She leaned back and with a little sigh and a shake of her head. “I think you will.”

“And why is that?” he asked, wishing like hell that she’d just drop it, because he wanted nothing more than to slide his fangs inside of her while he slid himself between her legs.

“Because you owe me a redo,” she simply said, as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“A redo?” he repeated dumbly, trying not to groan at the feel of her fingers going through his hair.

“Mmmmhmm,” she said, leaning in and kissing him again. “A redo.”

“And what exactly are we redoing?” he asked, placing his hands on her h*ps to pick her up and end this.

“The night that you bit me,” she explained calmly, threading her fingers through his hair, “I want a redo.”

He didn’t want to think about that night, never mind relive it.

“Why?” he asked, reaching up to trace the back of his knuckles along her jaw, wondering why this was so important to her.

“Does it matter?” she asked, not quite meeting his gaze.

“Yes.”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything. She just sat there, running her fingers through his hair. Just when he was about to press her again for an answer, he smelled it.

“What is that?” Cloe asked, sounding nervous. Frowning, she quickly folded her arms over her br**sts to cover them as she caught the scent that had sent him running in the first place.

“The main reason that I was checking on you,” he said, all his focus on the window where the scent of shifter was coming through stronger than ever.

“What is that?” Cloe asked, swallowing nervously as he helped her climb off his lap.

“Grab your clothes and go to the others,” he said, moving past her towards the open window where the scent of shifter was becoming stronger with each passing second.

“But-”

“Go!”

“Christofer, I-”

“Goddamn it, run, Cloe!” he snapped, abruptly turning around, fully prepared to throw her out into the hall if that’s what it took when he found himself stumbling off balance.

He felt hot liquid dripping down his stomach. Numbly, he looked down at the tip of the blade sticking out his chest. He looked up at Cloe just as she screamed.

“Run,” he said hoarsely as a second blade rammed through his chest, piercing his heart and sending him into oblivion.

*-*-*-*

“Christofer!”

“Shhhh, none of that now,” the man that looked vaguely familiar said as he pulled one of the large hunting knives out of Christofer’s back, making sure to keep his gaze locked on her.

Before she realized what she was doing, her fangs had shot down and she was going for his throat only to come to an abrupt halt when he pulled out a gun and aimed it at her stomach. Fear for their baby had her ignoring the need to rip his throat out, but just barely.

“I see it’s true,” the man remarked casually as he openly studied her. “I guess that means that everything else is true as well,” he mumbled to himself, his expression turning worried. “He’s not going to be happy about this.”

“Who?” she demanded, risking a glance down at Christofer only to force herself to bite back a sob when she spotted the large, thick black handle of the knife sticking out of his now pale back as more blood pooled around him, soaking into the beige carpet.

“Your owner,” the man said, drawing her attention back up in time to see him gesture towards the open windows with the gun. “He’s waiting for you.”

She started to shake her head in refusal when she heard the familiar, long suffering sigh that normally had her rolling her eyes and biting back a smile.

“Please tell me that you didn’t really break into my family’s home,” Chris said, shaking his head in disgust as he swung inside the room through one of the open windows.

“Get back, Sentinel!” the man said, shifting slightly to the side so that he could keep them both in sight and the gun firmly aimed at her.

“No,” Chris said firmly, his gaze locked on the man starting to shift towards her.

He cocked the gun in warning, making her breath catch as her hands shot to cover her stomach in a hopeless attempt to protect her baby. “Please,” she whispered as her eyes watered, terrified of losing the precious gift that Christofer had given her.

“Put the gun down,” Ephraim said as he stepped into the room.

“I can’t,” the man in front of her said, licking his lips nervously as Caine slowly climbed in through the window, his murderous red glare locked on the man holding the gun. “I have my orders.”

“And what orders would those be?” Ephraim said, moving to step further into the room, but the intent expression the man in front of her had stopped him and every other man in the room as they realized that there was a chance that they wouldn’t get to her in time.

“Retrieve the Alpha’s property,” he said, his expression resolved as he shifted his attention back on her.

“And when you fail to do that?” Chris demanded. “Because you have to know that you’re not leaving this room alive if you hurt her or the baby.”

He didn’t answer, but then again, she didn’t need him to. The way he looked at her said it all. They both knew that she wouldn’t die, but the baby could. Her body would reject the fetus in order to repair itself and he knew that, had anticipated it and now, it seemed as though he was willing to sacrifice his own life to make that happen.

“Cloe,” the man said softly, “I’m sorry.”

She opened her mouth to scream, to beg him not to do it, anything, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a choked gasp as he pulled the trigger. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw all three men move, desperate to get between her and the bullet speeding towards her, but it was pointless. No matter how fast they were, the bullet was faster. She sent up a prayer for her unborn child as she waited for the impact from the bullet, but it never came.

At least, not for her.

With a roar, Christofer surged to his feet, jumping in front of the bullet meant for their child and stumbled back in time with the sound of the gunshot exploding in the large bedroom. Blindly, she reached out to grab Christofer as he started to fall, but she never got the chance as a large body from her right tackled her, bringing her to the floor only to shift midair to take the impact and protect her.

She barely had the chance to gasp when Ephraim snatched her out of Chris’ arms, tucked her against his body and flashed them out of the room. She moved to close her eyes in attempt to fight the dizzying effect on her stomach, but before she did, she saw him, standing in the hallway, eyes turned liquid silver with fangs that looked deadlier than Christofer’s.

It was then that she decided never to cross Kale Quinn.

Chapter 63

“Just kill me!” the shifter demanded as he dropped to his knees, the gun falling from his hands. “Fucking do it!”

“Cloe,” Christofer rasped, his unseeing eyes shifting desperately around the room for his mate as he struggled to get up, but one look at him and Caine knew the man wasn’t getting up for a while.

At least, not unless he fell into bloodlust and then they’d really have their hands full.