Page 3 of The Russos

He looks over at Miah and barks out a harsh command, making me jump, “Turn around.”

I still as his hand runs soothingly over my back, and once Miah’s back is turned, he whips the shirt I’m wearing off and tosses it over towards Miah, where it lands on his head. I let out a little giggle and Anton’s eyes lose some of their darkness as he takeshis shirt off and pulls it over my head and down my body. It’s like I’ve been enveloped in a warm blanket. My body relaxes, and I sigh as I inhale the familiar smell of my mate.

“Don’t be mean to Miah,” I whisper to Anton. “He’s been nothing but kind. I was wearing his shirt because he was uncomfortable with me not having anything on. He protected me in his own way.”

“Fine,” Anton grumbles, his chest rumbling with his animal. I snuggle in closer as he picks me up. Sighing in contentment now that I’m back in his arms.

“You can turn back around Miah,” Anton rasps out, his animal making itself known at having a strange male around his mate.

“Say thank you,” I mutter groggily, my lips against Anton’s throat so I can feel his pulse beating beneath them, my eyes closing tiredly.

“Jesus, baby girl, you’re getting bossy,” Anton mutters grumpily.I press a kiss to his throat in reward as he says to Miah, “Thank you for looking out for my mate.”

“You’re welcome.”

With that we turn and leave the shed, a now silent Miah walking behind us with Drake. I can smell where they are. I don't need to open my eyes to know. Just like I know Luca is walking next to us and it’s him that every now and then touches my bare foot. As if he’s making sure I’m okay.

It’s good to know not all my senses have left me, and now that I’m safe, I feel better for growling at Miah because even though I can’t feel her, my tiger makes herself known when she has to, and she brought me here, that is the only explanation I have for how I ended up on Antons’s farm.

Lulled by the warmth of my mate as he carries me and feeling safe, I let myself fall asleep not stirring even when I’m transferred to a soft bed and the scent of my mate envelopes me.

CHAPTER 4

ANTON

I shot to my feet as soon as I heard Drake shout from the front of the house. His voice was a little panicked.

He was bent over gasping for breath; he’d run far and fast to get here by the looks of it.

Luca and Sam, the other wolf shifter, appeared from the direction of the kitchen. Sam immediately went to his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Drake stood up as soon as his brother was near and said to me, “You and Luca need to come. Miah and I found a woman in a shed about two kilometres from here. She’s definitely a shifter, but something is wrong with her. I can’t smell her animal.”

My breath stuttered in my chest at his words. Luca clasped a hand on my shoulder before asking, “What did she look like?”

Drake took a deep breath before answering, “She’s young, lots of red hair but is covered in scars, they are all over her body. She looks like she’s been through hell and survived.”

I turn to Luca, “It’s Hannah, I’ve got to go.”

There was no hesitation from my brother; he pushed me out the door, and we ran. I was vaguely aware of the wolffollowing me.

I headed towards where he pointed, and I knew exactly where she’d ended up. It was an old storage shed that we no longer use. It wasn’t too far from the house, but it was a distance from the Landry coffee farm. Hannah must have been desperate to have made it this far by herself.

My animal settled in my chest as soon as we smelt her, her scent mixed with that of the human Miah. I growled low in my throat, not liking that he was so close to my unclaimed mate.

Striding forward, I entered the dim shed, seeing Hannah struggle to her feet, my eyebrows raised in surprise when there was a definite growl erupting from deep within her chest and her eyes flashed to a bright gold before dimming back to her bright green. It looked like her tiger hadn’t disappeared altogether.

Not commenting on her growl, I pulled her into my arms, happy to have her safe and whole.

Once I had her in my shirt and Miah was wearing his again, I held back a grin at her sass, when she told me to apologise to the human. It seemed my girl was feeling all sorts of feisty this morning. It was hard to hide the grin when I caught Luca’s amused eyes at her retort.

Hannah was asleep before I’d walked five minutes. She slept a lot but Jett, Julie, and Annie had assured me it was okay as long as she still ate and drank.

Tucking her into my bed, something in me eased seeing her bright red hair against my pillow. It was the first time I’d felt something akin to peace in over a month.

Closing the door behind me, I held myself still as I listened to pinpoint exactly where the strange males were, but I should have known Luca would have them in hand. I walked towards where they were talking on the veranda, breakfast sandwiches in hand and more on the tray with coffee and tea.

I grabbed a couple for myself and a coffee before sitting down on the lone armchair that was free.