Bear Naked

Always.

And somehow, she doubted the rogue had a Pack to call on for assistance.

Within seconds, her Bear settled down, and the knowledge that she remained untouched filled her. Her Bear could sense no tearing, no invasion of her person, easing one worry. Salazar was just fucking with her, messing with her head, possibly in an attempt to keep her off balance. If she was too busy being angry, she wouldn’t be able to heal her twin.

Glory tuned him out, ignoring the sound of his voice and the vile things he was spewing as she focused on Hope. She reached out with her foot, barely touching Hope, but it was enough for her Bear to fully assess Hope’s injuries. Thank God the damage to Hope was minimal. The unconsciousness was because of a blow to the head, and the concussion was the only thing that worried her. Glory healed the damage carefully, aware she wasn’t sure what she was doing but unwilling to wait for Ryan, or even Julian.

And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ryan would come for her. The man had bared his soul for her, stripped himself naked until she saw him inside and out. The thought that he would abandon her to her fate almost made her laugh out loud.

Oh, he would come. It was the only thing that staved off the panic attack she could feel nibbling at the edges of her mind. Ryan would come.

And Salazar would die.

Glory finished healing her twin, concerned when Hope remained unconscious. After Ryan showed up and kicked Salazar’s ass, she’d have to make sure Julian got a look at her. The fact that she wasn’t waking up scared the piss out of Glory.

“I knew she would run to you.” Glory brought her attention back to Salazar. “The twin who stayed behind. She’d speak of you, of how she wished you were the one I’d taken.”

Glory doubted that. For all that Hope had been unwilling to trust them at first, she’d never once mentioned blaming Glory for what had happened to her. But Glory answered anyway, hoping the fucker would actually start to monologue. If he was distracted enough, maybe he wouldn’t notice that she was trying to work her hands free. “So you’re telling me she wished I was the one getting raped by a skeezeweasel?”

He growled, low and feral. “She’s my mate.”

“She’s no more your mate than Tom Cruise is.” She wrinkled her nose. “God, please tell me he’s not a shifter.”

“Who?”

“Tom Cruise.” She called forth her claws, all five inches of them. Curling her fingers, she began picking at the rope around her wrists, praying the Wolf wouldn’t hear the skritch-skritch sound over the road and his own voice.

He shrugged. The feel of the car going up scared the shit out of her. Were they getting on the highway? If he hit I-76, they could be heading toward Ohio. She began picking at the rope a little bit faster. If she could just get her hands free, she’d be able to take Salazar down and get Hope out of here. “He’s not, as far as I know.”

“So you’re saying he could be.” Keep the pyscho distracted, Glory. Don’t let him hear you breaking free.

“Don’t you want to know where I’m taking you?”

“Not particularly. You’re not going to survive long enough to arrive.” Glory continued to saw at her bindings. “Ryan is coming for me.”

He laughed. “Your mate is probably healing his sister’s mate as we speak.” He grinned, looking oddly handsome despite the fact he was nuttier than a squirrel in a vat of peanut butter. “I kind of did them a solid.”

“Excuse me?” Poor Jim. He’d tried to put himself between Salazar and Tabby and gotten his ass mauled. If he lived, Glory was so sending him a fruit basket.

“Oh, don’t worry. He’ll survive what I did to him.”

Shit. “You changed him.”

“Yup.”

Damn. That had to have hurt. He must have done it after he knocked out Glory and Hope. She remembered the pain of Salazar’s bite, the way Ryan’s had hurt right before the pleasure kicked in. For Jim there would have been no pleasure, only pain and blood and fear. “Tabby?”

“The pregnant Wolf?” He rolled his eyes. “She’ll live, despite what the Se…” He sighed. “You know what? Never mind. You’ll learn soon enough.”

“About what?”

Salazar ignored her, gazing in the rearview mirror and cursing up a storm. “Who the fuck is that?”

Glory dug her claws into the leather seat to drag herself upright and peered out the rear window. Behind them, a motorcycle weaved in and out of traffic, and for a moment her heart skipped a beat as relief washed through her.

Ryan.

But, no. The lean body wasn’t her mate, the black helmet with the mirrored visor obscuring the features of the man chasing them down. Ryan was bulkier than the sleek individual who raced down the highway, drawing alongside of them. The mirrored helmet turned to the car, and Glory shivered.

There was a menace she had never sensed before, not even from Salazar. Salazar was crazy, but he didn’t seem it, not at a glance, anyway.

Something about the man in the faceless helmet scared the ever-loving shit out of her. Glory moved, hiding the sight of her twin from the man on the motorcycle.

The rider gunned the cycle, swerving in front of their car. Salazar swerved, an instinctual response as he tried to avoid a collision.

“Fucking Hunters. They aren’t going to catch me.” He glanced toward the passenger seat and smiled. “I’ll deal with him.”

Salazar took the first exit he came to, one that lead to a sleepy little town with plenty of farmland and few inhabitants that Glory recognized as being about twenty miles eastbound outside Halle.

The rider reversed on the shoulder, doing a high-speed turn that had Glory gasping in disbelief. Either the rider really didn’t give a damn if he lived or died, or he was channeling the spirit of Ghost Rider, complete with flame-covered head. Dirt and small stones flew in an arc as he twisted the back wheel before gunning it down the ramp, catching up to them easily. He followed Salazar through the town, staying on the rogue’s ass until the Wolf was growling and snarling in frustration. Glory sawed faster at the ropes, feeling them loosen a bit just as Salazar pulled over near a thickly wooded area. She was almost free.

She was shocked when the man pulled a gun and pointed it right at her head. “Get out.”

“What?”

“Get the fuck out of the car.” He glanced over her shoulder and winced. “He wants you, he can have you. But I’m leaving with Hope.”