The Mermaid's Mate Read Online Free PDF Page B

expression. His lips were twisted, his scraggly eyebrows pitching for his hairline. “And you believe that bullshit? She’s gorgeous, Timber, probably one of the Emperor’s top seductresses. You really believe the words that come out of her mouth?”
    “No,” Timber said, blurting out the truth. “I don’t. But she’s my problem to deal with, not yours.”
    The pinch in Timber’s side warned that Marian was doing more upriver than exploring, but he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. It wasn’t like he wanted to take her back to the main pack and make her his life mate. He wanted to spend a little more time with her, that was all. He wanted to get closer to her. He wanted more time to figure out if, in fact, she did see anything that she shouldn’t have. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? He wasn’t prepared to let her leave after he figured out what she knew. He wanted more. God, what did he want?
    “Know what I’m gonna do?” Slater said, stalking closer. “I’m gonna take her back to Ryder. I think he’ll reward me for bringing in a tail as beautiful as this. You mind if I get a few minutes alone with the slut before I drag her in?”
    “Son of a bitch!” With a guttural roar, Timber bounded across the trail and snatched Slater by the collar of his leather coat. He slammed him against the stone face of the mountain, releasing the tension that had been coiling inside him. It shook from the collision, dusting small bits of rock over their shoulders. Marian squealed, though her voice was muffled and distant. Her whimpers were second to the sound of unfiltered rage banging against Timber’s skull. “If you don’t shut your mouth, Slater, I’ll shut it for you. Permanently.”
    “Take it easy, killer.” Slater put up his hands in surrender. “It’s best not to take a liking to this one—she won’t survive the night. Whether she saw something or not, it doesn’t matter. Once Ryder has his way with her, he’ll silence her like the others. What I don’t get is why you haven’t killed her already and hightailed it back to the lair?”
    “That’s none of your goddamn business.” Timber seethed, his vision blurring with streaks of red. “ She’s none of your business.”
    Didn’t Slater realize how close he was to losing his head? Couldn’t he sense Timber’s blood boiling, and his restraint slipping? Slater might’ve been bigger than Timber, but he was slower. There was no way he’d see Timber’s first strike coming.
    “I always knew you were on the fence when it came to the loyalty of your new pack,” Slater said, nostrils flaring. “But defending a mermaid over one of your own? You’ve lost your mind.”
    Timber hunched low, ready to let his muscles expand and his canines drop from his gums. Growling from the pit of his belly, Timber felt waves of rage blanket his body. Slater wasn’t taking Marian anywhere. He’d die before he let that son of a bitch touch her.
    “Timber?” Marian said, her voice stronger than it’d been moments before.
    Both Timber and Slater glanced at Marian, a momentary pause granting Slater another few seconds before his death.
    “I don’t want this,” she said, backing away down the trail. “I don’t want you to fight over me—I’m not worth it. I shouldn’t have traveled this far upriver and I won’t let it happen again. I don’t want to see or hear any more than I already have.”
    “She did see something!” Slater roared. “Timber, you have to take this bitch—”
    Timber didn’t give him a chance to finish. He silenced Slater with an uppercut that hit square to his massive jaw. Slater’s slab of bone crunched under the force of the blow. Blood squirted from his lips as he bowled over, falling against Timber’s chest. Somewhere beside Timber, Marian screamed, but he’d just dived headfirst into the rabbit hole. There was no pulling him back now.
    Something primal and possessive rose in Timber’s gut, taking over his