Free Vulfen Alpha's Mate by Laina Kenney Page A

and raised. She should be running for the nearest police station, not feeling grateful to be moving at top speed out of the city.
    She needed to see Rylek’s wound, needed to know he was all right. She needed to feel his arms around her and know that he wasn’t suffering. She had to know they were safe.
    Miros slowed down and stopped in front of a large manor house. The windows were brightly lit and the welcoming sight perversely made Ellie shake.
    Matsij bounded down the wide steps and tore the door open. Valeri exited and Rylek pulled Ellie out, hauling her into his arms. She threw her arms around him in a desperate embrace.
    “Hold me,” she said around her chattering teeth. “Hold me tight. I
    feel like I’m going to shake apart.”
    His arms tightened around her, but the wild quaking of her limbs
     
    only intensified.
    “You are frozen, an ice cube. You’re going into shock,” Rylek said. He picked her up and carried her inside.
    He passed several vulfen warriors in the hall before he reached a
    large well-lit room. There were more warriors in it. He tried to put Ellie down on the sofa, but she couldn’t let him go. She needed to be with him. Giving up, he sat down with her on his lap. Her robe gaped open to expose the curve of her breasts.
    “Ellie, it is no wonder you are freezing, your robe is soaking wet.” Several pairs of interested male eyes fastened on them. Rylek bared his fangs and the glances quickly shifted away. Ellie tried to pull her lapels closed with one hand but her efforts were ineffectual. The muscles in her hands were twitching, and she couldn’t seem to
    grip the slippery fabric.
    Rylek reached out and dragged a heavy, hand-woven woolen throw around their bodies. He tucked it around Ellie so that she was trapped against his wide chest in a cocoon of delicious heat. Her muscles began to quiver and loosen as the warmth seeped in. She tucked her cold nose under his ear, causing him to jump a little.
    With Ellie on his lap, Rylek edged to the front of the sofa and Miros went to stand behind him with a towel and a thin steel implement. Ellie knew that Miros was taking care of the bullet. She felt a terrible apprehension when Rylek’s muscles tensed, but in a moment, he relaxed again. Miros wiped something off on a towel and came around to hand a small disc of metal to Rylek.
    “Alpha, the wound was already healing,” Miros said, bowing. “The bullet would have risen to the surface and dropped out itself in a few hours. It didn’t even bleed when I picked it out.”
    Rylek rolled his shoulders and laughed. “Much better, I thank you,” he said.
    Ellie’s anxiety settled. She snuggled up close against his chest,
    content to be with him.
    As she started to warm up, she drifted, only half listening to the
     
    conversation flowing around her. Rylek cradled her against him while he heard the reports of his warriors. She learned that the bodies of four human males had been removed from her apartment and most of the blood had been cleaned up. There were bullets lodged in her great- grandmother’s old side table that had held their breakfast just this morning. Her china cabinet was all but destroyed.
    The warmth and Rylek’s presence had relaxed her, and she was almost asleep when Valeri came in.
    “Miros, can you add anything to our information?”
    Rylek’s chest rumbled when he spoke, and Ellie rubbed her cheek against him.
    “Alpha, I killed four humans tonight in the little queen’s apartment. The building is not secure, and one human male escaped me to shoot you. I thought I detected a trace of vulfen scent,” Miros added.
    Rylek stiffened under her body, his arms bands of steel around her back. She squeaked in surprise, and his arms loosened marginally.
    “You are certain?” Rylek asked in a hard voice. “This is a serious charge.”
    “It is. The scent was not strong enough for me to identify the individual, but it was there. There were five humans who carried a faint