16. Graham
Sixteen
Graham
The second I step out of the restroom I know something is wrong.
“Elsie,” I grunt and I take off running.
When I round the bend, I see her.
And my heart fucking stops.
Three men are crowding around her.
None of them smell like Barvale.
Out-of-town Shifters.
Young.
Cocky.
One Wolf.
One Boar.
One Cougar.
Maybe part of this Council thing Luc was telling me about.
I snarl at the picture before me.
The Wolf has hold of Elsie's wrist.
She yanks against his grip.
“I said let go.”
“C'mon, sweetheart,” he says with a smirk. “We're just talking.”
“I don’t want to talk to you!”
The Boar reaches for her shoulder.
“You don't have to be rude.”
Something inside me snaps.
“Take. Your. Hands. Off. My. Mate.”
Every head turns.
The Wolf sneers.
“And who's this?”
I don't answer.
I walk straight to Elsie.
Slide between them.
I remove the Wolf's hand from her wrist.
Then, I step in front of her.
“She told you no. Now get the fuck out of here before I get mad.”
“I don't see a mating bite.”
The Cougar laughs.
I snarl at him.
“Is this the great Barvale hospitality we’ve heard about?”
“Fuck off,” I reply.
“Didn’t anyone teach you to share?”
The Boar looks at Elsie and licks his lips.
“No. She’s my mate. And you’ve been warned.”
I meet the Wolf's eyes.
“You looking for trouble, Red?”
“Not particularly, but I guess I found it.”
The Wolf shoves my shoulder.
Hard.
And that’s a big mistake on his part.
See, my woman wasn’t lying before when she says I look like I can bench press a Ford.
I’m big. And strong. I’m a fucking Bear Shifter, for shit’s sake.
His tiny shove? Doesn’t move me at all.
He blinks.
Then he shoves again.
“What the fuck—”
Bones crack.
These assholes are gonna shift.
I turn my head slightly towards Elsie.
“Get down. Hide behind the tree,” I tell her.
“Graham!”
“Just do it. Please.”
The sound of bodies morphing echoes through the trees.
My heart starts pounding double-time.
Clothes tear apart.
Snarls ripple through the air.
A massive Wolf lands where the man had been.
Next the Cougar and the Boar.
Elsie gasps behind me.
“Graham?”
The Wolf lunges-fangs dripping saliva and jaws snapping madly.
My Bear takes over.
One heartbeat later...
Eight hundred pounds of furious cinnamon-colored Black Bear explodes into the clearing.
The Wolf slams into my shoulder.
I roar.
The sound tears through the forest, shaking leaves from the trees and sending birds exploding into the sky.
The Boar charges next.
Then the Cougar.
Suddenly, the quiet lakeside overlook erupts into absolute chaos.
The Wolf is fast.
Very fast.
Unfortunately for him, I'm fast too.
He snaps for my throat.
I meet him head-on, batting him sideways with one massive paw. His body tumbles through the underbrush, crashing through saplings before he regains his footing.
The Boar hits me a second later.
He drives his tusks into my shoulder with enough force to shove me backward three steps.
Pain blooms.
I barely notice.
My eyes never leave Elsie.
She's backed herself against a tree, her face pale, blue eyes impossibly wide.
Confused.
Terrified.
She has no idea what she's looking at.
Shit.
My heart breaks for her.
Protect her.
Protect Mate.
Always.
The Cougar springs from my blind side.
His claws rake across my flank.
I spin and catch him midair, slamming him into the ground hard enough to crack the earth beneath him.
He yowls and scrambles away.
The Wolf comes again.
Then the Boar.
Three against one.
Cowards.
I plant myself between them and Elsie.
No matter what happens...
They don't touch her again.
The Wolf circles.
“You've got a human, Bear?”
His lips curl back from bloodstained teeth.
“Didn't know Barvale was handing out pets.”
My roar drowns out the last word.
He laughs.
Big mistake.
I charge.
The impact sends both of us tumbling down the embankment toward the lake.
He twists free just as I feel another body slam into my side.
The Boar.
Together they drive me backward.
For one dangerous second, I lose sight of Elsie.
No.
NO!
I throw every ounce of my weight forward, sending both Shifters sprawling.
The Cougar lunges for the trail—for her.
I don't even think.
I simply move.
One swipe of my paw catches him across the ribs and sends him flying through the air.
He crashes into a boulder with a sickening thud.
Before he can recover…
A voice cracks across the clearing like thunder.
“ENOUGH!”
Every Shifter freezes.
Even me.
The command carries Alpha authority.
Power.
Absolute dominance.
Branches snap behind us.
Heavy footsteps pound across the trail.
Daniel Devlin bursts through the trees first.
Even in human form, the Clan Enforcer looks dangerous.
Tall.
Broad.
His expression promises violence.
Behind him comes Marcus Devlin.
The Alpha of the Barvale Clan.
Calm.
Controlled.
Deadly.
Power rolls off him in waves.
Rafe Maccon steps into the clearing a heartbeat later.
The Alpha of the Macconwood Pack doesn't look pleased.
His amber eyes sweep over the destruction before landing on the three strangers.
“So,” Rafe says quietly.
“Anyone care to explain why Shifters traveling under a peace treaty for the Council crossed into Barvale territory without permission and started a fucking brawl?”
The Wolf immediately drops his gaze.
The Boar shifts uneasily.
The Cougar coughs blood into the dirt.
Marcus doesn't raise his voice.
He doesn't have to.
“You trespassed.”
Silence.
“You threatened a female.”
More silence.
“You attacked one of my Clan.”
Daniel folds his arms.
“I can take them now.”
No one mistakes what he means.
The Wolf's bravado evaporates.
“It wasn't supposed to—”
Marcus silences him with a look.
“It no longer matters what it was supposed to be.”
Rafe steps beside Marcus.
His expression hardens.
“My Pack doesn't tolerate rogues.”
“They're yours?” Marcus asks.
Rafe shakes his head.
“They are not. But whoever is responsible for them, I’m sure they will be now.”
The words hang in the air.
Cold.
Final.
“But we’ll be stripped of Pack protection!”
“Yes. You will be.”
Marcus gives a single nod.
“They'll answer for trespassing on Clan land.”
Daniel cracks his knuckles.
“I'll make sure they do.”
The three strangers suddenly look a lot less interested in fighting.
Two Barvale Enforcers emerge from the woods behind Daniel and quickly restrain them.
Only then does Marcus turn toward me.
His gaze drops to me and the unconscious woman lying in my arms.
She'd collapsed beside the tree sometime during the fight. The sight of her twists something inside me.
She's so still.
Too still.
My Bear whines.
Mate.
Wake up.
Please wake up.
Marcus's eyes lift to mine.
“Graham, you haven’t been by the Den for a while. What happened?”
I barely notice one of the Enforcers draping a blanket over my shoulders.
My attention never leaves Elsie.
“I...”
The words catch in my throat.
“I found my mate. I claimed her. She-she didn’t know.”
Silence.
Daniel's eyebrows shoot upward.
Rafe exhales slowly.
Marcus studies me for a long moment.
“She didn’t know? What happened?”
“Well, there was a rabid fox and my Bear just—”
“Wait. You were in Bear form?”
“Yes.”
“And you bit her?”
I nod.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He glances toward Elsie.
“Does she know what you are?”
“No. But she might now. I mean, I had to defend her from those three assholes.”
The admission feels like swallowing broken glass.
“See I was going to tell her.”
“When?”
“I...”
I don't have an answer.
Because I should've told her hours ago.
Instead...
She found out like this.
Marcus lets the silence stretch.
Not cruelly.
Just long enough for me to understand the weight of my mistake.
Finally, he speaks.
“She's unconscious because her body is trying to process a mating claim it doesn't understand.”
I close my eyes.
Damn it.
“Shit. Okay, I understand.”
“No.”
Marcus's voice softens, just slightly.
“You don't.”
He moves towards me and I tense with Elsie in my arms. He looks at me and I nod before he moves, checking her pulse before gently brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face.
“She's alive. No fever.”
Relief nearly buckles my knees.
“But she should get looked at. I’ll ask Luisa—Dr. Cordoza—to come to the Den.”
Daniel nods immediately.
“She’s the best healer we have.”
“Yes,” Marcus says.
“She’ll know how to help her through this.”
Then he looks back at me.
“You.”
I straighten automatically.
“You claimed a human.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Then she's your responsibility.”
Every instinct inside me agrees.
“Carry her back to the Den.”
I don't hesitate.
I cradle Elsie carefully to my chest.
Her head falls against my shoulder.
But she doesn't stir.
My Bear presses close beneath my skin, desperate to comfort her.
Marcus places a hand on my shoulder as I turn to leave.
“Graham.”
I look back.
“We'll deal with the trespassers.”
Daniel's grim smile says everything.
“They'll never set foot on Barvale land again.”
Rafe nods once in agreement.
“My Pack and the Council will see to it.”
For the first time since this nightmare began, I allow myself one small breath of relief.
The rogues can wait.
Right now...
Only one thing matters.
Helping my mate.