Free Primal Heat 2 by A. C. Arthur

eyes wide with fear, mouth opened to scream but no sound coming out. Eli ran faster until stopping in front of a door. Taking a step back he kicked the steel-lined door with all his might. It creaked, then buckled, and his shoulder slamming into it next did the rest.
    When his eyes focused on the room, on who was in it and what was going on, he knew he had to continue to react now, and think about the consequences later. He pounced on the back of the man, his sharp teeth biting down into the back of his neck. He pulled back, yanking his prey off the bed, pulling it to the floor.
    “Eli! No! No!” she yelled.
    Her voice was familiar, rubbing along the spine of his cat until it trembled. But it wasn’t enough. He shook his head, tossing the man caught in the grip of his strong jaws and sharp teeth from side to side.
    “He’s not worth it, Eli,” Nivea continued. “He’s just not worth it.”
    There was only darkness, only the heavy cloak of black and anger, pain and despair. He wanted to stop that, wanted to put an end to the pain and the abuse that he now knew she had suffered. In his mind’s eye he could see it clearly, could piece together Nivea’s reluctance to go home to her family in New York, to even talk about them. This man was her father, the blood seeping into Eli’s mouth was kin to his mate. With a stinging burn at the base of his spine, that word settled over him and Eli released his hold on the man, tossing his head back as he roared in the deepest despair he’d ever experienced in his life.
    “It’s okay,” she was saying now. “Just let him go, Eli. It’s better if he just goes.”
    Eli heard her words, had heard everything she’d said since barging into the room. Only now, her voice sounded different. Sad, no, desolate maybe. He didn’t look at her because he knew there was no way he could do what she’d just suggested, no matter how much he wanted to give her whatever she needed to make her sound happy again. Even if she were cussing at him, pressing adamantly against his authority as she did so often, anything but what he was hearing in her voice right now.
    Taking another heaving breath, he moved to stand in front of the door just in case the asshole that now had blood running down his back got the sick notion in his head to run.
    Eli dug into his pocket, pressing numbers quickly into his phone.
    “Yeah. I need you down in Nivea’s room right now. Bring some cuffs and shackles, and another guard with you. We’ve got a prisoner.”
    Disconnecting the call, Eli ignored the burn at the base of his spine that said the cat still wanted to break free. It recognized the scent of another shifter—the one lying on its stomach across from him—and one that had been in contact with rogues. The rogue scent could have been left over from the crazy as hell run-in he’d just watched Rome and Kalina experience with Bianca. But Eli was betting it was the cat across the room struggling to breathe that had recently been with a rogue shifter. His body moving with uneven breaths, the coward refused to stand. He wouldn’t get up to face Eli head-on like a man. No, he’d rather pick on a female. He’d thought he could pick on Nivea.
    The older man had no idea how stupid a move that had been. There was nothing Eli wouldn’t do for this female. Absolutely nothing, he thought as he turned his attention to her, wanting to ensure that she was all right. He hadn’t anticipated anything less from Nivea, was actually counting on the superior strength this female shifter had that rivaled her other counterparts. But he’d been wrong, and the sight of her curled into a fetal position in a far corner of the room had rage boiling deep inside his gut once more.

CHAPTER 13
    This was ridiculous.
    This was not her.
    She did not cry or give in or succumb.
    She was stronger than this, had been for the last ten years. Nothing could get her back to that place in her life when everything had seemed so bleak and all that