Adrenaline coursing through him, he crept into the living room and caught a glimpse of a tall, broad-shouldered male coming out of the kitchen with a bag of beef jerky in his hand. The cat launched herself at the intruder so fast she was a blur.
With a loud curse, the male swiftly whipped up his arm to protect his face before she could wrap herself around his head. It didn’t deter the cat. She curled around his arm, biting hard and clawing deep. He hissed out a pained breath. “What the fuck, Mila?”
Snarling and growling, she shredded the guy’s flesh. The intruder swore, grunted, winced, and ordered her to “let the fuck go.” She didn’t.
Dominic might have rushed over and intervened, but he’d seen pictures of the other male on the mantel and recognized him as Mila’s brother. Figuring the guy deserved a bit of pain, Dominic dragged on his jeans and simply watched as his little cat tore strips out of her sibling’s arm. Right then, she was a hissing, spitting, crazed ball of fury.
The only reason his wolf didn’t lunge for the surface to join the struggle was that Alex didn’t retaliate. The wolverine concentrated on trying to detach her from his arm, prying open her jaws. Each time he managed to loosen her hold, the cat would try wrapping herself around his head. Alex was always ready for the move, though. He’d slam up his arm to block her, at which point she’d go back to shredding the limb. It was easy to see that Alex had a fair amount of experience fighting off the feline.
With a pained oath, Alex held long, curved claws to the cat’s flank. “Get off me, you crazy little bitch, or these are gonna cut right through that thick fucking hide of yours.” The cat must have dug her fangs deeper instead, because the wolverine grunted in pain. “Son of a motherfucker.”
With renewed vigor, Alex wrestled with the cat, snatched her by the scruff of her neck, and threw her across the room.
Dominic caught her and held tight. “You must be Alex.”
The male tensed, his face hardening. “Who the fuck are you?”
Her ears flat, she let out a wolflike growl that shouldn’t have come from a creature so small and cute.
Sensing that she was ready to launch herself at the wolverine again, Dominic kept a firm grip on her and made a shushing sound in her ear. “Dominic Black, an enforcer from the Phoenix Pack,” he said as he took stock of his cat. Alex’s blood stained her paws and fur, but she was fine. Alex, however, couldn’t make the same claim. His arm was covered in ugly-looking welts and deep puncture wounds. “I’m also partially imprinted on Mila, which makes me her mate.”
The wolverine took a lurching step forward that had the cat rumbling a dark sound. “Imprinted?”
“Yeah,” Dominic bit out. “And since you’re the reason she has a goddamn bounty on her head, I have a big fucking problem with you.”
Alex’s head drew back slightly. “Say that again.”
“Your uncles didn’t tell you?”
“My uncles?”
“They’ve been tracking you.”
The wolverine shook his head. “I haven’t seen them. I came home and . . . shit, there’s a bounty on her head? You’re sure of that?”
“Yes. You might want to see to that,” said Dominic, gesturing to the guy’s bleeding arm. As the wolverine disappeared into the kitchen, Dominic petted and nuzzled the little cat. She was stiff in his arms, her sides heaving as she drew in deep, angry breaths. Her green eyes blazed with fury as they locked on Alex when he returned to the room, tracking his every movement, coiled to pounce again.
A small dish towel wrapped around his wounded arm, Alex snatched the bag of beef jerky from the floor. “Imprinted on Mila, huh? We’ll get back to that in a minute. First, tell me about the bounty.”
“After you left to go roaming, someone who was convinced that you’re Mila’s roommate came to the apartment building and demanded to see you. She wouldn’t tell them where you were, which they weren’t pleased about. They said you’d pissed off their boss, and that Mila would regret not cooperating. Their boss must have put the hit out on Mila, thinking it would flush you out.”
His brow creased, Alex shook his head. “John Norton was looking for me, that’s true. I wired him the money I owed him shortly after I left, so he has no reason to have an issue with me or try to flush me out. He wouldn’t give a shit as long as he had his money.”
“Then why would he have placed a bounty on her head?”
“I can’t see why he would have. It makes no sense.” Sinking into the armchair, Alex tore open the bag of beef jerky with his teeth. “It’s also not his style. He’s the kind of guy who does his own dirty work. For him, it’s about maintaining that badass ‘I’m-not-to-be-fucked-with’ image. Who told you it was him?”
“No one. We can’t be sure who it is. We concluded that the person behind the hit was most likely the same person who’s looking for you.” Settling on the sofa, Dominic petted the cat as he told her brother all about the website, the attempts on Mila’s life, and how none of her attackers had had any info on who’d put out the hit.
“Motherfucker.” Alex munched on a piece of jerky, his eyes narrowed in thought. “It doesn’t fit. It’s just not how Norton rolls. And like I said, he has his money, which was all he wanted.”
“Well, who could it be then? Mila doesn’t have enemies.”
“No, she doesn’t. But Vinnie does. Maybe one of them put a price on his niece’s head to get at him.”
That idea had crossed Dominic’s mind.
“I need to speak with my parents.” Alex whipped out his phone. “I’m gonna find all kinds of texts and voice mails when I switch this on, aren’t I?” Sure enough, the cell phone repeatedly beeped as his thumbs tapped the screen. “And this is why I don’t like cell phones.”
After making a quick call to James, asking him to come to Mila’s apartment, Alex hung up and zeroed in on Dominic. “Now, on to the topic of you imprinting on Mila . . . I’d sure as fuck like to know how that happened. When I last spoke to her, she was planning on moving to Russia.”
“She just wanted space from Joel, which is understandable.”
“So she told you about him.” Alex shoved another piece of jerky into his mouth. “How does he feel about the imprinting?”
“He doesn’t like or approve of me, but he’s glad that she’s happy, and he seems to accept that I’m her choice.”
Dominic froze as he heard the snick of the front door locks. Then Valentina—who’d clearly broken into the apartment in much the same way her son had—was storming into the living room with her mate in tow.
Alex jumped to his feet as he faced off with his mother. They argued in Russian while James glared at his son, nodding along to whatever Valentina said.
“Can you understand what they’re saying, James?” Dominic asked.
Mila’s father shook his head. “No, but it’s good to present a united front, so I just nod along as if in agreement with Valentina. What did my son have to say for himself anyway?”
Dominic quickly explained what Alex had told him about this Norton guy, adding that the wolverine didn’t believe the other male was responsible for putting out the hit. By the time Dominic was finished, both Valentina and Alex had quieted. “Alex thinks it could be one of Vinnie’s enemies.”