Out among the battles.
Chaotic blurs of fur and fangs were everywhere. Wolves fighting wolves, bits of fur and flesh flying around as they mauled each other, striking across the legs and shoulders. Some remained humans, others merely pretended to be. Most had unleashed.
I heard Tiziano’s maniacal laughter and caught him twirling the barbed bat for momentum before slamming it into the back of the Dark Diamonds’ Ultras’ boss while he was busy pummeling one of ours.
“Medicine lesson one,” Tiziano crooned. “Break a werewolf’s bones, and they’ll heal back all wrong if you don’t reset them first.” The man’s left arm was cracked, as was his right wrist. “This is for targeting my boy, Lachlan, you inferior slug.”
I saw a flash of Makena arguing with Gaius and a girl from biology. Makena slapped Gaius, and…was that Amaia in a staring contest with one of the Dark Diamonds’ players? He was a huge, shirtless beast of a guy who looked like he’d forgotten all about the game, where he was, and even his own name.
Mate alert.
The wereball lay forgotten in a puddle of sadness and mud. A raindrop ran down the side like a tear. The ball everyone had wanted was now useless, purposeless.
I warred between three orders—one from my heart to find my twin; one from my brain to go home; one from my wolf, the loudest of the three, to find my mate.
Mark him.
Claim him.
Scent him.
And she won when I came across a certain sight.
Logan. Wet, wind-blown hair, caged in a ring of fans, a whole pack of she-wolves orbiting him like hungry satellites.
My sanity, my strong morality, were impaled upon possessiveness, pure and raw. Weeks of uncertainty, my lack of sleep, my lack of my mate, and my need for him got the better of me. All I wanted was to rip their eyes out and squish them between my fingers, so I would be the last thing their offensive eyes saw.
One girl dared to press an ice pack against his left pec, a sweet smile tilted up at him.
And when he smiled back? Said something I couldn’t hear?
Red. That was all I saw.
I stormed toward them, every step fuming.
Something hot burned between my shoulder blades—eyes tracking me.Don’t care.
My pocket buzzed—Rudy, no doubt.Don’t care.
My vision blurred with the color shift, fangs and claws joining the festivities.
Some of the girls felt it, my Alpha legacy rolling off me, thick and suffocating, ready to finally be used. They scattered, but others stayed, either too stupid or too cocky.
In retrospect, I knew I was acting immature, like some sort of teenage animal. I wasn’t myself at all. Calm and rational Yvaine had been swept away, possessed by a furry creature starving for her mate.
In my defense, he was myunmarkedmate. I had a strong desire for him trapped inside me, and now it was leaking out like a noxious gas.
The first she-wolf to suffer my fury was the one who had just touched his arm, grabbing his attention. My hand snapped to her throat, and I shoved her into the dirt. She fell like a tree struck by lightning.
The second came at me with a kick.Wrong move.My claws caught her outstretched leg mid-air and plunged into her calf muscle.
My wolf had taken over completely. Blood bloomed hot over my knuckles as the girl screamed, folding down onto herself. I was so mad that I didn’t even care about the waste of time I would cause to whichever fellow doctor would have to reset her leg.
The third she-wolf—the ice pack one—ducked behind Logan, hugging his waist and clinging to him like a leech. I barely heard the scared “I’m his cousin!” before she bolted.
I lunged after her, but hands caught me by the waist.
Sparks.
