Page 33 of Rejected Mate Bride
She placed the bookmark inside her book and stood up to check the door. Before she reached it, a resounding bang filled the air, and the door was hammered inward, broken completely off its hinges. Two men entered the house, and she saw that another two were standing guard outside. She barely had time to register that they were all wearing black and had their faces covered before they were fully in the room and striding toward her.
Her heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to run upstairs to protect Sofia, but she also didn’t want to alert them to her daughter’s presence in the house.
“You’re coming with us,” one of them said.
“Like hell I am,” she retorted. “Who are you?”
“Your fiancé sent us,” he answered.
It took Flora less than a second to realize who they meant. Demetrius Sier had found her at last.
“He isn’t my fiancé,” she said. “Myhusbandwill be home any minute. I suggest you leave before he arrives.”
“Any change to your arrangement with the alpha will need to be discussed with him,” the second man said.
He moved to grab her, but Flora wasn’t about to go down without a fight. She had asked Camden to train her for exactly a situation like this one. She was still holding her book—a heavy, hard-backed novel. With a quick flip of her wrist, she sent it flying toward her attacker’s head. It connected with a thud above his right eye, surprising him and knocking his head to the side.
“What the—”
He didn’t get the sentence out before Flora was there. She kicked him hard between his legs, dropping him to the floor in agony before she jammed her fingers into his eye sockets. He howled in pain, and she turned to deal with the other man who was advancing on her quickly. His arms came forward to grab her, but she was fast. She ducked under them and swept her leg, causing him to fall down on top of his comrade. She lifted up her leg and brought her heel down on his face. Blood spurted from his broken nose, and the smell of iron filled the air.
“Get in here!” yelled the first man, and Flora remembered the additional men who were waiting outside.
She turned to deal with them, but was too late. They had already entered the room, and as she moved to strike, they grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back.
“Let me go!” she shouted, desperately trying to free herself from their grasp.
They marched her out the front door and down the steps. As her bare feet touched the grass, the sound of approachingfootfalls caught her attention. Someone was running, pounding on the pavement toward her.
“Cam!” she shouted.
He and Jasper were there, barreling toward her attackers. The men holding her arms released her, preparing to counter their attack. Flora dashed to the side, away from the melee, as Camden and Jasper attacked.
The fight only lasted a minute or two, but to Flora, it felt like hours passed as she watched the four men exchange kicks and punches so vicious that she could hear their bones cracking. It was only because of their werewolf strength, speed, and healing that they were able to continue.
The two men Flora had taken down were outside now and preparing to join in the fight. Flora saw them run to help their men, but the other members of Camden’s squad caught them by surprise. They were all being pushed away from the house and away from Flora. She watched on in amazement as Camden and his men pushed them steadily back, but the sound of screaming from further inside town and the acrid smell of smoke in the air caught her attention. She saw flames rising from multiple areas in town. It had been clear to Flora from the beginning that Camden and his men were far superior fighters to those sent by Alpha Sier, but none of them had counted on another attack happening elsewhere in Silverrose.
“Camden!” she yelled, pointing toward the bright orange flames lighting up the sky.
The men from Ironbrand saw the smoke, too, but instead of doubling down on their attack, they turned away from town and ran. The squad let them go, breathing heavily from the fight as they looked at the destruction in horror. Sirens filled the air asfiretrucks and ambulances were dispatched to the scenes to help those who had been targeted.
“Thank God you’re okay,” Camden said, rushing to Flora’s side. He took her into his arms, and she realized how cold she was. “Where’s Sofia?”
“She’s in her room,” Flora said. “Are you alright? It all happened so fast…”
She was disoriented, her mind still trying to catch up with everything that had happened. Camden nodded for his men to go and help the rest of the pack as he walked Flora back into the house and up the stairs. They looked in on Sofia, who had miraculously slept through the disturbance.
“Come on,” Flora said, pulling Camden back down the stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“To help,” Flora said.
It was her fault that Ironbrand’s men had attacked Silverrose. As much as she wanted to crawl into her bed and hide, she and Camden needed to check on everyone else.
Camden squeezed her hand, and they jogged down the street, heading for the closest fire. They arrived to find that it was nearly put out.
“What the hell happened here?” Alpha Harold shouted. “How did this happen?”
