Chapter 3
Julian De León
Iwas going to kill him.
It was the only reasonable solution to dealing with Ryder since he had made a habit of continuously hurting my mate in the short amount of time they’d known one another.
I hadn’t been lying to Effie, she was unraveling the bastard, but in the process of doing so, he was acting like a complete ass.
I watched from the kitchen as my little mate slipped into her bedroom, the flash of pain on Ryder’s face making it all too clear to his sister and her friend that his ‘reason’ for staying was complete bullshit.
I’m not positive why he had bothered lying in the first place—it was clear that he was here for Effie.
Tore stood next to me at the island and shook his head. “I have no idea what the hell he’s even doing here.”
“You know,” I countered. “But there is a lot of shit that Ryder isn’t telling us, and my patience is growing thin.”
Namely, his odd proclamation about Effie not being a wolf.
If she wasn’t a wolf, then what the hell was she?
I could literally sense her wolf right under her skin, and Dakota, the lucky bastard, had actually seen her shift.
Maybe Ryder was just losing it. Honestly, it was my preferred thought process about this entire thing.
Effie was already in danger, being a bitten female, so the idea of her being possibly something else was even more concerning, especially if it wasn’t something we knew how to handle.
Before Tore could respond, a banging began sounding on the elevator door, eliciting a low rattling from my chest. I was finding that my instincts, primal and far more dangerous than Effie realized, were coming out in full force with each passing moment that I spent with her.
I was across the room and by Effie’s door in a second flat. I had a feeling who was at the door without even opening it, and I also knew that I couldn’t stop them from entering. Not if they were here for the reason I assumed.
“Who the fuck is that?” Ryder demanded from where he stood behind her.
“Just keep her safe and in her room, okay?” I responded sharply, my tone coming out harsher than I intended.
Effie’s flinch forced me to relax my energy so that she wasn’t uncomfortable.
Tore was going to open the door, so I turned towards Effie and cupped her jaw, running the other hand over her bite mark, her eyes turning warm with affection.
“Please stay here?”
Effie’s eyes darkened with concern as they flicked over my shoulder, eyeing the door cautiously, before she finally nodded.
I was just thankful it didn’t come out as an Alpha command.
I kept fucking up and doing it by accident, my wolf demanding her submission despite it not being necessary.
Well, it was necessary in his mind, but the two of us, my animal and I, were very different, and the more my emotions shifted and turned, the more ground he gained in my actions. It was extremely frustrating.
I motioned for Tore to open it, the pounding becoming louder as he grit out, “I’m coming, chill the fuck out.
” His hand came down on the button as frantic movement drew my attention to Aanya.
She and Ruby had moved behind the couch, placing it between themselves and the door, her defensive position in front of Ruby confirming my thoughts on the situation.
It didn’t help that Ruby was ghost white and staring at the door with panic.
I felt a surge of guilt at that as Effie gripped my forearm gently.
I didn’t like the idea of any woman, especially a friend of Effie’s, feeling uncomfortable.
But I knew that our guests didn’t want to hurt Ruby, they were just acting a bit out of sorts because of their wolves.
I hadn’t been positive about the dynamic here, but with Aaren mentioning knowing his mate was on campus but being unable to find her, paired with Effie mentioning in passing that Ruby was avoiding them…
It sort of clicked into place. Aaren stepped into the space, his eyes searching the room before landing on Ruby, his chest producing a low rumble.
This would be why I didn’t want Effie leaving her room.
Aaren and the rest of the pack wouldn’t be acting like themselves.
“Aaren.” My voice held more authority than normal.
“What?” he snapped. His head moved in my direction, but his gaze was stuck on Ruby.
“You can’t do this here.”
Aaren let out a snarl, his expression incredulous. “Do you want to explain what the fuck my mate is doing in your room, Julian?”
Effie made a surprised noise as Ruby stumbled back slightly, looking like she was about to pass out. Aanya turned around in concern, but I should have expected what happened next.
Effie darted out from behind me, escaping both Ryder’s and my grasp, to help her friend.
My mate caught the woman as her knees gave out, and Effie crouched down by her, talking in low, soothing tones.
Something about this was really fucked up, and I had absolutely no idea how to handle it.
It was very rare I felt uncomfortable with a situation, but I was torn between understanding why Aaren was acting like this and feeling defensive because my mate was upset.
Something that was so far from okay with me it wasn’t even funny.
“Aaren.” Aanya’s voice held a thread of dominance that came from the magic now circling around Effie and Ruby. “Ruby didn’t want to be found for a reason. I think it’s best that you leave.”
Aaren’s aggression completely fizzled out as he frowned, looking at Ruby in confusion and with enough hurt that I felt a stab of sympathy for the man. What Aanya was suggesting was that Ruby was rejecting him. Rejecting them.
“Ruby,” Aaren pleaded, his voice filled with pain.
Ruby looked up before curling further into Effie, my mate looking up at me in alarm.
Shit. I knew a post-traumatic stress reaction when I saw one.
I had no idea what had happened to the woman, but it was obviously not good.
More so, the idea of Effie being involved in a situation like this was causing me to feel aggressive as my wolf tried to force my shift.
“Please leave me alone.”
Aaren’s jaw clenched at her words as he ran a hand over his face and spit out, “I can’t fucking do that, and the others are going to be here soon—”
The door opened again, this time without our permission, and Eryx stepped into the room.
He was pretty much the last person that should be in this situation.
If there was anyone on their team that could handle emotional trauma, it was definitely not Eryx…
And the most terrifying part of all of this was that Effie was literally in the middle of the situation, right in harm’s way.
Her arms wrapped tightly around her friend, looking more upset by the moment.
Eryx crossed the space rounding the couch and crouching down in front of where they were on the floor, looking completely unsurprised to see Ruby.
My wolf was practically howling in disbelief that we would let another alpha near our mate, and I didn’t disagree, even if it was someone we considered an ally.
“You need to back up from Effie. Now,” Tore demanded.
Eryx ignored him and kept his gaze on Ruby.
“This is done,” Eryx stated, looking as if he was well aware of the situation and had been for a while.
“This bullshit of running away is done, Ruby. You can either stand up and come upstairs, or I can break the magic around you and possibly hurt your friends.”
Aanya’s magic had taken the form of flames around the three of them, and I had a feeling that it wasn’t the type of magic to trifle with. Not that Eryx gave a fuck. I seriously was concerned that if he broke the magic he would hurt Effie in the process.
“I would highly suggest you not do that,” I growled, now standing right behind him.
He stilled, standing up and turning towards me. “You would keep us from our mate?”
“No.” That wasn’t my job. “But if you hurt my mate in the process of retrieving her, then I will do way more than ‘keep you’ from anyone.”
“She wants to be left alone,” Effie voiced, looking shaky but also not giving any ground on the situation. “You can’t force someone to want to be with you… That’s not right. That’s not okay.”
Aaren made a pained noise, hitting open the button for the elevator door as the final two members of their blood-bonded pack entered.
Where Aaren and Eryx were fenrir and lycan respectively, Vox and Warwick were totemic and bitten.
The six of us in a tight room with both of our mates, plus two kitsune, was such a major problem for dominance shit it was absolutely unreal.
“What the fuck is going on?” Warwick asked as I tried to figure out how we were going to get them out of here before Caedmon and Dakota returned.
It wasn’t fair for me to force the girl to go with them, but I also knew that keeping their mate from them was a bad move.
I turned towards Effie and crouched down so that my gaze was even with hers.
“Preciosa, I need you to let go of her,” I requested softly. “This is a dangerous situation, and they need to handle it themselves.”
“No.”
The finality in which she delivered the word had my eyes widening as her jaw clenched stubbornly. I blinked and frowned, trying to figure out how to explain how much danger she was in. “Effie…”
“I am not moving, Julian. I am not letting them take Ruby; she’s terrified of them. That’s…” she breathed out, “That’s messed up. I would never do that to a friend.”
Fucking hell. Effie was right. She was completely right, but that didn’t change the fact that she was in complete danger.
I could hear Ryder trying to urge Aanya to remove her magic, but I knew it wouldn’t work.
These three women had bonded together in the short time they’d known one another, and the loyalty was almost awe-inspiring.