Free Promised: True Mates Book 1 (BBW Paranormal Wolf Shifter Romance) (A Craggstone Paranormal Romance) by Olivia Arran

musky-sour scent of—
    “Eric,” I growled, my wolf hurtling to the surface and clawing at my skin, desperate to protect it’s mate.
    “Lisa…” Sean whispered, after sniffing the air. He started to run, his large, muscular frame barreling down the corridor, knocking paintings askew and sending drapes flying.
    At a flat run, I followed.
    Here, my wolf whispered. Stop!
    There, on the floor curled into a small ball of arms and legs, was Kara. She was rocking a little, but apart from that, there was no movement. No sound.
    Dropping to my knees, I scooped her up in my arms and cradled her softly to my chest. Her arms snaked around my neck and clung tight, pulling my face down into her soft, jasmine-scented hair. Jasmine and tear scented, I realized, breathing deeply.
    My wolf yipped its joy at having our mate in our arms. Her soft, beautifully curvy frame pressed close, and her scent surrounded us.
    “Where is Lisa?” Sean demanded, his voice a low growl.
    Lifting my head from Kara’s cloud of hair, I looked over at him. His muscles rippled, stretching across his frame, as he resisted the change. Fists, the size of small boulders tipped with claws, were clasped at his sides while his eyes darted around the corridor, searching.
    Searching for Eric.
    “Where is she!” Sean roared.
    Kara’s head snapped up, her eye’s cloudy with shock, and bloodshot with tears.
    “He took her,” she said, her voice a small whisper.
    Sean flinched, as though struck. Then, in a flash of movement he was beside Kara.
    “ Where did he take her? How did he take her? Why did he take her?”
    With every word Kara flinched, shrinking into herself, shaking.
    “Sean…” I growled, a warning from his Alpha.
    I started to rise, still holding Kara easily, but she struggled and pulled herself to her feet.
    Wobbly and unsteady, she faced Sean. Her face was ravaged with grief, but she stood strong and laid her small hand on his arm, an arm that could snap her in two. Amazing, said my wolf, and I agreed. She was amazing, and beautiful, even in her grief.
    “She was taken because of me.” She held up a hand to indicate she wasn’t finished. Taking a deep breath she continued. “Eric is sick. He wants me — I don’t know why, maybe because I won’t surrender — so he took Lisa as insurance.”
    Her head fell on her last words and she missed the stricken look in Sean’s eyes. “He will give her back, unharmed, if I give myself to him in front of the Council.”
    Her words hit me like blows, squarely in the chest, robbing me of the ability to breathe.
    She continued, apparently oblivious to my pain. “He wants to win, of course. And he will do anything to win.”
    Sean fell back against the wall, his spine curled and his shoulders slumped in dejection and pain. “It’s my fault,” he muttered, seemingly to himself. “I rejected her. I lied to myself, thinking if I didn’t acknowledge the fact…then it wouldn’t be true. That I could find someone else. Fucking idiot! Why? She’s not good enough? You’re not good enough for her, more like!” He punched the wall, his voice rising in anger. Through the Alpha bond I could feel his pain and suffering, his confusion, and then his resolve.
    “I will get her back—” Kara and Sean both spoke at once.
    Kara looked at me, then fixed her gaze on Sean. “I will get her back, I agreed to his terms.”
    A death blow.
    Sean shook his head. “No. I will go. I will get her back. You have my word.” Sean looked over at me, his eyes burning bright with resolve. “ I will get her back, and I will not return until I have.” With a curt nod, he pushed himself off the wall and set off down the corridor, not looking back.
    Kara’s eyes followed his departure, grief and pain pulling her features taut.
    “I have to, James. You know that, right? I don’t have a choice…”
    “You do! Choose me, choose us!” I said, moving toward her, wanting to pull her into my arms again, to feel her nestled