What went through his mind was very male. If he got her clothes off lightning quick, he could take her before Fergus showed up. When her legs tightened around his hips, he was about ready to suggest a hot-and-heavy quickie, when his phone chimed.
Damn phone.
With the way things were heating up in Savage, he couldn’t ignore it.
Kiara seemed to understand. She relaxed her legs and settled her feet back on the floor. He slowly unwound his arms from around her. He’d pinned her tight against him and reluctantly let her go. His pants were tight against his arousal.
With difficulty, he plucked his phone from his pocket.
Ralph.
He drew a deep breath as he brought the phone to his ear. “Ralph, Fergus will be here in—” He got no further.
Ralph broke in, his voice three tones higher than usual. “They’re here. Shit. Fuck. Warren. We need you. Shit. Don’t know what to do.”
Warren put the phone on speaker. “Kiara’s with me. Tell me what’s going on. What happened?”
“Julio showed up. I was in the office. Susie’s out there somewhere. She’s probably dead.”
Warren stared into Kiara’s horrified eyes as Ralph continued. “He put them in a partial shift. My wolves. My bouncers are dead. All of them. The customers. Blood bath. A warlock is working with Julio. Fuck. Susie. My Susie.” His voice broke.
Warren could hear some of Ralph’s female wolves in the background. They cried out in painful yelps and hoarse howls. For a moment, he got stuck in their pain until Kiara reached for his arm and held on. Soothing warmth flowed at the point of her touch and his mind sharpened once more.
She dipped her chin.
Kiara spoke into the phone. “Ralph, talk to us. Tell us exactly what happened.”
“My wolves are in a partial-shift and in more pain than I can bear. Can you hear that?” A partial-shift was different from the shifting signs Warren exhibited when he experienced a strong emotion. This kind of incomplete shift involved twisted bones and ligaments stretched to the breaking point.
Warren met Kiara’s gaze once more. She drew close to him and in a very warlock way he could feel her need for comfort, a sensation that matched his own. He moved the cell to his left hand and slid his arm around Kiara’s waist then pulled her tight against him.
She trembled, but it wasn’t from fear. Instead, also with warlock senses he shouldn’t possess, he knew she’d connected even at this distance, with what was happening in Ralph’s club. She was forcing herself to take even breaths.
He spoke into the phone. “Ralph. I want to help, but you need to pull it together and give me the details. Tell me what you saw. Start at the beginning.”
He heard Ralph take a ragged breath then the warlock told the story swiftly. Right after Ralph had left the message on Warren’s phone, Julio and his men had arrived with assault rifles. The bouncers had fought hard, but they’d died in the gun battle. Julio’s men had fired on all the customers in the place. Most were dead.
From early in the evening, Ralph had known something was off. When Julio had arrived, Ralph had sensed a dark warlock presence near him, a wizard in fact.
Ralph hadn’t been able to see him, but he was a man of tremendous power. A kind of wave had flowed through the room which had carried the partial-shifting spell. Muzzles had elongated, parts of arms and legs. Without the full shift when major bones were involved, crippling pain had ensued.
At the back of the club, where Ralph had his office, he’d gathered as many of his wolves as he could into his safe room. There’d been a lull in the shooting, but it picked back up.
Several of his wolves had been trapped in the dressing room area behind the stage, including Susie. The brutality of the hit had a clear purpose, to warn the rest of the club owners what they could expect if they resisted Julio.
Ralph continued, “Kiara knows where the safe room is. She’s been here many times.” Warren glanced at Kiara who nodded.
“You’ve got to help us, to get us out of here. If you can’t, Alpha Warren, no one can.”
“Do you know how many men Julio brought with him?”
“I don’t know. It was chaos and noise. I only had time to rush the women into the safe room.”
Kiara squeezed his arm, then said, “Ralph, I’ll bring a potion to reverse the spell.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Warren added. “Hang tight. I’ll get troops over there as fast as I can. Fergus will help as well. You’re not alone.”