Chapter Fourteen
Andrew
We hit the parking lot behind Hannigan's Bar at a dead run.
The lot is gravel and weeds, bordered by dumpsters on one side and woods on the other. A ring of wolves has formed in the center—six Frostbane pack members standing in a loose semicircle. In the middle of it all, Silas stands alone, human form, fists clenched.
I can smell the fear rolling off of him. He’s a brave man. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance against Roderick, but he came here to try to defend his niece anyway.
Roderick is circling him. Also in human form. Smiling.
“She wants nothing to do with you!” Silas cries out, his voice desperate. “Leave her alone, or you’ll have to come through me!”
That earns cruel laughter from Roderick and his thugs.
Henrietta, Cole, and I burst out of the tree line, still in wolf form. We shift fast—bones cracking, fur receding—and I'm on my feet before the change is fully done.
Roderick's smile fades when he sees me.
I do a quick count. Six Frostbane wolves. Silas is alone and outmatched, and Roderick knows it. That's why he was smiling.
"This doesn't concern you, Moonstone," Roderick says.
His voice is steady but his eyes flick between me and the woods behind me.
"This is between me and the girl's uncle. He started it. He’s the one that made the challenge.
I was going to wait to claim her until they finished their contract with you. "
I let out a low, rumbling snarl. "Anything that concerns her, concerns me.”
A truck pulls up at the edge of the lot, tires crunching on gravel. Doors slam. Jesse leaps out first, then Dax Rowan—the pack Sentinel, from a family of Sentinels. Their role is to guard their pack – to the death. They’re fearsome and brutally loyal.
Another car is pulling up. Dax’s cousins.
Dax is grim-faced and already scanning for threats.
Roderick's jaw tightens. "You're interfering in a legitimate challenge!"
"Henrietta Romero is my fated mate," I say. Loud enough for everyone to hear. "That makes this Moonstone pack business. You want her, you go through me."
Behind me, I hear Henrietta suck in a breath.
I just claimed her. Publicly. In front of two packs.
Roderick's nostrils flare. "Fine. You want to make this official? Let's go, fleabag!”
I yell to my men “Nobody interfere! This is between me and him!”
Roderick glances nervously at his men. They can’t interfere with a legitimate challenge – not when there are so many witnesses, and not when they’re faced with much bigger, stronger opponents.
I shift.
The change rolls through me fast and hot, my wolf surging forward, ready. I'm bigger than Roderick in human form. In wolf form, I'm bigger and meaner and absolutely done with this.
Roderick shifts.
But instead of lunging, he crouches low. Ears back. Tail tucked between his legs.
I take one step forward.
He bolts.
Straight into the woods, tail still tucked, running full speed. The six Frostbane wolves behind him hesitate for maybe two seconds, then turn and follow.
I stand there and watch them go.
The parking lot goes quiet.
I shift back. Jesse is grinning. He claps me on the shoulder. "Well, that was the funnest five seconds I’ve had since…”
Cole smirks. “Since you disappointed your last girlfriend?”
“Fuck you! Human-licker!” Jesse barks, which is his worst insult because he intensely dislikes humans, and they both shift and lunge at each other.
Idiots.
Dax looks deeply disappointed. "Fun? I was promised a fight. Nobody bled today. Not even a little bit."
He lets out a huff of angry breath and stalks off toward the truck.
I turn to the small crowd that's gathered—Moonstone wolves, a few Shadowpine members who must have heard the commotion and followed. Silas is still standing in the center of the lot, breathing hard, looking shaken but alive.
“Uncle Silas. You shouldn’t have done that,” Henrietta’s voice is shaking. “You could have died.”
“I’ve failed you before. I’ve failed the pack. I never stood up to your father, never told anyone the truth about what he did. If I had, maybe the rest of the family could have stayed here all along.” He blinks, his eyes watering. “I had to stand up for you. I couldn’t let him take you.”
“Well, nobody is taking her, ever!” I raise my voice. "Henrietta Romero is under Moonstone protection. Spread the word."
Silas meets my eyes. He nods once. “Thank you,” he husks.
I turn to look at Henrietta.
She's staring at me. Her arms are crossed. Her hair is a mess, and she's got pine needles stuck to her bare shoulder, and I just told everyone in earshot that she's mine.
I smile fiercely.
My wolf lets out a sigh of satisfaction, settling down inside me for the first time since I laid eyes on her.