Chapter 35
Jury left the medical unit and then the house.
Out front, an Enforcer was standing guard in the yard.
He nodded at Jury as she stalled a moment, unsure if he’d let her leave.
She took a tentative step and then another, and when he said nothing, she walked down the driveway.
As soon as she passed the stone wall surrounding the manor, she shifted into her wolf form and ran.
Jury ran harder than she’d ever run in her life.
The cold Montana air, crisp and sharp against her fur, made her eyes water and her nose tingle as she raced across the prairie.
Her knees had an opinion about the uneven ground, but she just pushed harder, her paws slapping against the still-wet Earth.
The storm passed in the night, and the sun was just cresting the horizon somewhere behind her, sending reds and purples slashing into the reluctant night.
Absently, she realized her feet were carrying her toward the scent of the battlegrounds.
Smoke and blood drew her in. She needed to see where it all happened, where she’d almost lost Narae.
Narae.
A lump clogged her throat, threatening to choke her as she thought about her sister going into battle alone. She must have been terrified.
No. Never!
Jury denied that thought as soon as it formed.
Narae wasn’t afraid of anything. She was the bravest, strongest person Jury knew, and that included Koe, Daemon, and every wolf in the Allegiance pack.
Narae had endured things that would never be required of a male.
They both had, and it had shaped them into such two different beings that it made no sense to Jury.
Where Jury had grown into a scream, Narae had grown into quiet thought.
Guilt bit hard at the knowledge that Jury needed constant motion, where Narae simply sought stillness, was what constantly drew Bragga’s attention and punishment.
She’d caused a lot of her own pain, and in the doing had injured Narae collaterally.
They were one outward and one inward. Jury had always longed for a new life, a new place where she could grow into something wonderful.
But Narae didn’t want a new life; she just wanted the one she had not to hurt.
And because Jury knew the terrain of Narae like the back of her hand, she knew that Narae was afraid to hope for more because she was afraid of being stripped of it.
Crying now, Jury hurtled herself forward, too fast. Paws tangling in the tall grass, Jury went down hard, her body slamming into the ground, where she slid through the mud and slick grasses.
Sliding to a halt, chest heaving, lungs aching, Jury lifted her head and was assaulted by the scent of Narae’s blood.
Standing on shaky legs, she looked down at the trampled field all around her.
There were still pools of rain filled with crimson and fur and shreds of clothing.
The violence that had happened here was obvious, and Jury took it all in.
Stomach clenching at images of Narae battling Biters, and not just any Biters.
They would have sent their heavy-hitters here for the ambush.
“She’s alive”, Narae muttered, needing the reassurance.
She padded through a blood-drenched pool and walked slowly toward Daemon’s cabin, which was now just a pile of still-smoldering embers.
It was a total loss; only one wall remained, one with a stone fireplace and chimney that rose defiantly from the wreckage.
Jury reminded herself that Daemon had almost lost Narae too, and she was grateful for how dutifully he remained at Narae’s side.
It was obvious to everyone that he was gutted by what had been done to Narae, and Jury didn’t doubt for one second that had he been there, no one would have touched Narae.
He was a good man and would be a good mate, and that was everything Narae deserved.
Thinking of mates, Jury couldn’t help but think about Koe and her anger at what he’d done.
Yeah, he’d taken something from her, but he’d done it to protect her.
Could she fault him for that? Should she?
Even now, just thinking about him had her pulse racing and something molten coiling low in her belly.
She wanted him. She wanted him in a way she’d never wanted anything before.
Turning to look toward the house, she wondered if she should apologize to him.
“Leave one wolf alive.”
The words from behind her had Jury whipping around, and her belly dropped, the ground shifting beneath her. Sid? The Biter Beta was still alive? But how?
Sid sauntered forward, clothes drenched and covered in soot, hair a wreck, blood smeared on one cheek. He shrugged negligently. “Figured if I could get lost in the mix and ride it out, I could take over as Alpha once the Allegiants finished off Bragga for me.”
“Take over as Alpha?” Jury huffed, slowly backing away. “Alpha of what? Everyone’s dead!”
Sid’s eyes slid down Jury’s frame and then slowly back up. “Not everyone.” His face split in a wicked grin as he took a step forward. “We can repopulate the pack.”
Jury backed up further with a disgusted, “Fuck you!”
Sid’s smile slipped, his brows spearing down. “Wasn’t asking, Jury. Now get the fuck over here!” He stomped toward her.
“Touch her, and you fucking die!”
Jury spun to find Koe, Thrall, and Hiro in the field behind her. Her relief was so great that tears flooded her eyes. Swallowing around her emotion, she didn’t hesitate. Knowing Koe had her back, she walked toward him, eyes locked on Koe’s.
Koe held her gaze for a few steps, then his attention went beyond her.
His wolf exploded from him, and then he was moving, but Jury didn’t stop walking.
She didn’t stop when a snarl sounded from behind her; she didn’t stop when Koe’s wolf blasted past her, his fur brushing her arm.
She didn’t stop until she stood nestled between the safety of Hiro and Thrall, who watched the carnage taking place behind her.
She didn’t even turn to look. She didn’t need to.
She knew what Koe would do to Sid for having dared to talk to her the way he had, for threatening to take and impregnate her.
Instead, she focused on the fact that Koe had come to check on her.
He’d come for her, and she knew now that he always would.
He’d always be there for her, the way she would always be there for him.
Turning, she watched his wolf tear Sid apart, and she reveled in the pleasure of it.
There was something heady about having a hold on an Alpha as strong as Koe.
In a million years, she never would have imagined that her mate would be someone so powerful.
An image of his naked body beneath hers, him begging, flashed through her mind and had her taking a step toward him.
Hiro and Thrall caught her arms. “Uh-uh, Luna,” Thrall said. Using the title assigned to the Alpha’s mate. “He’d kill us if you went down there and got hurt. Let him finish. He needs this.”
So, she stood, held back by Koe’s Enforcers, and watched him finish Sid.
While Sid was still breathing, Koe shifted back to human form. Straddling the Biter, he gripped his jaw and leaned low to snarl, “Know that with you, your pathetic pack will be wiped from the face of this Earth forever.”
Sid fisted Koe’s shirt and pulled, tearing the material as he wheezed, “No.” His gaze jerked to Jury. “Sh-she’s…one of…one of us.”
Koe smirked and shook his head. “No. She’s an Allegiant.
She’s mine! And come summer’s end, she’ll be filled with my seed and my son.
You all were never worthy of her or Narae.
” Pulling back, Koe gripped the back of Sid’s head with his other hand and, with a sharp, sickening twist, Sid’s eyes went vacant, his body going lax.
Dropping Sid’s body, Koe stood. Blood dripping off his chin, bare chest heaving with exertion, hands clenching and unclenching in a move that had his biceps flexing, he looked like a God.
Just the sight of him had something coiling low in Jury’s belly.
His words about filling her with his seed and his son had sent a punch of brutal lust through her, and she wanted him. Now!
When Koe turned and saw Hiro and Thrall holding her back, his lip ticked up in a snarl that had Hiro and Thrall instantly releasing her and stepping back.
Jury didn’t move. She didn’t even blink.
Koe’s attention was locked on her, his eyes blown out with his wolf, and his lip peeled back in an expression that had chills blasting up her spine.
He looked feral, ready to devour, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be the focus of that intent.
A growl rattled his chest before he dipped his chin and snarled, “Mine!”
Hiro and Thrall backed away from her, leaving Jury feeling exposed.
Koe took a step toward her, and her insides flooded with fear and something else.
Anticipation? Excitement? Uncertainty? In the Biter pack, males couldn’t control their animals after battles.
They said and did things that were dismissed as permissible for fresh-from-the-fight males.
Jury was worried Koe was like them. Would he hurt her now?
Was Koe even in control, or was his wolf still in command?
No! she thought dismissively. Koe was nothing like the Biters.
He was stronger, more powerful, just better.
And he’d just gone to war for her, which was proof enough.
He’d fought for her…for them. He was standing before her, bleeding now because of her.
He’d gone to unbelievable lengths to show his devotion to her; she’d do the same for him.
Throwing her shoulders back, she lifted her chin and held his gaze. Hands shaking, she balled them into tight fists and fought down her nerves as she took one step toward Koe that turned into two, then three.
Watching her intently, Koe’s lips morphed into a pleased grin.
And then he was on her. In a move so fast, Jury couldn’t track it; Koe had her up over his shoulder.
One strong hand palmed the globe of her ass while the other was locked behind her knees.
The ground beneath them was moving almost as rapidly as Jury’s racing heart.