Free Rhal Part 4 by Erin Tate Page B

my mate. Thank her for her weakness.”
    Her increased glare told him she would whip him with her words when the two were gone.
    When Kaag did not immediately speak, he nudged the gasping male with his foot. “Now.”
    The male proved his stupidity. Proved that he wished to die by Rhal’s hand. He’d ached to kill him for touching her hair. When Kaag pushed to his feet, shoving Cara as he rose, he knew there was nothing that would save the male now. He would make it quick for he no longer wanted to toy with the guard.
    Or rather, he would have made it quick, but then he heard Cara’s scream, saw her fall against the low table in front of their couch and then scented the sweet, coppery tang of her blood.
    He did not give Kaag a chance to save himself. He struck once and then again, his third stab sinking into the male’s chest, but not his heart. He would tear that from Kaag’s body as it still beat and tried to keep the male alive.
    Cara was injured because of him. Stab .
    Cara sobbed because of him. Slice.
    Cara stumbled to the couch, blood coursing down her arm, because of him. Kick. Stab. Slice.
    He ignored Otta’s scream, knowing the yell was filled with blood lust. She did not want him to stop. No, she wanted him to continue, to draw more and more of the red liquid forward.
    This time there were no shouts from Cara, no pleas to halt him.
    But there were arms, thick as tree trunks, wrapped around him, the skin a familiar deep red. They had captured him for a bare moment before he slipped free, careful to leave the male uninjured. Vados did not deserve his rage. Then there were more, the color telling him Niax joined the battle. A third had his hands on Kaag, dragging him away, and then a fourth joined him, dragging him from the apartment and into the hallway beyond. With luck, Kaag would die. If not, Rhal would finish the job at a later date.
    He now hated the safeguards he’d put into place. He’d been alerted when Cara granted someone entrance—a male and female—and immediately demanded security and medical personnel to meet him. He wished he would have waited to summon them. Then he could have spent more time beating on the male.
    Kaag groaned as he was pulled away, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
    Blood.
    Cara.
    Vados still held him firm while Niax’s arms continued to confine him. Unacceptable. He needed to get to Cara. Needed to care for her. Needed—
    “ Enough. ” The snarl bellowed in his ear, Niax’s voice firm.
    It was not enough if they still held him fast. He jerked and wrenched, intent on getting to his mate. “Cara,” he snarled, still fighting. “Release me.”
    A flutter of robes drew his attention, Sece striding into the apartment. Faim stopped in the hallway and dropped to his knees beside Kaag. “Faim! You will attend my mate first. Let that piece of dung die.” He took a step forward, dragging the two males with him. “I will take your life now if you do not see to Cara.”
    “Rhal, I’m okay.” Her voice was a soothing balm, but not enough. “Let Faim do his job.”
    “Kaag touched you. He injured you. You bleed because of him.” With those eleven words, Faim’s demeanor changed. He strode away from the downed male and went to Cara, his hands gentle as he tended to her wound.
    Sece took a step back, her attention drifting to Kaag, but her sire’s voice forestalled her. “You will leave him to live or die. It is the sea’s choice.”
    “But…” The female had a large heart. One that would break and shatter someday. She was too kind, too delicate.
    “ Sece ,” Niax’s growl cut off whatever Faim would have said, and fire flashed in the female’s eyes.
    Perhaps she was not too delicate.
    A stretcher came into view in the doorway, other medical personnel standing in the hallway.
    Faim rose to his feet, turned toward Rhal, and tipped his head in an acknowledgment of his position. Rhal’s emotions still raged inside, but that tiny movement and calm expression