The man whose people were responsible for killing the only family I’d had left. Because it was clear he was in charge. Itshowed in his confident bearing, in his air of authority, in the way he looked everyone dead on, not lowering his gaze for anyone.
I flashed my teeth and stepped forward, knitting needle at its zenith. This wouldn’t kill him, but maybe if I could manage hitting his eye, it would maim him for life.
Chapter 7
Weston
Here, with more light, I could see her in minute detail. She was so beautiful it hurt to breathe. Perfection in the flesh, my dream woman conjured up for just me to enjoy.
Her teeth were bared and pain showed clearly in her beautiful sunburst eyes as she advanced on me with some sort of long, thin object. It looked almost like a knitting needle, aimed for my face. Stunned by her appearance and aggression, by the exquisite feel of her presence, I didn’t move.
“I got it, Alpha.” Dante labored forward, blood pouring from a deep wound in his shoulder. He also held a weapon of sorts, something round and blunt. He swung it toward her before I could snap myself out of my stupor.
“No,” I barked, reaching forward to stop him but it was too late. He crashed the object down onto her head with a sickeningcrack.
Bile rose up into my throat. I struck out before I’d thought about it, landing a hard blow to his wound. He sucked in a surprised breath, his knees giving out. He sank to the ground as I grabbed the crumpling woman. Her feeble weapon fell from suddenly limp fingers and tinkled along the floor.
“No one touches her,” I growled, anger riding that command. I sank to the ground with her in my arms, one hand on her head to stem the flow of blood and the other arm wrapped around her back. Her skull was crushed in that area, the bone splintered. A shifter would come back easily. She would not.
Panic quickened my heart.
“Hurry! Tanix, get the Everlass elixir. The miracle worker.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Tanix said, yanking an axe out of Sixten’s chest as he passed by. Tanix was the only one of the four in the room who hadn’t felt my true mate’s wrath.
I squashed down the pride. She wasn’tmine. I had to remember that. She was a stranger, an enemy. She was nothing but a natural, magical connection that I had no control over. It didn’t somehow make her the love of my life. It just made me want to fuck her.
“And protect her, and claim her as ours,”my wolf said, and that was true, too. But none of that was anything I could give in to. My duty and my kingdom forbade it, as did all the people I was sworn to lead and protect.
“What’s... going on?” Sixten said as Dante gave a ragged cough from where he still knelt, bowed in pain. “Why are we patching up the enemy?”
I gritted my teeth and thought about lying. I’d never be able to hide this, though, not for any length of time. My body would respond to her even if I did not.
“First, because I have reason to believe she’s one of the people we came here to find,” I said, my voice filling the small space. “I cataloged her leaving the workhouse on the edge of the forest, by the creek. It’s very likely she has a hand in creating the product we’re trying to eradicate. Second...” I swallowed, not wanting to admit my connection to someone who’d done such terrible deeds. “She’s my true mate.”
Sixten sucked in a sharp breath. Dead silence filled the cottage for a long moment. The atmosphere changed, shifted, now heavy with uncertainty and shock.
“Are you sure, Alpha?” Dante said. “She’s hot, but maybe?—“
“Enough,” I barked, rage spiking at his notice of her.
“Of course he’s sure, idiot,” Sixten murmured, her hand still palming her chest. Dark red blood seeped down to her belt line. “The second someone meets their true mate, theyknow.”
“And you saw her last night?” Niven asked, arms wrapped around the axe wound in his stomach.
“Yes. I knew then.” I didn’t elaborate about what happened after. “Her animal is suppressed. As far as I can tell, it always has been.”
“Can you feel it calling to your wolf?” Sixten asked in a hush.
“Yes, but it’ll remain suppressed. She’s already deadly fast and agile. I assume she is, at any rate, given the state of you lot.”
All three nodded slowly.
Dante said, “I didn’t even have time to react, bro. She was wicked fast.”
“Wicked fast,” Sixten repeated. “She nearly sliced off a tit. I didn’t see it coming and I was the third to get a whack.”
Tanix hurried back in, both hands holding an elixir. He held one up. “Miracle cure or”—he held up the other—“normal cure?”
