Scarlet - Alpha Marked, Book I by Celia Kyle Read Free Book Online Page A

until he was able to sit and catch his breath.
Wounds made themselves known, other cuts and bites he’d not
noticed, now throbbed in time with his heart. They’d heal soon
enough. For now, his attention remained riveted on Quentin and
Madden.
    Both men were covered in their fair
share of blood, the battle made more difficult when fighting
without the benefit of sharp teeth and claws.
    Madden struck again and again, fists
colliding with Quentin’s cheek, chin then stomach. It was a
constantly shifting dance of pain, the two men hunting for the
opportunity to end the fight. Permanently.
    Quentin noticed his dead partner and
darted away from Madden, heading straight for Keller. The man’s
eyes had changed to a glowing yellow, showing the wolf was in
charge of the human body.
    “ Nooo…” Quentin’s scream
was barely recognizable.
    The enemy wolf ran toward him, gaze on
the dead body at his side. Keller danced away from the corpse,
moving with growing stiffness, not wanting to be caught up in the
man’s madness. It happened sometimes, one partner going insane when
they lost half of their pair.
    Only…only he’d thought the man was
heading for the dead wolf, fighting to get to his deceased
partner.
    He was wrong.
    Quentin shifted with each step, face
reforming, fur bursting through skin and hands transforming into
claws. Shifting broke the rules and technically ended the fight,
but he doubted that’d mean much to the approaching
madman.
    Keller backed away, working to put
distance between him and the looming man. Five feet… Then three…
Then…
    Madden caught the shifting Alpha
mid-pounce, snatched the back of his shirt and yanked the wolf
against his chest. In a lightning-fast move, his arms encircled
Quentin’s neck.
    Crack.
    Another death complete.
    Keller stared at his partner, his
brother Alpha, and would have smiled in triumph if he hadn’t been
in so much pain. Silence surrounded them, and he heard nothing more
than their breathing. Adrenaline slipped away, sliding from his
blood and leaving him simply a battered, yet victorious,
wolf.

Chapter Six
     
    Scarlet sensed her mates’ need
vibrating through her, strumming her body like the cords of a
guitar, and she was drawn to answer their call.
    Unfortunately, due to the dead
assholes, she wasn’t able to give in. Not when her mates had to
clean up and heal from their wounds.
    Walking between them through the
expansive hallways of the hotel, she kept to their sedate pace.
Madden’s face was peppered with bruises, and one eye was swollen
shut. His lower lip was puffed to twice its normal size with a
split on the left side. He didn’t make a sound as they traveled,
but he did clutch his ribs, a single arm wrapped tight around his
chest.
    Keller wasn’t faring much better. The
wound near his hip still bled, albeit much slower than before, and
the tear in his side worried her. His fur was matted, blood soaking
his gray body. He favored his fore-leg, and the wolf half-hopped
alongside her. His muzzle boasted scratches and scrapes, including
a bone-deep furrow she imagined had been caused by Garron’s fang.
More than anything, Scarlet was worried about his blood
loss.
    Bastard. She wanted to resurrect the
dead wolf so she could kick his ass. True, they’d have to hold him
down so she could get him good, but she wasn’t against breaking the
rules.
    Two guards led the way, the Captain
being one of them, while three followed, including her personal
gun-slinger and the Lieutenant. From what she could tell, they were
being protected by the best of the Ruling Alpha’s
soldiers.
    Gah. Ruling Alphas. She still hadn't
quite gotten over their position. She was a freaking administrative
assistant and totally not “ruling anything” material. She’d been
expecting a minor set of wolves. Guys that led a pack in Podunk and
didn’t need a badass woman at their side.
    Scarlet took a deep breath. That
didn’t matter. Fate, or whatever, decided she was supposed to