Page 114 of Psycho Shifters

She was so cute and little I had to physically stop myself from picking her up and bundling her close.

The feel of her frozen body pressed against mine as we’d run through the snow had awoken something in me.

She was mine to hold, to care for, to nurture. And I wanted to.

There was a burning desire in my gut to take care of her, so she never looked up at me with sightless eyes again. Her scars broke a piece of my heart.

“I’m too tired to eat,” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and crawled into bed. Not acceptable. She needs to eat. She is too small. She is wasting away!

“You will not survive if you don’t eat! Do it!” I alpha-barked, and my chest vibrated.

Shame filled me for barking at her, but fear over her safety and small stature was greater. She needed fuel.

Automatically, she picked up a bread roll and ate it at my word. I put the plate on her lap and brought a couple of pillows from my bed.

She stared up at me with raised eyebrows as I tucked the pillows behind her head so she would sleep more comfortably.

“Wow, I’m getting the special treatment.” She smirked and stuck her tongue out at Cobra, who was glaring at her from across the room.

The two of them were ridiculous.

“Eat and I’ll be back,” I said. She was small, and I would bet money that her nutrition growing up had been lacking. That would change.

Satisfied the little alpha was safe and not in immediate danger, I turned to Ascher and Cobra. Both men were looking at me with raised eyebrows, and it was clear from their expressions that they thought I had lost my mind.

“Come with me now. I need to tell you something,” I said.

They quickly followed. We walked through the compound, and for once, Ascher didn’t make any annoying comments.

They could tell something was very wrong.

When we stood outside the interrogation room, the chilly night winds shrieking around us, I turned to address them. I was confident out in the blustery snow that no one could hear us.

John was a loyal beta soldier we had never had a problem with. Odds were high that there were other traitors in the compound right now. The idea of the soldiers betraying us filled me with rage.

“While we were controlling Cobra and his beast, John dragged Sadie, naked, through the snow. He was trying to take her through the portal,” I said.

“Motherfucker! We thought she was joking!” Ascher yelled and threw his hands up like he was going to punch someone.

Cobra grabbed him by the back of the neck. “Quiet the fuck down. Jax, tell us everything,” Cobra said, and Ascher quieted.

No one fucked with Cobra when he had snake eyes, and right now his eyes flickered back and forth between round and slit pupils.

“When Ascher took you back to the ward to get checked, I went out and did my usual perimeter check. On the edge of the forest, I noticed trail marks and fresh blood. With the heavy snowfall, the blood must have fallen seconds earlier to be visible. Since no one was supposed to be outside, I followed it.” I paused and closed my eyes.

For a second, I considered going back into the compound to check on Sadie. I’d almost lost her forever.

I swallowed down bile and continued with my story. “I followed the trail, and the deeper I went into the forest, the more sounds I heard. They were indiscernible but clearly distinguishable from the sounds of the forest. A few hundred feet from the portal, I found John running with a naked and bloody Sadie held in his arms. He’d beaten her, and she was screaming as loud as she could. He had his hand in her hair, and he had her head yanked back at an impossible angle. She was screaming and kicking, and he was running to the portal.”

“Then what happened?” Cobra asked. His pupils were now staying slit, and they were starting to glow. Next to him, Ascher’s horns had lengthened on his head.

“I punched him and brought Sadie back to the compound. Then I went back out and brought John into the interrogation room. He’s chained there now.”

A sadistic smile spread across Cobra’s face, and Ascher popped his knuckles like he was fantasizing about beating John. I could relate.

“Here is the important part though. Sadie told me that before she transformed at the lake, she was kept as a servant. And she said John said he was bringing her to the fae queen, and he was going to be rich.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Ascher shouted. Once again, Cobra grabbed him by his massive neck and restrained him.