Chapter 48
Valens
The red haze descended over me with impossible speed. I strode through the door at exactly sixty seconds, forcing my way through the river of escapees I’d heard Elodie order out. My gaze swept past the orgy in the nearest corner with disgust—wolves did not share, Goddess damn it—when I felt it.
I didn’t even see it. I motherfucking felt it. The second he grabbed her. The disdain her wolf felt, the way she called to my own. The thread snapping taut between us, as if her own fury had lit the flames of mine somehow. As a jackass put his lips on my mate.
My wolf burst out of me without my permission, the feral red consuming his every thought except destroying the male who would dare touch what belonged to him. She was vulnerable, she was on the verge of heat, and she was unmarked.
It was a deadly combination.
We tackled him at a full run, riding his human form across the flagstone floors of the stables, knocking other wolves aside without concern as teeth bit, tore, ripped at his useless fucking flesh.
He wouldn’t just die. He would suffer.
And then she bowled into my side, still in human form. It was the only thing that could have pulled my wolf from his fury, his destruction.
“You can’t kill him, Brute, even though it’s tempting.
I’m sorry, but I’ve got to put my foot down on this one.
I need you not to get exiled from the pack, ’kay?
” Her arms were around my neck, my canines still bared as I leaned down over the fucker who thought he could take from my mate without her consent.
Or at all, but particularly without her consent.
I snarled down into his paper-white face, watching with satisfaction as his eyes rolled back in his head.
“Shit, I’ve got to get Brielle and Oli. He needs a fucking healer, or he’s going to bleed out.”
The red haze still tinting my vision, my wolf was disgruntled that she was unhappy with our protection.
But the man was starting to break through again, her comforting touch working its magic on the beast who’d only come at her call to begin with.
Her phone was in her hand as she fired off desperate calls while she leaned against my side and held pressure on the fuckface’s neck where the most dire wound was.
By the time Dakota and Savvy appeared at her side to help stop the flow of blood, the haze was starting to give way to the man’s insistence.
I shifted back, landing on my ass, naked on the ground in a puddle of sticky blood.
“Shit.” I grimaced at how disgusting it was, but it was my own fault.
Savannah didn’t even look my way as she shoved a pair of gray sweats into my hands. I could smell the alcohol seeping from her pores as her wolf tried to burn it off.
The whole reason we’re both in this mess, I remembered as I yanked on the sweats, still cringing at the sticky mess on my skin.
At least she seemed whole and in one piece, thanks to Elodie’s efforts. We’d talk about it once someone else took over with this guy.
By the scent of him, he was an American wolf. Maybe from somewhere up north? I couldn’t say, I wasn’t that familiar with the American packs that had already arrived, just that he had a wintry-plains smell about him instead of thick, fragrant cedar like my own pack mates.
“He needs to shift. Brielle and Oli are on the way, but they said if we can force a shift, it’ll close the worst of the wounds. He’s more dominant than I am, so I can’t do it. It’ll have to be you.” Elodie grimaced as she said the last bit to me.
But now that I was back in the driver’s seat instead of my enraged wolf, I knew the best-case scenario for everyone was that he lived to face whatever consequences his Alpha commanded instead of me killing him.
Disagree, my wolf muttered grudgingly into my thoughts.
Shut up.
I drew on his power, ignoring his opinion on the matter as I used my dominance to order the other male to shift.
In his weakened state, it worked quickly, fur sprouting over his skin in seconds, the painful cracking of bones and sealing of wounds taking longer than normal, more proof of how much blood he’d lost.
But in the end, he made it through the shift. Brielle and Olivia arrived with their own males, and I pulled Elodie and Savannah back to give them room to work.
Once the healers were focused, Lucien turned my way, gesturing me off to the side with a concerned frown.
Moment of truth.
I’d had no issues with Lucien up until now, but this situation would be the first true test. I knew interpack relations were delicate, but I’d be damned if I let any male disrespect my mate the way that fucker had.
“I know you’re going to be upset, and maybe that’s warranted given what a powder keg of a situation we’re in. But he grabbed her and kissed her without her permission. He’s lucky my wolf didn’t tear his head off before Elodie stopped him.”
Lucien rocked back on his heels, letting the silence stretch between us as he glanced between me and the prone wolf with new appreciation in his eyes.
When he swiveled around to study Elodie, a growl ripped from my throat that I had to work to squash.
I knew Lucien was no threat to her—he was happily bonded and would never hurt a woman, regardless.
But my wolf didn’t give two fucks at the moment.
He didn’t want anyone to so much as breathe wrong in her direction.
“I see. And I assume Elodie will agree with your rendition of events if I ask her privately?”
“Be my guest,” I ground out, forcing myself to be reasonable. I turned toward the wall and counted to twenty before he returned.
“She agrees. Says he was belligerent and putting the moves on your drunk sister when she stepped in. And instead of leaving when she gave multiple orders for him to do so, he decided to move his advances to her. As far as I’m concerned, his Alpha should be glad you didn’t behead him, going after your sister and your mate. ”
This was the same man who’d been putting the moves on Savannah?
Anger tried to bubble back over, but I choked it down with an iron fist. They were already carrying him out unconscious; attacking him now would do no honor to the she-wolves under my protection.
“Is his Alpha going to be a problem? I don’t know who he’s with.”
Lucien sighed, shook his head. “Kane says he’s a new transplant to Johnson City. Moved down to Texas less than a month ago, formerly a lone wolf. Given the Blackwater pack’s close history with Johnson City, I think it’s going to wash out fine.”
I nodded, glad that I at least hadn’t created an international incident.
“Hey, V?”
“Yes, Alpha?”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up too badly.
You’ve got an incomplete mate bond. It’s always a volatile time.
None of us blame you for protecting her.
I’d be more upset if you hadn’t. And you won’t overreact like that forever.
The bond calms our instincts, helps us settle in.
Sometimes we forget that our wolves are wild, and their instincts aren’t soft like the human side. To your wolf, it’s kill or be killed.”
I nodded, appreciating that he took the time to try to ease my mind, though he absolutely didn’t have to.
“Thanks.”
“Can I give you a piece of friendly advice? Not as your Alpha?”
“I think you’ve more than earned the title of friend at this point,” I said, swiping a hand over my face wearily.
“Take her to your room. Focus on her needs, and try to put it behind you. She knows why you did it, and she’s no fainting flower. Don’t insult her by acting like she can’t handle it.”
I nodded, finally letting myself turn back around so I could see my mate, huddled in conversation with Olivia, Savannah, and Dakota. The rest of the room had pretty much cleared out when my wolf made his appearance, so there was one silver lining, at least.
Lucien slapped me on the shoulder, and I stalked toward Elodie.