Free Enemy Mine by Katie Reus

words.
    “Yep.” He wouldn’t apologize for who she was or her familial ties.
    Ronan’s dark eyes narrowed a fraction, a trace of bitterness in them. “So it’s like that?”
    “Yep.” Melina was his. He might not have a grasp on what she meant to him or have a clue what their future held, but she was his.
    Right now he needed to move quickly before the Mazzoni pack got impatient, but something else was bothering him. “Why are you really here?” Yes, Kiernan was the youngest, but it had been a long time since his brothers had actually checked up on him.
    His brother was silent so long he wondered if he’d answer. Finally Ronan’s shoulders lifted casually. “I received a call from Tisha. She said she saw you out with Melina Rodriguez but I didn’t believe her. Wanted to see with my own eyes.”
    Tisha.
The annoying redheaded vampire who’d tried to stop him at that restaurant with Melina. He hadn’t seen her in decades and something told him she’d been the reason for Melina’s questions about the death of his brother. She’d had a brief thing with Bryson years ago and had seemed to think Kiernan would be interested in her too. Not fucking likely. Coldhearted bitches weren’t his style. “I need your help tonight.” Now that he knew exactly who was after Melina he planned to take care of the problem.
    Ronan sighed. “You really want to help a wolf?”
    “I’m going to help my female.” Sometime in the past few months during his weekly visits to her clinic, she’d wormed her way under his skin. Hell, she’d done it a year ago and had never left. Right now, everything inside him demanded he take care of what was his.

Chapter 6
    As he parked, Kiernan surveyed the empty lot outside the warehouse Uberto had wanted to meet at. It was close to a rundown marina in a part of town that hadn’t seen any new business in years. No police presence and no one to call the cops if things got bloody. The perfect place for a meet.
    Some humans were nearby. There were a handful of heartbeats in the vicinity—probably a few homeless people, and definitely members of the Mazzoni pack. He scented wolf, but couldn’t tell how many were waiting.
    Kiernan shut off the engine and got out. He’d tried contacting Melina’s Alpha—who hadn’t taken any of his calls. He had tried her at the clinic, but the woman answering the phone had refused to put him through to talk to her. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Melina’s instructions or her pack’s. Either way, he was doing this tonight.
    To protect her was a driving need inside him, pushing and shoving him onward. There was a full moon tonight, illuminating the water about thirty yards from where he stood. Overgrown weeds and grass covered the empty lot next to the warehouse.
    He sensed someone before he heard the footsteps crunching across the gravel of the dilapidated parking lot. Leaning against the trunk, he crossed his arms over his chest as a tall shifter male approached him.
    With a whipcord lean build, dark curly hair, and olive complexion, he looked just like the picture of Uberto Mazzoni that Kiernan had looked up. It had been hard to find one—even with technology, shifters and vamps liked staying out of the limelight—but not impossible.
    The shifter’s dark eyes narrowed as he stopped about ten feet in front of him. “I smell blood.”
    Kiernan shrugged. “She didn’t come easy.”
    A muscle twitched in the shifter’s jaw. “If she’s injured, the deal is off.”
    Well that was interesting. They didn’t want her hurt. “Where’s your Alpha? Or does he send you to do all his dirty work?” Kiernan wanted to get his fangs and claws on the Alpha who’d ordered Melina’s kidnapping. Considering the amount of money they’d wired him, there was no way Uberto was working alone.
    “He’s not here, not for something so trivial.” The shifter’s words were dismissive but considering how much they were willing to pay for Melina, Kiernan knew