Free Daric's Mate by J. S. Scott Page B

Liam caught her by her jacket, his iron grip keeping her steady, preventing her from moving forward.
    “You will not interfere. Daric made his orders clear and I will follow them. He has my brothers and Adare to help him. The fallen nearly killed you, nearly completely drained you of blood. Had I been in his place I would have done the same,” Liam told her sternly, his arms tightening around her as she resisted his hold. “Daric healed you and joined the fight. He’s my prince and I owe him my life. You will stay here until they have disposed of the fallen . I would be fighting myself if I had not been ordered to protect you.” Liam sighed heavily. “He needs to do this. Daric knows you’re in danger and he needs to eliminate the threat to his mate.”
    Hannah watched helplessly, tears pouring down her face as she watched Daric kill without a single thought to the pain he would later experience, his expression wild and determined. “He’ll suffer, Liam. Terribly,” she sobbed, swiping tears impatiently from her face.
    “It’s his choice. After seeing what the fallen had done to you, there was no stopping him. He won’t cease until the threat to you is gone. He’s a vampire protecting his mate. He won’t die, Hannah. But his pain will be great; I won’t lie to you,” Liam answered gravely.
    “I did this to him. I’ll never forgive myself,” she choked out remorsefully.
    “They would have found you. My brothers and I have been watching this group, wondering why they were gathering together to make their way to one particular small town in the middle of nowhere. We waited, hoping we would have the chance to eliminate them all at the same time. We didn’t know they were coming after the mate of our prince,” Liam muttered, obviously unhappy that he hadn’t known that Daric had found his mate.
    Hannah listened to Liam, but her eyes never left Daric, flinching every time he took down another fallen , his total disregard for his own pain making her want to start sobbing all over again. Was there nothing he wouldn’t do for her, to protect her?
    No. Nothing. Protect. Kill. Keep you safe.
    She started in surprise as she heard Daric’s ferocious, guttural voice in her head. In her anxiety about his safety, she had forgotten that their minds were connected.
    Please stop. I love you. I don’t want to see you suffer. Let the others finish this. Hannah begged, sending her thoughts to him with her mind.
    Daric didn’t answer; he just kept swinging, sometimes beheading the creatures before he struck a brutal blow to their heart.
    Scared for Daric, Hannah’s breath came harshly, sawing in and in out of her lungs at a frantic pace that matched the hammering of her heart. “Please, Liam. There must be something we can do.” Something. Anything but sit here helplessly watching the man she loved seal his fate to suffer excruciating pain just to ensure her safety.
    “It’s almost finished,” Liam answered stoically.
    Hannah’s eyes finally left Daric to survey the surrounding area of the battle. It was dark, but the streetlights illuminated the street enough to show the horrors of the fight. The pavement held puddles of blood and ash, fallen in all stages of death. Some had already faded to dust, some were writhing on the streets and others were oozing black secretions onto the pavement.
    Very few fallen were left standing.
    Hannah searched for bodies of humans, citizens of the town that may have gotten caught in the crossfire, but there were none. “No one in Temple was hurt?” she questioned Liam softly.
    “No humans. Their safety was a priority and they were sent back to their homes. We’ll have clean-up to do to erase their memories of this night but they’re all physically well. But my brothers, Adare and your mate look a little wasted,” Liam answered, his voice concerned.
    Hannah struggled to move forward as the last fallen hit the pavement, Liam releasing his hold on her only after her mate had