Warriors of Poseidon 02.5 - Shifter's Lady

known, even in his role as alpha, swamped him. He would protect this woman, no matter the cost. His cat snarled its agreement inside him, roaring out its claim. Marie was theirs to protect.
     
    As he carried her to the car and placed her gently into it, he surrendered in his internal battle. No matter that it didn‟t make any sense at all. Marie was his, and he would avenge every scratch, every bruise, every touch from that knife.
     
    Travis was going to die screaming.

SEVEN
    While Ethan made several phone calls warning his pride members of the danger and informing them of Travis‟s alpha challenge, Marie spent the time in the car on the ride back to the cabin trying to overcome the terror that had frozen her into immobility in the Shifter’s Lady – Warriors of Poseidon 2.5

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    encounter with Travis. Gradually, fury—both at herself and at Travis—won out over the fear.
     
    By the time Ethan whipped the car into the small driveway in front of Kat‟s cabin, anger definitely held the upper hand. She shoved the door open and stumbled out of the car, barely taking a step before Ethan was there, scooping her into his arms again.
     
    “I am able to walk. These are minor injuries, Ethan. Please put me down,” she said and was dismayed to hear the tremble in her voice.
     
    “Humor me,” he said, striding up to the door. He gently lowered her to stand at the door, then quickly opened it and lifted her again, not letting go of her until he reached the overstuffed couch. For a moment his arms tightened around her, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “Never again,” he muttered, and it had the ring of a promise or a threat. “Never again.”
     
    He gently lowered her to the couch and headed for the kitchen. “I know Kat keeps a first-aid kit around here somewhere.” He flung open cupboard doors with barely controlled ferocity, and Marie sat where he‟d placed her, just watching him, the tension in all that lean muscle somehow mesmerizing her.
     
    “First-aid kit,” she murmured, realizing what he must mean. “Does that contain medicines to render assistance? If so, it is unnecessary. I have some small skill at healing even in matters not related to childbirth. Perhaps you could find a cloth for me to clean these wounds, though?”
    He ran water in the sink and brought a small wet towel to her. “Here‟s the cloth. But are you sure? You need antibiotics. Hell, you need to go to the hospital. What was I thinking?” He dragged a hand through his hair, looking every bit as wild-eyed as Travis had. Marie shuddered, not wanting that particular memory to surface just yet.
     
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    “No, I do not need the hospital or one of your human doctors. Although they are quite fine at their craft,” she tacked on, not wanting to offend him.
     
    As she wiped the gravel and debris out of her wounds, she fought to keep from wincing too much, since every involuntary flinch seemed to sear through Ethan, as well. “It looks worse than it is, perhaps,” she lied.
     
    “He hurt you,” Ethan said in a feral tone of voice she‟d never heard from him before.
    “There could be nothing worse.”
     
    Her anger at herself returned. “I was useless. I have the ability to call water, and I never thought to use it. I was rendered completely immobile from shock and fear.”
     
    He lifted a dangling strand of her hair and tucked it behind her shoulder. “That‟s nothing to be ashamed of, Marie. You‟re not used to violence. I was damn near frozen, too, when I saw that knife pressed against your throat.”
     
    She shuddered. “I have never been touched in anger of any kind, let alone harmed or threatened. The violence of it is soul-deadening, is it not?”
     
    Ethan stood, clenching his fists and paced back and forth in the small space, as if the fury riding him needed some outlet before he exploded. “Yeah. It is. And those of us who live by violence wonder sometimes if there is anything left of our soul.”
     
    She finished cleaning her wounds and folded the towel and placed it on the floor. “You echo the concerns my brother and his fellow warriors have all shared at times. But when there is no recourse but for violence, and it is done in the name of protecting the defenseless, surely the gods will forgive any stain upon the soul caused by the doing of it?”
     
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    He crossed back