“Leyden was all for coming after you when you left, but Matthew reminded him he had the beta challenge to take care of first. The challenge went ahead and some big guy, Rolf, or something, won. He became pack second. Leyden wasn’t happy about it…”
“He wouldn’t have been,” Connor was beyond frustrated. Rolf had been one of the contenders that Connor had warned Leyden about. Why the Alpha decided to go ahead and let the man participate had Connor’s brain in a mess.
“Yeah, well it got worse,” Lonnie went on. “Rolf’s not only challenged Leyden for his position as alpha, he has also got more than half of the enforcers on his side. Leyden stands to lose his pack, his home and everything.”
“Why do you care? You just want him for sex and for his position. Go and protect him like a good alpha mate should,” Connor snarled as his mind raced over what he could do to protect his mate.
Lonnie scuffed his foot along Connor’s carpet, his gaze firmly fixed on the floor.
“Leyden’s a good alpha, okay,” the young man said at last. “He cares about everyone, and makes us all feel special, you know.” Connor knew only too well. It was one of the things he loved about the man.Loved?Connor reminded himself to focus.
“If he’s that good why did the enforcers defect to this newcomer then?” Connor asked as he galvanized himself into action, rushing about finding shoes, a shirt, and where the hell were his freaking keys?
“Word is that Leyden wasn’t strong enough to keep his mate,” Davis said, holding up the keys Connor was looking for.
“He could have kept his mate just fine, if some little shits hadn’t got in the way,” Connor snarled at Lonnie. “Leyden and I had been getting to know each other, what the fuck was wrong with that?”
“You should have been all over each other if you were mates. It’s what wolves do,” Lonnie cried out, and Connor could see the little man was almost in tears.
“You think too much about sex and not enough about the other things that are important in a mating. Honesty, learning about each other’s likes and dislikes, integrity, learning to live with each other in the same space. That’s what I was looking for, and Leyden understood that. What business of yours was it whether or not Leyden and I had actually fucked yet?” Connor said in a rush.
Where the heck had he left his jacket? Spying it slung across the kitchen chair, Connor strode over, and slipped it on.
“It just didn’t feel right,” Lonnie said in a whisper.
“It was right for me and Leyden,” Connor said, coming to stand in front of the man, uncaring if he looked intimidating. Connor had intimidation down to an art form.
“You’re coming to help?” Lonnie said peering up at Connor through his bangs. Conner could see why Leyden would have been attracted to the man, although he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t feel anything for the little shit. He was more worried about Leyden.
“He’s my mate, and unlike you, I would support him in anything,” Connor said firmly.
Chapter Eight
Barely avoiding another slash of claws and gnash of teeth, Leyden skipped out of the way and turned, swiping his claws at his opponent. Make that opponents. Leyden had managed to take down Rolf, the main challenger, but it seemed that all of his other enforcers - men he thought he could trust - had now decided to get into the act as well. Leyden was beyond pissed off, but he tried to keep his focus on the fight. There were eight men opposing him, and Leyden knew the chances of getting out of the situation alive were slim.
Before the challenge, Leyden had thought of just submitting. In a way his pack was right. He couldn’t keep his mate, not because there was anything wrong with Connor, or him for that matter, but because their relationship had the potential to be something more than sex from the get-go. And the wolves in his pack didn’t understand that. The stupid thing was, Leyden realized as he wallowed in self-pity before the challenge, was that Connor had done what any decent wolf would do when faced with a problem - put the needs of his mate first.
There’s too much emphasis on fucking sex, Leyden thought as he dodged another set of teeth. Fuck, now there were two of them, no make that four. Leyden knew he had to focus on the fight, he had to protect his pack, but honestly, without Connor at his side, he wasn’t sure it was worth the effort.
Connor had warned Leyden about Rolf, told him the man had been through too many packs and had apparently been banished more than once for challenging the Alpha. There was no way a man like that should have had the right to challenge for a second’s position. But after Connor had left, and Leyden was all for heading after him, he had been tied up in one thing or another until the challenge. Rolf’s application had gone through,and Leyden hadn’t realized it until the man turned up in the pack circle.
Wincing, Leyden snapped and whirled again. He was favoring his leg and wanted to keep the other wolves away from it. Rolf had managed to sink his teeth into his paw, just before Leyden had ripped his throat out. Although Leyden didn’t hold with killing indiscriminately, Rolf’s attitude and the way he had taken Lonnie’s comments and used the information to stir up the enforcers was too much to take.
In a coordinated attack, two of his enforcers barreled into him at the same time and all three wolves went down in a flurry of claws, legs and teeth. Fuck this isn’t good, Leyden thought as he struggled under the weight, desperately trying to keep teeth from his neck. He raised his head, snapping and snarling, but he couldn’t get free. One of the wolves had scraped his claws down Leyden’s side and he could feel the blood flowing from the wounds.
Kicking, biting, and trying to wiggle as best he could, all of a sudden Leyden could see the sky. The sounds of fighting hadn’t stopped, but… Leyden shook his head and stood up. Another wolf was fighting off the enforcers, his strength and sheer power rippling through his muscles. For the first time in days, Leyden smiled, a freaky thing for a wolf to do, but Leyden felt his heart lift. Connor hadn’t abandoned him and yet again, he was in protector mode.
Watching Connor in action was sheer poetry. The wolf took on all comers, his actions fast, and his retaliation brutal. Reminding himself that he was the alpha in their relationship, Leyden moved alongside his mate with renewed vigor, and in less than ten minutes all eight of the wolves were down, their submission evident.
Panting heavily, Leyden stood for a moment simply savoring the victory. That was until he felt Connor nudging his shoulder, and a long warm tongue licking the wounds on his side. While Leyden knew he would heal when he shifted, he was so blown away by the fact that his mate was tending to him, even if it was in wolf form, he stood under the caress, enjoying every lick.
Seeing one of the downed wolves move, Leyden growled and Connor nudged his shoulder again. Right. Time to shift and take care of the mess. Leyden shifted, glad that his wounds healed, although his hand was still a little sore. He stood tall and proud as his mate shifted with him, the man almost equally tall, definitely proud, and not at all pleased with his enforcers. Leyden slipped his arm around Connor’s waist, the urge to have the man close to him too hard to ignore. Fortunately, Connor made no move to get away from him. Instead Connor was focused on the enforcers who were still cowering in wolf form.
“Your disrespect to your alpha is sickening,” Connor snarled. “Shift your lame asses, and explain yourself to your alpha.”
“You’re not our second, or even in this pack. You have no say here,” one of the louder mouthed idiots yelled, as one by one the enforcers shifted and knelt on the ground.
“I still bested you, and claimed or not, I am your alpha’s true mate. Now explain your actions before I rip your throat out.” Connor didn’t have to yell. His voice was powerful enough to ripple around the clearing and make every other wolf in the area take notice.
