Solstice Heat by Leila Brown Page B

wasn’t man enough; he just wasn’t the right man for the job.
     
    The door to their room slammed open, and three large, blue-eyed brown wolves stared at them. All three set their sights on him. That was fine; he could handle them. The one on the right pounced. Jason jumped and landed on the bed. The second wolf jumped, and when Jason tried to move out of the way, his bum leg got caught in one of the bedsheets. The wolf’s attack launched Jason over the side of the bed. The other two wolves raced around Gio.
     
     
     
    Gio stuck her foot out and tripped one, sending him flying into the hardwood dresser. When the wolf got up, he locked his gaze on her.
     
    “Sorry,” she said, shrugging.
     
    The animal took a step toward her; then he turned his head in the direction of the scuffle with Jason. She waited until she thought he might be about to take a step in that direction, and then she took off for the door.
     
    Just outside the doorway, a hand came down on her forearm. Gio didn’t look to see who it was or what they wanted. Instead she slammed her hand down on top of the hand and twisted. The guy who’d grabbed her smacked into the wall with a resounding thud.
     
    When she did look up, she took a deep breath. “Dane.” It had to be him. He looked too much like Toni not to be.
     
    “Ahh. I see that Jason told you about me.” He rushed her.
     
    She moved the same as she had with his sister. But he wasn’t as easily tricked. When he passed her, his fingernails scratched along the fabric of her side through Jason’s sweatshirt. As pain burned above her stomach, she realized he hadn’t just sliced through the shirt.
     
    He laughed at her, then turned and pounced at her. This time he landed at her left. She went on instinct and kicked him in the gut as hard as possible. He staggered back, but not far enough.
     
    He didn’t wait, just rushed her. She hadn’t recovered yet, and he wrapped his arms around her. She elbowed him repeatedly, hoping to break a rib. He grunted with each blow.
     
    “Stop that,” he yelled.
     
    She used the other elbow to catch him in his vulnerable side. The sound of his bones cracking was like a roar of thunder echoing through the hallway.
     
    “Stop fighting me, damn it,” he said, twisting her around to face him.
     
    She hit his chin with all her strength with her open palm. He yelled and threw her into the wall, then followed her.
     
    “I was going to leave him here tonight—alive. But if you don’t stop, I’ll tell my men to kill him now,” he all but whispered to her.
     
    “You’re lying. If I stop fighting, you’ll kill us both.” She thrust her foot out at his shin.
     
    “No. I need him to fight me in an Alpha challenge. That means lover boy and you both get to live long enough to see the ceremony. But keep fighting and I’ll call in the men waiting outside the door. We’ll kill you and dispose of the bodies. Everyone will suspect we did something, but they won’t be able to prove it.” He let her go and sneered. “So what’s it going to be?”
     
    He could be bluffing. She was going to call his bluff if there was no one standing outside that door. He didn’t walk out but instead whistled. There was growling, and suddenly six very large wolves filled the room. Now it was up to her. They either died tonight or on the solstice. She had to believe Jason would come up with a way to save them both.
     
    “Now. Walk out the door.” He was puffing up now that he had backup. She wasn’t scared of him. When she walked by him to get out the door, she jumped toward him. He flinched and moved back the tiniest bit, but she’d seen it. And guaranteed if she had seen it, so had they. She smiled up at his angry face.
     
    He smacked her hard enough to knock her to her knees. Her vision blurred with tears of pain, and her cheek was on fire, but it was worth it to show his lackeys their Alpha was afraid of her, a nonpack hybrid who couldn’t shift