Read Online Claiming His Fate by Ellis Leigh - Free Book Online Page B

our brothers. Bending to take Pup’s shoulders from Numbers, he grabbed the smaller shifter and lifted him into his arms. Gates pulled a knife from his pocket and wrapped his hand around Pup’s ankles. With one quick slice, Pup was free. Numbers stepped back, falling into Scab, who wrapped an arm around his waist to support the exhausted shifter.
    When Pup’s body became horizontal in Shadow’s arms, he moaned. And then the blood started flowing.
    “Jesus fuck, he’s going to bleed out.” Gates glanced at me, his eyes wide. The five of us froze for half a second before exploding into movement.
    “Get him out of the cold!”
    “There’s a counter over here!”
    “He needs blood! Who’s got the med kit?”
    “It’s in my saddlebags.” I yanked the keys out of my pocket and tossed them to Scab. “You better run, motherfucker.”
    Scab took off out of the kitchen as I swept the metal bowls and cooking implements out of the way. Shadow and Gates placed Pup on the stainless-steel counter, stepping over the shit I’d sent to the floor. Scab was back within seconds, our emergency medical supplies in his hands.
    I opened the box and pulled out two large needles connected by medical tubing. Crude, but they’d do. Pup needed a transfusion of shifter blood before his heart stopped beating. It was his best chance for survival.
    “No,” Gates yelled as I tied a rubber strap around my arm, ready to be the blood donor. He reached to take the strap and needle from my hands. “Let me.”
    I growled and pulled away. Gates leaned closer and looked me directly in the eyes.
    “Your mate may need you. Let me be the donor. You have better things to do than stand here and watch your blood flow.”
    “Mate?” Numbers looked at me, his brow pinched. “You found your mate?”
    “Yeah.” I looked to each man in turn. “Her name’s Charlotte; that’s who I was with in the basement.”
    Numbers’ eyes grew wide. “Why didn’t you tell us she was your mate? Jesus, I left her in that room when I heard Pup scream.”
    I stiffened, thoughts of Charlotte alone in the room downstairs flooding my brain. My girl was not safe alone.
    “Scab and Shadow, go downstairs and grab my mate. I want us all in the same place.”
    “On it.” Scab turned to leave, Shadow on his heels.
    “Do not separate.” Gates wrapped the rubber strap around his arm and tied it off with the help of his teeth. “If that bartender is still around, be prepared. He’s strong and smart. Stick together and bust your asses to get back up here.”
    The two shifters nodded then rushed out of the room, leaving Gates and me to care for Pup.
    I helped Gates with the needles, making sure the blood was flowing into Pup before taking a step back and leaning my hip against the counter.
    “What happened in there?”
    Numbers shook his head. “Like I said, I heard Pup scream so I searched him out. When I tracked him to the freezer, all hell broke loose. That bartender went all Tasmanian devil on my ass. Fucker was faster than I thought. I don’t know what made him stop, but one second he’s all berserker, trying to knock the shelves down on top of me, and the next, he’s out the door.”
    “Where’d he go?” Gates asked.
    “No clue. I didn’t track him. There’s no handle inside the freezer, so I had no way to get Pup out. I figured you’d be around as soon as you realized we were gone.” He shrugged, his eyes drawn to our fallen brother. “The shift back to his human form didn’t help with the bleeding. I did what I could to keep the kid alive.” 
    I looked from Numbers to Gates. “You think the bartender’s the man-eater?”
    Gates raised his chin. “Most definitely. He’s got that crazy nomad vibe about him. And he’s definitely more dominant than Morris. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bartender is the one running the show while Morris is the face of the operation.”
    I nodded and watched the prone shifter, looking for any sign of life as a