Tiger Triplets (Triplet Harems Book 5), page 5
It was all she wanted.
They approached the front desk and Julianna spoke up.
“Hi,” she said to the security guard. “My name’s Julianna Bladeclaw. I’m a guest of Quinn Thrasher.”
The guard, without saying a word, began typing at the computer.
“There you are,” he said. “And...him?” His eyes tracked up and down Slade. She could tell he was suspicious.”
“He’s my—”
“Husband,” said Slade with a warm, disarming smile. “We’re just running up to grab some things my wife left here last night. Should only be a minute.”
Julianna’s eyes went wide. And when he placed his hand on the small of her back and gave it a squeeze, they nearly popped out of her head.
The guard gave them both another look, and Julianna, going along with the plan, plastered a smile on her face.
“Husband and wife, huh?” he asked. “Don’t see any rings.”
“That’s just it,” Slade said. “We went out with her friend last night, and we left them up in the room. This one, she gets a couple drinks into her and she just starts misplacing things.”
He flashed a good-natured smile. The guard gave them both another skeptical look.
“Fine. Just make it quick. Not supposed to let anyone up there if they’re not on the list. And you’re not.”
“Most appreciated,” said Slade, his hand still on Julianna.
The guard pressed a button on the desk, the small gate opening.
They both went through, making their way to the elevators.
“That was some fast thinking,” said Julianna.
The doors shut, the two of them alone in the elevator.
“One of my specialties,” he said. “Oh, and if you want to go to college someday, getting through this mess is the one way it’s going to happen.”
“What?” asked Julianna, shocked.
“I saw the way you were looking around down there—total longing. And I can tell you’re sharp. You’d be a good fit for school.”
Julianna didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe Slade could be so observant. Knowing there was a whip-smart brain behind those gorgeous, dark eyes made her look at Slade in a new light.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a dorm hallway with plenty of students zipping here and there.
“A few shifters here,” said Slade. “Don’t let your guard down.”
Julianna nodded, making her way through the hall toward Quinn’s room, eager to see her friend. And as she sidled through the students, she couldn’t help but notice how every single girl there all but eye-fucked Slade.
She couldn’t quite determine the age of the brothers—it was always hard to tell these things with shifters, but she guessed they were in their late-twenties or early-thirties. But either way, they were much older looking than the students. But that only made Slade appear even sexier, a man among teenage boys.
The girls couldn’t get enough. And the strangest thing was that Julianna felt...jealous, possessive.
As if she wanted Slade all to herself.
“Here,” said Julianna, stopping in front of Quinn’s door.
“I’m coming in,” said Slade.
“Like hell you are,” said Julianna. “I want a minute alone with my friend.”
Slade thought it over. “Fine. But make it fast.”
Julianna gave a quick nod before knocking on the door. It opened seconds later, Quinn’s eyes going wide as she saw Julianna, then even wider when she saw Slade.
“What the...?”
Julianna slid into the room, shutting the door behind her.
“What the fuck is going on?” asked Quinn. “And who the hell is the, um, insanely hot guy with you?”
Before saying a word, Julianna spotted her bag. She stripped out of her dress and stepped out of her shoes and tossed them both aside, taking out a pair of comfortable white sneakers along with some jeans and a gray V-neck T-shirt.
“He’s not that hot,” she said.
Quinn let out a quick stab of a laugh. “Sure, whatever. Hope you let him get it in last night.”
“I did not let him get it in last night, and, um, there’s kind of two more of him.”
When she was dressed, her bag slung over her shoulder, she turned toward Quinn, her friend trying to puzzle out what she meant by that last comment.
“Two more? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means he’s one of a set of triplets—tiger triplets.”
Quinn shook her head as if waking up from a dream. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not joking. The other two are waiting for me out front. They’re going to take me back to the pack grounds and offer their services as protection.”
“Jules...what the fuck did you get up to last night?”
“It doesn’t matter. But you need to stay here and don’t come back home any time soon. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I have a feeling everything’s going to change.”
“What?” asked Quinn. “Are you serious?”
“Serious.”
Quinn squared her shoulders. “Then...I’m coming with you.”
“Not a chance,” said Julianna. “It’s safe here. You need to stay where you’re out of da—”
Before she could get out another word, the door flung open.
“We need to leave right now,” said Slade, his gorgeous face in an expression of total focus. “They’re coming for us.”
CHAPTER 6
SLADE
“Come the fuck on,” said Slade, making his tone as serious as possible. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“What the hell is going on?” asked Quinn.
Slade sniffed the air, the scent of wolf thick in the room. But he could tell right away that this friend of Julianna’s was a lower-level female.
“Just got a call from my brothers,” he said. “They spotted some shifters stalking them outside. They’re going around the block now to try to lose them, but we need to get going right now.”
“They can’t get in here,” said Quinn. “This place is locked up tight.”
But right after she spoke the words, Slade caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
Two somethings.
A pair of men emerged from the maintenance door at the far end of the hall. They were tall and built, their eyes menacing.
He didn’t need to sniff the air to know they were shifters. But as they approached, both with sneering smiles on their faces and cold intent, he couldn’t help but pick up their scent.
Gorillas, he thought. They’re not going to shift in a place like this, but they don’t need to—they’re strong as hell even in their human form.
The gorillas pushed students out of their way as they stomped toward Slade and the girls. Screams cut through the air, the students on the floor realizing that something terrible was happening.
“Get to the elevator!” shouted Slade. “Now!”
Julianna nodded, grabbing her friend by the hand and leading her out of the room.
“Give up the girl,” said one of the gorillas as he approached. “We don’t give a shit about you, Redfang.”
“But if you get in our way...” said the other.
“I’m in your way now,” said Slade. “Try and fucking move me.”
The gorillas stopped before regarding each other with an expression that suggested they were both going to have some serious fun.
But Slade was ready. Not giving them a chance to get any closer, he rushed down the hall and cut the distance between them. Then he grabbed one of the gorillas by the head and slammed him into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster. The gorilla dropped, falling into a heap.
More screams broke out. The other gorilla stopped, clearly not expecting what had just happened, a shocked expression on his face.
Slade glanced back over his shoulder in time to see Julianna and her friend reach the elevator.
“Go!” he shouted. “My brothers will be waiting!”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine! Just fucking go!”
Julianna was clearly uncertain about what he’d just said. Thankfully, her friend pulled her into the elevator, the doors shutting behind them.
The moment he turned his attention back, a fist flew toward his face.
It connected, the pain like getting hit in the face with a truck. Slade stumbled backward, catching his balance. More students screamed through the hall, trying to get away from the battle.
Got to end this soon, he thought. Last thing I need to deal with is fucking human cops.
The pain blasted through his face, but with a quick headshake, he was focused again, the gorilla shocked that Slade had managed to recover that quickly.
“This isn’t your fight, tiger,” the gorilla said. “Give her up and you and your brothers won’t get hurt.”
“How about this?” asked Slade, raising his fists. “We don’t give her up, and you’re the one who gets hurt?”
“Fucking cocky-ass Redfangs,” said the gorilla, squaring himself for a fight. “Someone’s got to take you pricks down a peg.”
“Maybe. But it sure as shit isn’t going to be you, dipshit.”
The gorilla’s face formed into a scowl, and with a yell, he rushed toward Slade.
And it was exactly what Slade wanted. He’d been in enough scraps to know that low-level pricks like this gorilla were easily riled. A few choice words and they were knocked off their guard, easy pickings.
Slade waited until the last moment before stepping aside, the gorilla rushing past him. Once he was in striking range, Slade grabbed him by the back of his neck, yanked him off his feet, and slammed his fist down hard right onto his forehead.
The gorilla went slack in his hands right away, knocked totally unconscious.
“Too easy,” said Slade.
Once the fight was over, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed up Jason.
“Yo!” shouted Jason on the other end. “What the fuck’s going on up there?”
“Jules is on her way outside,” he said, running toward the maintenance entrance the gorillas had emerged from. “Where the hell are you two?”
“Outrunning the car that’s been chasing us.”
“What?” shouted Slade as he threw open the door and began running down the stairs. “What car?”
“Tell him to hurry the fuck up!” shouted Ash in the background. “We need to get out of this city, right fucking now!”
Slade wanted to tell his brother to shut the fuck up, but he knew he was right.
“Jules and her friend will be coming out the front,” said Slade as he rushed down the stairs. “I’ll be coming out the back. Get them first, then circle back around for me. Got it?”
“Got it.”
He hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket. When he was about ten stories up, Slade closed his eyes and shifted. In tiger form, he jumped down the remaining distance, landing harmlessly on his paws.
Then he shifted back and hurried out the door. The daylight blasted him as soon as he was back outside, but he quickly adjusted to it.
And he did so in time to watch a pair of male shifters turn the corner around the building and run in his direction.
Foxes, he thought, sniffing the air. Not the strongest, but still deadly. And they like to hunt in packs—if there’s two here, that means there’s another dozen around.
He wasn’t in the mood to screw around. He rushed toward the foxes and leaped into the air, raising his body and slamming one foot into one of their chests, another foot in the other.
They dropped easily, but as he clambered to his feet, he spotted a group of five more coming from around the other corner.
What the fuck is going on here? he thought as he ran. Gorillas, foxes, wolves—they’re pulling out all the stops to get this girl.
He rushed around the upcoming corner, the foxes taking advantage of their swift speed and cutting the distance between him and them with each passing second. But it was only a matter of time before they were on top of him.
Slade debated shifting but thought better of it—attention was the last thing he wanted.
He turned the final corner just in time to see his brothers pull up in the Land Rover.
“Get in!” Ash shouted.
Slade stopped, sensing that something was...off. He turned, looking back over his shoulder.
The foxes were gone.
What the hell?
The question of where they went was answered when he spotted them around the far corner of the building, the group swarming over the women.
“Fuck!” shouted Slade, breaking out into another sprint.
He saw Jason’s arm shoot out from the car, grabbing onto Jules’s.
Jason pulled her in, but he wasn’t quick enough to save Jules’s friend. The foxes swarmed her, yanking her off her feet and pulling her toward the other corner of the building as a black van pulled up, the door sliding open.
The foxes, Jules’s friend kicking her feet and screaming all the while, pulled her into the black interior of the van, climbed in with her, and shut the door. With squealing tires, they pulled off and raced down the road.
“Oh my God,” said Jules, her eyes wide. “They...they took her.”
“No time to think about that,” said Ash, pedal to the metal as he flew down the road. “We need to get out of Seattle, like, fucking yesterday.”
A pair of sportscars, much better suited to pursuit than the black van, pulled out from a pair of adjoining roads and drove in close.
“Are you fucking kidding?” shouted Ash. “How many of these assholes are there?”
“Gorillas in the dorm,” said Slade. “Foxes trying to get me on the way out, and I’d bet you anything that we’ve got some bears behind the wheels of those cars.”
“Shit,” said Ash. “And they’re all after this girl?”
“Quinn,” said Jules, shaking her head in disbelief. “They...took her.”
Slade wrapped his arm around Jules, pulling her close. “We’ll get her back—don’t you worry about that. But right now, the best thing we can do is get the hell out of Seattle and let your pack know what’s going on.
“But...” Jules could only get out the single word, and Slade could tell right away she was in a state of shock.
This is what happens when elders shield their omegas from the real world—they don’t get a chance to learn how fucked it can be.
Ash weaved through traffic, doing his best to lose the cars that were still in hot pursuit.
“Going onto the fucking highway now!” he shouted as he pulled onto the turn off. “Get ready to do this same shit but forty miles-per-hour faster!”
Seconds later, they were on the highway going east, the pursuing cars still close.
Slade continued to hold Jules against him, her heart thudding so hard in her chest he could feel it against his skin.
“Gonna try something,” said Ash. “Hold on!”
He waited until the two cars were side-by-side behind them, one of the shifters within opening the passenger-side window of one and leaning his body out.
“He’s got a gun!” shouted Jason.
“Not for long!” replied Ash.
He pulled the Land Rover into a sharp turn, the other two cars overcompensating by spinning hard away, hitting one another. Crashing sounds filled the air as the two cars collided, both skidding off the road and into the embankment to the right of the lanes, missing the rest of the cars.
It was over.
But Slade had a feeling the danger had only just begun.
CHAPTER 7
JULIANNA
They drove in silence.
Ash was at the wheel. Julianna could already sense how hotheaded he was, how he hadn’t taken kindly in the slightest to what had happened.
About a half-hour into the trip, he finally spoke up.
“Fucking pricks!” he shouted. His voice was so sharp and booming that it made Julianna twitch with surprise and fear. “Who the hell do those Seattle pricks think they are? They’re really, seriously going to come at the Redfang brothers like that? Don’t they know who the fuck they’re screwing with?”
“Easy,” said Slade. “We’ll have our chance for revenge.”
“You’re damn right we will. We ought to go back to Seattle right now and start cracking some skulls until we get to the bottom of what the fuck happened. Because we fucking ran, and if we’re not careful, word’s going to spread that we’re fucking pussies.”
“Yo, Ash!” said Jason, raising his voice enough to send the message he wasn’t screwing around. “This girl just watched her fucking friend get kidnapped right in front of her. More important shit going on than some Seattle foxes thinking you’re a pussy.”
“You kidding? That’s our rep we’re talking about,” Ash said. “We’re going to have to settle the score sooner or later. Otherwise, people are going to start thinking we’re soft.”
Neither brother in the backseat said a word. And being seated between them, their huge, powerful bodies on both sides of her, Julianna felt a touch better.
“What...what about Quinn?” she asked.
“That’s up to your elders,” said Jason. “They want to pay us to get her back, then that’s their call.”
“Wait,” said Julianna. “Are you telling me that unless my elders pay specifically to save her, then you’re going to...just let her rot?”
“We’re mercenaries, sweetheart,” said Jason, his tone still stern, uncompromising. “That’s how we make our living. If we did freebies like that for every sad case out there, we’d be broke in a month.”
“That’s...that’s heartless,” said Julianna.
“You know what’s really heartless?” Jason said. “The fact that your elders aren’t doing their damn jobs in looking out for their own. You’re an omega, and they’re so fucking careless they let you just run off, while at the same time, the rest of their omegas are God-knows-where.”
“There’s three of us,” said Slade. “And a lot of vicious shifters out there in the world. We’re in this to make a living, not to be do-gooder superheroes.”
