up there, and make the trade. Obviously I interrupted it too early last time, and I’m sorry for that,” he said.
Ashley’s eyebrows raised in surprise. He knew it was out of character for him to apologize for anything.
“As soon as your sister is released, the two of you are going to get in your car and drive straight back here. Keep an eye on the rearview mirrors to make sure you’re not followed.”
“What will you do?”
“We’re going to attack,” he said, looking at the two men to make sure they were on board. They both nodded their assent.
“If anything goes awry and we’re forced to come out before the trade is made—and I hope it won’t—” he added at her look of alarm, “then you get in your car and drive off. I will make sure we get your sister back and I will tear out the throats of every last one of her captors.”
She swallowed.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“What happens if fighting breaks out?” he quizzed her.
“I get in the car and drive back here.”
“Good girl.”
They drove downtown.He rode with Ashley, instructing her to let him out a few blocks before the bus station. “Remember the plan?” he asked.
Her face was pale and drawn, but she nodded without hesitation.
“What do you do?”
“I get Melissa and drive away as fast as I can.”
“And if something goes wrong?”
“I get in the car and drive away.”
