Isis' Betrayal by Brenda Trim, Tami Julka Page B

prone mate.
    Ronan had been thrown like the rest of them and he was lying naked on his stomach with a huge hole in his shoulder. The police were going to have questions they couldn’t answer, but, at the moment, that concern was secondary to getting Ronan help. She pulled her phone out and called Jace. After filling him in on the situation and getting his reassurance that he, Santiago, and Orlando would portal into their backroom, she searched for something to cover Ronan.
    She handed Pema a blanket she found in the back and noticed that Ronan was coming to. “Don’t move, babe, you were hit with dark magic. Isis already called Jace and he will be here shortly and will heal you,” Pema reassured Ronan.
    Ronan cracked his eyes open and took in the scene around them. “Did she get away?” he croaked. At Pema’s nod, he shut his eyes in defeat. “Call Hayden. Tell him about the fight, and ask him to send reinforcements.”

CHAPTER NINE

    Braeden had to park his Jeep down the street from Black Moon. He was immediately struck by the suffocating remnants of Cele’s magic when he climbed out and shut the door. He took off running down the sidewalk as a lump settled in his gut, telling him that something had happened at Isis’ shop. He sent a silent prayer up to the Goddess that his mate was safe from harm.
    It almost stopped him in his tracks to think of what he would do if she was taken from him. She had come to mean as much to him as Donovan did, and he was truly between a rock and a hard place with how he was going to protect them both.
    H e had already betrayed Isis in an attempt to free his son and fervently hoped she would eventually forgive him. She was a stubborn, volatile female, and he doubted he’d ever earn her forgiveness, but he would never stop trying. He shook that off when the scent of blood reached him and he began to run faster.
    As he approached the shop, he was shocked to see the complete destruction to their business. Numerous shifters and Dark Warriors roamed the room, helping to repair the damage. “Hey, buddy. You come to help clean up, too?” Rhys asked.
    “ I came for my mate. I had no idea anything had happened. Is she okay? Where is she?” He glanced around as he entered the storefront, relieved to see that most of the blood came from Pema’s mate.
    “ Isis or Suvi?” Rhys asked while he dumped garbage into a large can. He saw the Vampire King in the building and was impressed that his mate and her sisters had such powerful supernaturals in their corner.
    “ Isis,” he responded as he continued his search for his mate.
    “ I had no idea,” Rhys replied. “I guess that means she’s off limits now. She was one fine piece of ass—” Braeden’s eyes went black with his rage and he lunged for the Dark Warrior. Isis was his, and no other man would ever even think of her in a sexual manner. He quickly had him in a headlock, ready to rip off the male’s head.
    “If you ever fucking think of her again, I’ll kill you, cambion.” His shoulder hit Rhys in the stomach, taking the warrior to the floor. He gave no quarter and began pummeling his face. He heard gasps and felt someone grabbing his shirt, trying to separate them. Nothing penetrated his haze until he heard his mate’s worried voice.
    “Fucking Rhys, did you have to taunt him? You got what you deserved,” Isis told the warrior before she turned her penetrating gaze on Braeden, melting his heart.
    The rage left him and he sat back, his chest heaving with his breaths. She was alive and healthy, and he couldn’t help but smile in his relief. Stormy, grey eyes locked him in their spell. “Thank the Goddess, you’re alive. Are you okay? And, what happened here?”
    “I’m fine. What about you?” He closed his eyes as she ran her hands up and down his arms, checking for injury. From the moment their skin met, his cock hardened, and he had to fight his need for her. She enflamed him like no other.
    “I’m not hurt. Tell