Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40168 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
They grappled, threw punches until blood sprayed out, bones sounded like they broke, and the rage consumed Tolcan. He roared out, tossed Wayward back, and slammed his fist into the other male’s face. A tooth flew out of Wayward’s mouth, and rage covered the Rogue’s expression.
Tolcan only thought of Greta, only thought of finishing this so she would be happy. He grabbed his sword again when Wayward turned his head and spit out a mouthful of blood.
“You’re a fucking human lover, and because of that, because you disgrace the very Rogue species, I’ll take great pleasure in killing you.”
Tolcan gritted his teeth, swung out, and brought the blade of his sword right through Wayward’s belly. The Rogue fell to his knees, looked right at Tolcan, and started gurgling blood. Tolcan moved forward, bent at the knees, and grinned. “I am a human lover, and that ‘slave’ over there is my mate, my female.”
Wayward narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak Tolcan grabbed a dagger attached at his hip, and brought it across Wayward’s throat. Tolcan felt the hot rush of blood splatter on him as Wayward’s life-force spilled out and covered Tolcan.
Tolcan slowly stood and looked at the crowd. They were emotionless, yet the humans looked aghast. He looked at Greta, saw her eyes wide, her fear tangible in the air. She took a step forward, thought better of it, and stayed still. A Rogue female saw the motion Greta made and moved toward his mate.
Her brows knitted, and she moved closer to Greta. Everything next happened in slow motion. The Rogue female pulled Greta toward her, the collar of his mate’s shirt coming down. The Rogue female gasped, pointed to Greta’s neck, and started shouting out.
“She wears a brand,” she shouted out, grabbed the collar, and tugged the collar down so hard the shirt ripped. The Rogue pointed to the twin marks on her throat, and Greta tried to pull away, but the Rogue held her tighter.
Everything went faster now, so fast Tolcan now felt as if he were going in slow motion. He moved forward, but guards suddenly swarmed him. He had his sword in hand, and without thinking, just focusing on getting to his female and protecting her, Tolcan started swinging his sword out.
When the soldiers started going toward Greta, Tolcan roared out, seeing red, needing to be with Greta, to protect her. The crowd went crazy, moving out of the arena, away from the danger. He was in Enforcer mode now, not caring who he took down, because anyone coming toward him was an obstruction in getting to his mate. He heard a scuffle beside him, and saw Jayce trying to fight with Redon.
Even overweight and older Redon was still stronger than a prime human male, and Jayce was no match. The chain around Jayce’s neck stopped him from struggling much, and Redon kept jerking the chain, twisting Jayce off balance.
Without thinking, Tolcan brought his sword down, right through the Hulla chain, breaking it in two. “Come on,” he shouted, and tossed a dagger toward Jayce, even if it came down to it and a Rogue caught Jayce, the human would be fucked. At least Jayce was smart, because he took off toward Tolcan, and both of them went over to Greta. Tolcan cut down any soldier coming after them, and knew he was never going to be able to be with his people again.
He’d killed soldiers, Rogue soldiers, and that was an offense punishable by death. That wasn’t also including he’d mated Greta, and his people would never accept that, not with how they ran their species now.
They reached Greta, and he sliced his blade through the solider that came forward, intent on taking her from Tolcan. He cut the Rogue down, felt blood splatter over his face, and turned to look behind him. Bodies lined the ground, Rogues, high-ranking Rogues in fact. His death sentence had just been signed, and so had Jayce and Greta’s. They had to run, had to hide, because they’d be hunted, tracked, and killed.
He had to protect her, because nothing and no one would take this from her. No one would take Greta from him, not unless they were ready to take their last breath.
22
They’d been running for so long that Greta’s legs burned fiercely. Her feet ached, and when she stumbled, Tolcan had her in his arms, thrown over his shoulder, and kept running far faster than she could even comprehend. Jayce was behind them, his focus intense, the sword in his hand still at the ready.
They’d left the arena, didn’t even stop at Tolcan’s pod for fear they’d be waiting for them there, and had set out to go deep within the woods. She had no clue where they were going, and she hated that things had ended this way, that she hadn’t rescued the rest of her family, but she knew she wouldn’t stop until the world was better, and until they were safe.