Chapter 23 Connor
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
connor
The female wolf stumbles back, her sides heaving with her exertion, her dark fur matted with blood where my wolf has clawed and bitten her. Her head dips low as she swings around, searching for an escape.
My tongue lolls out of my mouth, having the time of my fucking life putting this she-bitch in her place. She’s outmatched here, but it’s too late for her.
She challenged me when she went after my fated—and claimed—mate.
It was bad enough when she attacked Felicity last week.
Regret fills me, knowing I should’ve put her down there and then.
But I was distracted and worried at the extent of Felicity’s injuries, too quickly dismissing this bitch as no real threat.
I should’ve realized from her actions back then that she wasn’t going to act like any other shifter.
But today, I’ll rectify that mistake.
When I’m done with her, she won’t ever think of coming after my mate again. No fucking prisoners.
The shifters gathered around us look uneasy, their fear filling up my nose, inflaming my agitation. It’s easy to see that not one of them will step in and risk my wrath falling on their heads.
I might not be part of the shifter community, not when they’ll never accept Vaelor as part of me, but it doesn’t make me weak—something this female wolf seems to have forgotten.
Arguably, I’m the strongest wolf currently on campus. It’s probably why she fixated on me the way she did, as well as knowing the kind of power my family holds in the political world.
I know of her family, and a mating with me would be a step up in the world for them. She could have acted under her family’s guidance, or on her own, but either way…that ambition is going to cost the bitch more than she ever could have bargained for.
She’s about to learn why all the things she thinks she knows about me are the very reasons she should’ve walked the other way whenever she saw me coming.
I take a slow step forward, my head lowering down as a threatening growl rumbles out of my chest. The female wolf whines, backing up, but there’s no supplication in her eyes—not yet.
I don’t give her any warning, closing the distance in one leap. I cover her back with my bigger body, teeth latching into her shoulder, ripping bloody chunks from her as she yelps in pain, staggering under my weight.
She wriggles under me, snapping her jaws. But the angle means I’m out of reach, and each movement just sinks my teeth deeper into her shoulder.
She swipes out, raking her claws down one leg in a lucky shot. My mate screams, her rage and fear a potent mix that scalds me. Over the noise, Vaelor demands, “Finish it, asshole. Stop toying with her!”
I pull back, and the female wolf skitters away, the whites of her eyes on full display.
Knowing the only way out is fighting, her survival instincts kick in, and she dashes forward, jaws gaping.
She’s too blinded by her anger, weak from fatigue and pain, and it’s easy enough to step out of her reach, her momentum making her stumble.
I take advantage when she’s trying to get her bearings, tackling her back to the ground, going straight for her neck this time. As my teeth pierce the skin of her throat, she goes limp with a low whine.
“He’s gonna fucking kill her,” someone yells.
“And?” another person hisses. “She went to attack his mate. What the hell did you expect?”
“Submit! Selena, stop fucking around and submit!”
She trembles in my grip, her blood pooling in my mouth. Vaelor calls out, “That wasn’t much of a fight. There’s barely any blood splatter on the ground.”
I snarl, eyes flicking in his direction, teeth sinking in another inch.
The imminent end renews the she-bitch’s fight.
She scrabbles at the ground, desperately trying to pull away from me, but all she’s doing is causing more damage to herself—flesh, muscle, and tendons rip under the strength of my teeth.
“What’re they doing?” Felicity’s confused voice reaches me, my ears twitching. I can’t see her from this position, and I don’t like it. But my wolf isn’t prepared to give up his kill. Our mate is safe—Vaelor has her—and this bitch needs to bare her neck.
“She has to submit,” Vaelor informs Felicity casually. “Essentially declare him the winner.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
I can’t see him, but I can hear the bloodthirsty grin in his voice. “What happens if she doesn’t submit, Connor?” He suddenly moves into my view, no grin in sight, his golden eyes cold. “End the bitch.”
“No, you can’t—” a female shifter screams, but it’s too late.