“She. Is. Mine!” I shouted in a guttural, animalistic voice, pushing away from the wall with my body and one foot.
Connor slammed me back again causing pain to reverberate down my spine from the impact. Fine. Since I couldn't fight him as a wolf, I’d incinerate him with magic. My vision turned everything in the room violet.
“Connor?” A woman smelling of ash and fire stepped closer, and the beast snarled at her before flicking his attention black to me. I could feel his power pushing into me, but my wolf fought with teeth and claws against the mightier force of the Alpha wolf. There was no way that power was getting into my body. It would be game over for me if it did, and that would leave Shannon at risk.
I threw my head forward and slammed my forehead into his elongated nose. Stars flickered behind my eyes at the impact, pain shooting over my forehead and nose at the same time as warmth exploded down my nostrils and redness clouded my vision. Shit. I'd not accounted for his godsdamned teeth.
Staying conscious was a priority. This monster and the female with the flames gathered around her hands could hurt her. I dragged magic into my hands as yet another threat stormed across the room. The tall, broad Fae looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember why. It didn’t matter; he was unmated. I snarled. Fuck! How could I protect her against so many?
I swung my head as Shannon stirred, my vision homing in on her pale face. The skin wrinkled on the bridge of her nose like she could feel the anger and threat in the room.
“Shannon! Wake up!” If she was awake, at least she could fight. I shook my head. She shouldn’t need to fight. Not here. This was a safe space. No. No, it wasn’t. My wolf’s anger at the proximity of these creatures consumed me, ripping at my cells and the power of the Alpha that held him back. I roared, releasing my frustration and inadequacy.
The female, who was able to control fire, softened her voice. “Stone, Please stop. We won’t hurt her; she’s our family, you know that. Just like you are.”
I inhaled the scent of the beta wolf who’d slunk closer, making me thrash harder as I dragged up my magic. Good. There was enough that one blast would take them all out. His eyes widened, but his voice remained calm. “Come on, buddy, you need to come back to us …”
I rolled my neck. They were trying to get me to leave her. “No! Leave!”
“We can’t. I will not leave you with her. You aren’t yourself, brother. You’ll hurt her if you don’t come with us.” The guttural voice of the hell beast rocked through me, its power suffocating as it wrapped around me and my wolf.
“No!” I yelled, letting magic rip from me—except it went nowhere. It swirled around my body like a violet lightning storm, some other more powerful magic working with the hell beast’s to contain it.
“That will stop his magic for a while,” said the tall, broad Fae. He assessed me with narrowed, bright eyes, his face and jaw tense. “Hello, my friend.”
“He’s not your friend right now, Vent,” drawled the beast as he stepped back.
No fucking way would they take me down when my mate was the prize. None of them would.
“Well, fuck me,” drawled a female with blue hair, her eyes darting from me to Shannon. “He’s definitely lost the plot.”
“Not a good time for your smart mouth,” the male snapped at her. “She needs him to leave before he hurts her.”
He nodded at Shannon who was whimpering in her sleep. The sound broke something in me, and a rage like no other hit, stealing my restraint. “Mine!” I roared and thrust the hell beast aside with every bit of strength I had left and charged at the unmated Fae. The Fae male’s face broke into a delighted grin, his eyes sparking. Snarling, I sprinted, ready to take out the threat to my mate, and bared my teeth despite my wolf being locked down until I could barely feel him.
“It seems you need a nap, my friend. Forgive me for this.”
Just as I reached him, his fist slammed into my jaw. Pain exploded through my face at the same time as magic crushed my lungs. Before I could land my punch on the Fae, a huge clawed hand grabbed my arm and sent me tumbling across the room and slamming into the wall. Plaster dust burst into the air, and I fell to the ground, my head slamming into the tiled floor. It was impossible to move when magic held me down. It was too strong to fight. Even my own was smothered by it.
The hell beast stood over me and watched for a moment as I fought the darkness that threatened to take me from my mate. “Enough,” he growled and knelt next to me.
Bellowing, I made one last effort to fight the suffocating force pressing me into the floor and took a swing at him, but I was done. My attack was weak.
“It’s okay, brother. I swear on my life I will make sure she’s safe.” His face morphed back into someone familiar. Horror, that’s all I could feel as my anger ebbed away, and rational thought came back, along with overwhelming exhaustion.
“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry, Con.”
His smile was full of regret. “So am I, brother. So am I.”
I had a split-second view of his massive fist heading towards my jaw before more pain exploded, and then blackness swallowed me.
Chapter 29
Shannon
My body twitched, jolting me from the land of nod and back into the real world with a racing heart and sweat-slicked skin. I lay with the soft pillow under my hot cheek, blinking as I tried to make sense of the anxiety swirling in my chest. Automatically, my hand rose, and I rubbed at the ache under my sternum.
What the fuck…
