Savage Fate (Den of Shadows #5)

Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

Saint’s words ripped a hole in my center as a sinking feeling hit my gut.

You’re my fated mate.

“That’s not possible,” I muttered even though the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. That feeling I’d had while kissing Fane was the bond manifesting.

Of course, it had always been there. We just didn’t know it.

“It’s very possible.” The color drained from Saint’s complexion, his raven hair appearing even darker. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and just when I thought it would never happen…”

Fane let out another fierce rumble as his whole frame swelled. “It doesn’t mean shit, Grimstone. Tate is already my mate. Mine .”

Saint cocked an eyebrow. “Fate would say otherwise.”

Oh shit.

Fane’s irises didn’t just flash scarlet. They burned like pools of molten lava.

My heart slammed into my chest, and my muscles tensed, preparing to hold Fane back. But he moved too fast, colliding into Saint.

“Tate is mine .”

The word sent a rush of heat spiraling in my bloodstream, and his possessiveness blasted through the bond. Even though Fane only became my mate to save my life, he didn’t want anyone else, especially Saint, to have any claim on me.

The young alpha dug his heels into the forest floor, refusing to back down. “You don’t think Tate gets a chance to decide? You’re just going to control the situation?”

“I’ve already decided.” I marched toward them, stepping over dead skalae demons, and rested my hand on Fane’s arm to calm him. Touching him was like touching a searing piece of metal. “Besides, we completed the mate bond. You can’t break that.”

Saint’s burning silver gaze never left the demon shifter. “That’s not entirely true, is it, Fane?”

My brows slammed together. “I thought our bond couldn’t be broken.”

Fane scoffed. “It can’t. Not ours.” A ghost of a smirk crossed his mouth. “Maybe if we were just two random shifters who’d mated, but Saint doesn’t understand that we already had an intense bond before claiming each other.”

“Wasn’t there a time when you didn’t want anything to do with Tate?” Saint asked. “In fact, you wanted to kill her.”

A hostile snarl tore through Fane’s bared teeth, and power throbbed out of him. “You’re too late, Grimstone. Nothing you say or do will change anything.” His hands balled into fists, and to anyone else, it appeared that he wanted to punch Saint, but I knew he was trying to hide his talons.

Saint’s eyes narrowed. “You do realize I’m an alpha, right? You can’t just push me around.”

I tried to tug Fane back, but it was like trying to move a mountain. “You’re both acting ridiculous. I’m the one who actually has a say in this, and my mind has already been made up. There’s no need for you to fight about it.”

“You don’t even know what having a fated mate means.” Pain sliced through Saint’s voice. “If Fane wasn’t so thick-headed, he could explain it since he has a fated mate.”

“Had,” I corrected as my own anger began to bubble. The mere mention of Marissa could make me see red.

Fane’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to give you one more chance to walk away, Saint.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we fight.”

I tossed my free hand in the air. “No one is fighting!”

Saint rolled his shoulders, loosening up. “I can’t just walk away.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Fane’s muscles tightened, and the veins on his neck protruded. His tattoos twitched as his inner beast stirred.

“Fane, whatever you’re about to do, don’t,” I warned through our mental connection. “You know I’m yours. There’s no need to prove it.”

Pops echoed as he cracked his neck. “Clearly, this asshole doesn’t believe that, so I’ll have to make him.”

Before I could do anything, Fane’s head arched back, and he let out a bone-shaking growl that had birds fleeing from the trees and tiny animals darting through the underbrush to clear the area.

Fane was an apex predator. And he’d just made himself known.

I slammed my hands over my ears, and Saint staggered back. Unease twisted through my gut. My shifter senses told me that was no ordinary roar.

It meant something.

Several howls followed in the distance, only further intensifying my dread.

“What did you do?” I hissed.

“What needed to be done.”

Saint’s teeth bared as his irises went from silver to gold, glowing like two burning suns. “Challenge accepted, Maverick.”

Oh, hell no.

“Absolutely not!” I shoved my way between them, getting slammed with heat and power on both sides. Challenging someone in the shifter world meant a fight. Challenging an alpha meant taking his or her pack and a possible fight to the death.

Neither of those things was happening because of me. Enough blood stained my hands, and I wasn’t about to let these two add to it.

“I will wring both your necks for this idiotic bullshit.” Why the hell did fate suddenly feel the need to add another damn love triangle in my life? I’d already been through this with Hawk. “Fane and I are mated. End of story.” I lifted my hand to Saint’s face, pointing out the tattoos that appeared when the demon shifter claimed me.

Footsteps hit the ground nearby, and several figures burst through the trees. Ephraim, Camus, and Preston headed toward us, taking in the decapitated demon bodies while a blond guy darted toward Saint.

“Will someone talk some sense into these two before I have to—” The air fled my lungs as Preston grabbed me around the waist, lifted me, and dragged me away from Fane and Saint.

“You shouldn’t be standing between two male wolves on the verge of a serious fight.” Preston set me on my feet while his father and the Mohan alpha flanked Fane’s sides.

The other wolf stood by Saint. “What the hell is going on? I’m your beta. You need to start talking.”

“Did you really challenge him, Fane?” Worry lines developed across Ephraim’s forehead beneath his copper hair.

Fane rolled his thick shoulders, taking so much effort to keep his wolf beast from erupting out. “Yeah, I did.”

I wriggled out of Preston’s hold and marched toward them, but he blocked my path.

“I’m serious, Tate.” He lifted his palms. “Please, stay back. Let my dad and Camus figure out what’s going on.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” Fane jerked his head toward Saint. “He thinks he can steal my mate.”

Saint scoffed. “I think you’re leaving a very important fact out, Fane.” His gaze, still burning gold, darted toward me. “Tate was just revealed as my fated mate.”

Curses ricocheted around the small group, and heat pooled in my cheeks as they stared at me. Why did I feel like this was somehow my fault?

“Are you serious?” Saint’s beta scrutinized me and then Saint. “It finally happened?”

“Yeah, but she’s already taken.” Fane tried to step closer to the young alpha, but Camus and Ephram held him back. “And your alpha thinks he can just waltz in here and take what’s mine. I had no choice but to challenge him.”

Saint pulled out of his beta’s grip. “No one’s planning on stealing anyone, Maverick. I just deserve a chance to talk to Tate, at the very least.”

“That seems reasonable.” The beta shrugged.

Fane glared daggers at the guy. “Keep your opinion to yourself, Avery. And any mated male faced with this wouldn’t be reasonable, especially me.”

“Isn’t anyone the least bit curious as to why there are a bunch of dead demons lying around?” I motioned my hand at the mess of pale bodies covered in glistening black blood. “A group of skalae sub-demons was slinking right outside the territory lines.”

Preston nudged a corpse with his boot. “You and Fane obviously got them.”

“But there could be more.” I gave Camus a pointed look. “Aren’t you worried?”

Camus rubbed his jaw as he studied the carnage. “I’ve already alerted the patrols about them. Beckett is leading a group in animal form to sniff out any trails.”

“Still, we shouldn’t waste energy on unnecessary arguing.” I slipped out of Preston’s reach and marched toward Fane and Saint. When Camus and Ephraim tried to shield me, my own growl pushed between my teeth. “Move. Now .”

Camus’s head snapped back. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’d accidentally allowed a little alpha power to slip out.

“Okay, Tate.” Ephraim showed his palms and stepped away from Fane, encouraging Camus to do the same.

“No one is fighting or doing any kind of challenging because of me.” I grabbed Fane’s forearm to pull him away from Saint, but he wouldn’t budge. “Fine. I take that back. You and I can fight, Maverick.”

His eyes, still glowing and pupils in slits, met mine. “Why do you want to stop me from proving you’re mine?”

I resisted the urge to knock him out. “Because there’s no need to prove it. I’m yours. You’re mine. End of story.”

This time, when I tugged his arm, he followed.

We remained silent, marching through the woods, hand in hand. Every shifter and animal sensed Fane’s fury and scurried far out of our path. Once we finally reached the Anderses’ yard, he broke out of my grip and paced in front of the driveway.

“If you don’t want me to fight that motherfucker right now, I need to get as far away as possible.”

I jerked my head to his black Charger. “Let’s go. We can stay at Wrath’s.” He’d taken over the club and Ruin’s house after his twin died. Logan was also living with him.

Fane shook his head, his nostrils flaring. “I need to go alone.”

“You want me to stay here, where Saint is?”

He stopped pacing, his muscles twitching. “You can’t go with me, because I’m barely holding on to my control, and I can already feel Kaspin’s spell trying to take over.” Fane jammed his fingers through his hair. “I won’t risk hurting you.”

My hands clenched into fists, wishing I could resurrect that old witch and force him to break this enchantment. “You can’t just run from me whenever you feel the spell, Fane. Do you want to be mates who can barely be together?”

“Of course not.” His whole body shook as his muscles and tattoos twitched. “If I don’t go now, I’m either going to go back to Saint and rip him apart or kill you.”

“We have to deal with this fated mate thing and the spell at some point.”

The air around him shimmered, and he suddenly hit the ground on all fours in his terrifying and beautiful demon wolf. His irises burned bloodred as he bared his teeth.

“Now is not the time, fiera mika.”

Fane let out another violent roar before bolting and vanishing through the trees.

He may not be able to deal with this fated mate thing, but I wouldn’t sit around and let shit happen. Too many things were already out of my control.

My boots crunched across the ground as I trekked through the woods, not caring if every damn soul within a one-mile radius heard me. The fury crashing inside me was strong enough to drown everything else out.

How could this happen? How could fate decide to throw this at us after all Fane and I had gone through?

We played hell with our bond and fought it for so long, but fate kept driving us together. And once we were actually mated and claimed to each other, that bitch decided to drop my fated mate into the mix.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as I stormed through the trees into where Ephraim, Camus, Preston, Avery, and Saint stood, discussing the sub-demons. Saint stared off into space like he was in a trance while the conversation continued around him, but as soon as I entered the area, his head jerked in my direction.

“Tate, I?—”

I snatched his arm, thankful his long-sleeved shirt put a barrier between his bare skin and mine. Even with the material, a faint crackle of electricity sizzled where we touched.

“You’re coming with me.” As I dragged him toward the left—he put up no resistance—his beta darted in our path.

“You can’t just leave.” Avery crossed his arm over his broad chest. “What if Fane tries to attack you simply because you’re with her?”

My eyes narrowed. “Fane has a little more control than that.”

Avery scoffed. “Are you sure about that?”

No, I wasn’t, but I could get him to back down.

I hoped.

“He’s gone off on a run. I’ll know when he’s near.” I glared at Saint’s beta like he wasn’t at least a foot taller than me and twice as wide. “Are you going to move, or will I have to make you?”

Avery’s lips twitched in a smirk. “As if.”

“It’s fine.” Saint clapped the guy’s his thick shoulder. “We need to talk alone anyway.”

His beta didn’t look too happy, but he gave a curt nod and stepped aside to let us pass.

“We’ll see you back at home, right, Tate?” Ephraim called, concern curling around his words.

I peered over my shoulder at Fane’s uncle. “Of course. I won’t be long.”

Only as long as it took to break this damn fated mate bond.