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him from the entrance. You fucker! I told them you were innocent.
Jim gave him a sinister smile. That was sweet of you. Now they won t look for me
when you re gone.
Kevin growled beside him.
Sorry, Payce said to his mate.
Don t just stand there. Come on in and let me introduce you to some people.
Knowing this was a big mistake but unable to figure out how to get out of it, Payce
followed Kevin into the warehouse. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Dennis pacing a
cage in coyote form. His eyes showed the panic he was feeling. There wasn t much space for
the animal to pace but it kept trying.
Payce s heart broke at the despair evident in every line of his friend s body.
A group of around two dozen people stood around the cage looking at it with varying
degrees of contempt.
Payce jumped a little when the door slammed shut behind them.
Welcome. This is a meeting of PAW, People Against Werekin. Cute name don t you
think?
A PRIDEFUL MATE Amber Kell
57
Payce thought he wanted to rip the foreman s throat out. It must have shown in his eyes
because the man paled and took a careful step back before continuing. Your friend Dennis
here is instrumental in helping identify werekin.
Payce s eyes went back to his friend. Dennis now crouched naked in human form in the
middle of the cage, his eyes filled with guilt.
Dennis?
I had to. Payce could see the other man was close to tears but his heart was breaking
for the friendship he thought they had, but was apparently a fabrication of his imagination.
They have my sister, Dennis shouted.
Shut up! Jim snarled.
Why do you hate us? Payce asked.
Because you re nothing but filthy beasts. My mother dumped my father and me as
soon as a weretiger came by and claimed she was his mate. Suddenly we were nothing.
Nothing! She just walked away. Every day for the rest of my childhood my father blamed
me. If I hadn t introduced her to my teacher, he d still have a wife. Jim lifted his shirt
exposing a mishmash of scars covered his stomach. This is what werekin did to me. We all
have similar stories.
The assorted crowd nodded their heads.
That doesn t make me responsible. It was your father that tortured you. It s a terrible
thing but he was a human and you don t blame all humans.
Jim s face twisted into an evil sneer. He was the best father a boy could want until that
weretiger took everything from us. It was the beast that caused the change. My father never
laid a hand on me until she left.
So in return you re going to torture other innocent people. How does that even make
sense?
Payce didn t know what he was doing. Madmen didn t listen to reason. The crowd
wasn t going to wake up and realise he was right. Now he was learning that the man he
thought was his friend was the same one who put him and his mate in danger.
If you re all dead, this can t happen to another boy.
You need counselling. Payce said. He was surprised to notice his mate hadn t said a
thing.
A PRIDEFUL MATE Amber Kell
58
Kevin was looking down at his phone.
You make a call and I ll shoot him in the head. Jim pulled a shotgun off a shelf behind
him and pointed it at Payce.
I don t need to make a call, Kevin said, still looking at his phone.
Jim shifted his feet. Why are you staring at it then?
I m just checkin the time. Kevin s drawl was slow and easy.
Payce knew his mate had made a few calls before he came, but he was waiting along
with Jim for the explanation.
Glass shattered as dozens of wolves broke through the warehouse windows followed
by a stream of lions. The screams of humans rang in Payce s ears as the werekin left no one
standing.
Y all are two minutes late, Kevin reprimanded. I was bout to have to do something
myself.
We wouldn t want to put you out. The lion alpha said, walking up to the pair.
Payce worked hard to look the man in the face, but a quick glance down let him know
why Adrian was a happy, happy wolf.
Called your alpha, huh? Payce asked. Being a loner it didn t even occur to him to call
for outside help.
No, he called my mate, Talon said. His brother decided it was too dangerous for him
to come alone.
Payce looked over to see Adrian glaring at Dennis through the bars. Look, I found a
coyote, can we kill him?
The pack of wolves circling the cage reminded Payce for the first time that wolves hated
coyotes. Apparently that dislike carried through to the shifter world.
Not until he answers some questions, Payce said.
Striding over to the cage, Payce looked at his former friend who glared back defiantly.
How could you turn me over to that creep?
He s holding my sister hostage and now I ll never know where she is.
So it was all right to let him kill more shifters? Do you think that s what she d want?
Well, he is a coyote, Adrian offered.
Not helping, sweetie, Talon said.
A PRIDEFUL MATE Amber Kell
59
Adrian bared a fang at his lover.
She d want to stay alive, Dennis said. Are you going to let me out of here?
Talon reached over and ripped the door off the cage. There you go. I d be careful about
leaving with all the wolves around.
Can you help me find my sister? Dennis asked Payce.
I m a tile guy and you tried to get me killed. What makes you think I would help
you?
Dennis swallowed hard. I swear Payce, if I thought I could find her any other way, I
wouldn t have turned on you. Besides you re one of the toughest shifters I know. If anyone
could survive Jonathan, it would be you.
Adrian could find her. He s a whiz at computers, Kevin said.
Everyone looked at Adrian who was still looking at Dennis like he wanted to rip his
throat out.
Y all play nice now. You wouldn t like it if it was your sister-in-law, Kevin
interceded.
Adrian s expression lost some of its hostility. True. Come with us and I ll see what I
can do.
I d keep an eye on your friend if I were you. I don t know how long Adrian can keep
his natural dislike of coyotes at bay and he s used to getting his way. Talon eyed his mate.
Payce inserted himself between Adrian and Dennis as they walked out of the
warehouse.
A PRIDEFUL MATE Amber Kell
60
Chapter Seven
Payce tiptoed away from the office where Dennis, Adrian, Talan and Kevin were
huddled around Adrian s computer desk. He d put it off long enough, it was time to talk to
Tia. He didn t want the woman to hate him or think he hated her. He found her in the
kitchen curled around a plate of brownies.
Hello, he said hesitantly.
Her wide gold eyes, so like her sons , looked at him with trepidation. Hi. She grabbed
a napkin to wipe the chocolate from her mouth but didn t say anything else.
I thought it would be good if we got to know each other a little since the father of your
children is my mate.
Were they bothering you?
What? No, no. They re adorable. I think Quinn is a little concerned about a new person
in his dad s life, but Chase likes me. They re sweet kids.
He finally got a smile from that. Yeah they are.
I wanted to say how sorry I am for attacking you the other day. I don t have the best
control over my beast. It s getting better, but it s still shaky. Now that I ve completed my
mating with Kevin that shouldn t be a problem any more.
Tia walked closer. Try sniffing me.
Payce walked closer. When they were less than a foot apart, he pressed his nose to her
neck to get a good infusion of her scent.
That better not be what it looks like or I m whopping both of your asses! Kevin s
gravelly drawl filled the air.
Payce stepped away from Tia so fast he almost fell. Spinning, he turned to face his mate.
I was checking her scent.
You didn t need to get that close. Kevin stalked up to Payce.
He could see the lion close to the surface with every step his mate took.
I wanted to make sure.
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