Page 18 of Half Wolf Mate
Another statuesque man with dark auburn hair appeared. His long legs swiftly carried him toward us. He, too, was unsmiling, but he didn’t seem as lethal as the man who’d searched my bag.
“Take her upstairs,” the first man ordered.
My gaze swung between the mean and angry guy and the newcomer. “Wait, what? Look, I know the weapon looks bad, but I swear, it isn’t mine.”
The man called Alex grasped my upper arm. He wasn’t even holding on to me that tightly, but he was so huge and freakishly strong he took one step and carried me with him.
The man who had given the order was right behind us. He told another arrival, “Stephan, keep everyone inside. There’s a threat to all of us here.”
“Huh?” I tried to look back, to plead with the man. “You think I’m a threat? Me? Seriously?” These guys were all muscular giants compared to me. Admittedly, the blade, which I’d totally forgotten was in my bag, looked bad. But even if I knew how to use it or meant any harm, I’d never be able to take them. The man dragging me up a flight of stairs looked like he could swat me like a fly, for crying out loud.
Before I was hauled inside, I glimpsed more people coming out of their homes. There were mostly women and children. They watched on with wide-eyed curiosity.
“Everyone, back inside. We’ve got a code red,” the man called Stephan shouted. Doors immediately slammed. I think I heard windows shutting too. Ridiculous! I wasn’t some kind of terrorist.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I said. “I didn’t come here to cause trouble, I swear.” My words fell on deaf ears.
Relief swamped me when I saw a familiar face. Violet came running out of a room. She gasped when she saw me being carted down the passageway.
“Violet, thank goodness.” I blew out my breath. “Can you please tell these guys you invited me here?”
Hands on her hips, she glowered at the man who held me captive. “Alex, what the hell are you doing? Let her go.”
“Violet, you’ve really done it this time.” That was the first man I’d encountered. He stepped around us, still carrying my backpack and holding the blade in one hand. “You invited danger right into our front yard. I’m so done with your antics.”
She rolled her eyes. “Damian, what are you going on about?”
Ah, so Mr. Mean and Scary had a name, Damian. I’d call him Demon from now on, instead.
“Do you know who she is?” Violet continued. “That’s our Alpha’s mate, you knuckleheads.”
The man holding on to me, Alex, immediately unhanded me. “Whoa!” He held up both hands and stared at me with horror. “Shit, he’s going to kill me for touching her. I had no idea.”
I gawked. The Alpha’s mate? Me? That couldn’t be. I was Cole’s fated mate. I’d felt it. And after what Macy said about mates, I was sorely disappointed that Cole could just run me off so easily. Maybe the whole powerful magnetism between mates was a load of crap, as Macy said.
Damian growled. “The Alpha’s mate, huh? Then what’s she doing with this?”
A frowning Violet inspected the dagger. The color drained from her face. She even took a step back. When she looked at me, it was with disbelief and fear. Shaking my head, I said, “No, Violet, I…” I didn’t even know what to say because I didn’t completely understand what was going on.
“You want to see the Alpha?” Damian said, sneering at me. “No problem. I’m sure he’ll know how to properly deal with you.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. What did I get myself into?
I was taken up another flight of stairs and down another long hallway. When Damian opened a door and shoved me inside, I glared at him as I righted myself. “You’re really lacking people skills; you know that?” I said.
“What is she doing here?”
My next breath got stuck in my throat at the sound of the smooth baritone. I turned to see Cole sitting behind a desk. He slowly stood up, his furious gaze fixed on me. I couldn’t help staring back at him, mostly because I was amazed that my body still reacted to him after how he’d treated me yesterday.
“I told you to stay away.”
“You know her?” Damian asked.
“We’ve met,” Cole returned coolly.
His response hurt me more than it should. He was so impassive while my traitorous emotions called out to him.
“Well, she came here to see you.” Damian gave me a look of disdain.