Chapter 29
Byron entered the foyer, where Francisco was lurking near the open door to the living room, from which tense voices emanated. He walked up to Francisco and dropped his voice.
“What’s going on? I saw a car that doesn’t belong to us.”
Francisco tipped his chin in the direction of the living room. “The alpha of the Leon pack is here with his brother.”
Byron recognized the name instantly and cursed, “Fuck!”
“You know who they are?”
“Charlotte told me that she’s supposed to mate with the alpha’s son.”
And it appeared that they were here to take her back with them. Yeah, over his dead body!
“I figured that much from what they’ve been saying,” Francisco replied.
“I’ve gotta find Charlotte. Do you know where she is?”
Francisco shook his head. Fuck! He couldn’t risk Charlotte running into them.
Byron headed for the stairs. Maybe she was in her room.
He ran upstairs, taking two steps at once.
On the second floor, he rushed toward Charlotte’s room and ripped the door open without knocking.
The room was empty. He ran back outside and looked down the long corridor.
He noticed that the door to the master suite was ajar.
Maybe Charlotte was with Danielle. His heart pounding out of control now, he charged toward the door.
He didn’t even bother knocking, because he knew both Charlotte and Danielle would forgive him for his intrusion once they knew that the Leons were on the property.
He flung the door open and barreled into the room. “Charlotte? Dan—”
Danielle’s name got stuck in his throat. A man he’d never seen before was pinning her with her face pressed against the wall, while she tried to push him off and defend herself. But the position she was in disadvantaged her.
“Fucking bitch!” the man ground out. “I should have taught you that you don’t say no to the alpha’s son. But don’t worry, I’m gonna tame you now.”
He didn’t need to hear more to realize that this was Steve Leon.
“Let go of my sister! Or I’ll rip your fucking throat out!”
He barely realized that this was the first time he’d called Danielle his sister, and that he felt the need to protect her. Blood was thicker than water after all.
Steve whipped his gaze to him, stunned. “Get the fuck out! Don’t you see this is a private moment?”
Danielle looked at him with pleading eyes. “Help me!”
Without hesitation, Byron ate up the distance between him and Danielle’s attacker with a few steps and lunged at him. He jerked the bastard back, making him lose his balance. He took advantage of it and slammed him to the ground, then jumped on his chest and pinned his arms.
“Steve Leon, I assume?”
He didn’t wait for an answer and instead punched the jerk in the face, whipping his head to one side. Steve tried to fight back, but despite his efforts, he couldn’t manage to free his arms.
“Nobody hurts my family and gets away with it!”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Danielle as she peeled herself away from the wall.
“You alright, Danielle?” he asked with a quick sideways look.
She nodded, but didn’t speak, still looking shellshocked.
To his surprise, it actually hurt him to see her in obvious distress.
For that, Steve had to pay. Without warning, he landed another blow to the asshole’s face.
Blood seeped from his nose, and the scent of it filled him with satisfaction.
But just for good measure, Byron dealt a few more blows, making sure Steve’s face would swell up and turn black and blue in a few hours.
“Get off me, you fucking bastard!” Steve yelled, wiggling beneath him, trying to kick his legs out.
Still full of rage, not just for what Steve had tried to do to Danielle, but also for what he would do to Charlotte if she mated with him, he punched the asshole once more before he lifted himself off him. Before Steve could get up, Byron grabbed his feet and turned back to the door.
He froze for a second. Charlotte stood there with her mother, both of them gaping at the scene. How long had they been standing there? He hoped long enough so that he didn’t need to give any explanations.
“Take your hands off me!” Steve now griped.
“Not gonna happen,” Byron replied and pulled him toward the door.
Charlotte and her mother stepped aside to let him pass as he dragged Steve by his feet along the corridor. Behind him, he heard Maggie enter the master suite.
“Oh, Danielle,” she said, her voice full of sympathy. “Are you alright?”
He didn’t hear Danielle’s reply. Instead, he heard more footsteps.
Charlotte was following him, and to his surprise, Danielle followed, her mother-in-law a few steps behind her.
Arriving at the top of the stairs, Byron stopped for a second.
Instead of letting Steve get to his feet, he kept holding on to one leg and began pulling him down the stairs.
With every step, he heard a dull thump made by Steve’s head as it hit each step.
“Fuck, man!” he complained. “Let go of me!”
Byron looked over his shoulder. “You’re lucky I’m not tossing you down the stairs.”
By the time they were halfway down the stairs, he could see the door of the living room, from which several people now emerged, clearly curious about the noise from upstairs.
“What the fuck?!” one of the strangers yelled. “Take your hands off my son!”
But Byron didn’t comply. “This asshole attacked Danielle.”
And would have done terrible things if he hadn’t come upon them in time. He shuddered to think what would have happened to Danielle.
Jude hurried to the stairs, gazing past him to Danielle. When he reached the foot of the stairs, Danielle flung herself into his arms.
“Baby, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” he could hear Jude murmur.
“He just came into the bedroom and attacked me, before I could even take a breath,” Danielle said, her eyes welling up with tears.
Jude turned his face to Byron. “Thank you, Byron. I owe you.”
Byron nodded. “She’s my sister. I protect my family.”
He let go of Steve’s leg, but kept his eyes on him as the jerk scrambled to his feet.
Still holding Danielle closely, Jude now glared at the alpha of the Leon pack and pointed his index finger at him.
“You snuck your son in behind our backs and had him snoop around? How dare you?”
The alpha squared his shoulders as if that justified his son’s actions. “You were clearly hiding something from us.” He lashed a glare at Danielle.
“Leave,” Jude ordered, “or I’ll do to you and your brother what Byron did to your son.”
A glance at Steve and Byron saw with satisfaction that Steve tried to suppress the pain the beating had caused him.
James Beaumont suddenly cleared his throat. “Uhm, Bruno, I think it may be better if you leave now. We can discuss things later.”
Byron stared at James in disbelief. “Discuss things later? You can’t possibly still consider—”
Jude unexpectedly put a hand on his forearm, indicating that they’d have a real conversation once the Leons had left the property.
“Francisco,” Jude said. “Show the Leons the door.”
Bruno Leon grunted, then looked at James again. “A contract is a contract. We’ll be back.”
He watched as the three men walked outside. Francisco remained at the door, watching them get into their car.
Byron turned to Francisco. “How come you didn’t know that Steve came with them?”
Francisco sighed. “The security cameras showed me only two men in the car. He must have been either in the trunk or lying down on the backseat with a blanket over him, or I would have seen him.”
“Then it’s probably a good idea to add more cameras and check every visitor’s car to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Byron suggested.
To his surprise, Jude agreed. “Byron is right. Let’s add cameras along the driveway and check every visitor’s car.”
Byron looked at Jude. Finally, Jude was taking his suggestions. He realized now that he’d been looking for Jude’s approval ever since he’d taken over the pack. The incident with the Leons had changed things between them for the better.