They’d seen enough. Self-preservation kicked in where courage failed, and they backed away, then turned and fled toward the tree line. In the distance, sheriff’s sirens wailed, growing louder with each passing second.
I returned my attention to Dennis, who was still struggling beneath my grip. I drove my knee into his back, pinning him more firmly to the ground. His face pressed into the dirt, spitting curses and threats that grew increasingly desperate as the pressure increased.
“Listen carefully, you piece of shit,” I hissed, bending close to his ear. The rage that had been simmering all night condensed into something cold and deadly. “If you ever come near my mate or my child again, I will end you. There won’t be enough left of you to identify.”
Dennis spat blood and dirt, thrashing uselessly beneath me. “He’s always been mine! I raised that ungrateful bitch!” His voice cracked with desperate fury. “I put food in his mouth! I gave him a roof! Everything he has is because of me!”
I increased the pressure on his neck, satisfaction coursing through me as he wheezed for breath. The monster who had terrorized Danny for years, reduced to this—gasping in the dirt, powerless and pathetic.
“Danny belongs to himself,” I snarled, making sure he felt the full weight of my words. “And he chose me.”
The simplicity of the statement seemed to hit Dennis harder than any physical blow. He went slack beneath me, the fightdraining out of him as the first rays of sunrise crested the eastern mountains.
Sheriff Calloway’s cruiser pulled into the drive, lights flashing but siren cutting off as he assessed the scene. He stepped out, hand resting casually on his holstered weapon as he surveyed the aftermath—Dennis pinned beneath me, his friend still moaning on the ground where Sterling had left him, and Sterling himself standing calmly to the side as if he’d just happened by for a morning stroll.
“I see the party started without me,” Calloway drawled, approaching with the cautious confidence of a man who’d handled his share of alpha confrontations. “Though I can’t say I’m surprised about the guest list.”
He nodded to Sterling in acknowledgment, then fixed his gaze on Dennis. “Jenkins, you are a special kind of stupid, you know that? Ankle monitor tampering, restraining order violation, and from the looks of it, attempted assault. You’re going away for a good long while this time.”
I maintained my hold until Calloway produced his handcuffs, then smoothly transferred Dennis into official custody. As the sheriff recited the Miranda rights, I stepped back, watching dispassionately as Dennis was hauled to his feet, still spewing venom and threats.
“This isn’t over!” he shouted, struggling against the cuffs. “You hear me, Callahan? This will never be over!”
I didn’t dignify his ranting with a response. He wasn’t worth the breath it would take to speak. Instead, I turned away, using the moment to check on Sterling’s handiwork. The second attacker was being tended to by a deputy who’d arrived with Calloway. From the way he was cradling his arm and the glazed look in his eyes, he wouldn’t be swinging crowbars at anyone for a long time.
Sterling appeared at my side, his voice pitched so low only I could hear it. “Say the word and he disappears tonight.”
I knew exactly what he meant. Sterling had contacts, resources, methods that operated outside the bounds of law or morality. One word from me, and Dennis Jenkins would simply cease to exist—no body, no trail, no questions that couldn’t be answered with plausible deniability.
I considered it—truly considered it—as I watched Calloway load Dennis into the back of the cruiser. The world would be a better place without him in it. Danny would be safer. Our child would never have to worry about the monster lurking in the shadows of their parent’s past.
But that wasn’t the example I wanted to set. That wasn’t the foundation I wanted for our family.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
The unspoken “but maybe soon” hung between us, a promise and a warning. Some lines I wouldn’t cross—not today, not yet—but if Dennis ever managed to threaten Danny or our child again, all bets were off.
Sterling nodded once, understanding perfectly. Then his eyes shifted, looking past me toward the house. I turned, following his gaze, and my heart caught in my throat.
There, standing on the porch in the golden light of dawn, was Danny. He stood on the porch, one hand curved protectively over his stomach where our child grew, the other gripping the railing so hard his knuckles showed white even from this distance.
Danny’s face was pale in the dawn light, but his posture held none of the cowering fear I’d seen when we first met. He stood straight-backed and resolute, watching as the monster who’d haunted his nightmares was finally being taken away.
Something primal surged through my chest at the sight—a bone-deep certainty that I would tear apart anyone who threatened what was mine.
Our eyes met across the distance, and the world narrowed to just the two of us. In that moment, I understood with perfect clarity that I would burn everything to ash if it meant keeping him and our child safe. Not just Dennis—anyone, anything that posed a threat. The certainty should have frightened me, but instead it settled in my bones like an ancient truth.
Danny looked different in the soft light of dawn. His pregnancy had begun to show more prominently in recent weeks, the gentle swell of his stomach visible even beneath the oversized T-shirt he wore—one of mine, I realized with a surge of possessive pleasure. His hair was tousled from sleep, his eyes wide, but steady as he watched the scene unfold. He hadn’t run, hadn’t hidden. He was witnessing his tormentor’s defeat firsthand.
Pride bloomed in my chest alongside the protective rage. My omega was stronger than anyone gave him credit for—stronger than even he realized.
Sheriff Calloway finished securing Dennis in the back of his cruiser. The deputy was loading the second attacker into another vehicle, the man still moaning about his arm.
Sterling’s face was expressionless as always, but I caught the slight tension in his shoulders, the readiness that never quite left him.
“I’ll make sure they don’t double back,” he murmured, eyes scanning the perimeter with professional thoroughness. “Full sweep, fifty-yard radius.”
I nodded, grateful as always for my brother’s meticulous nature. The ranch was secure, but Sterling would verify it personally. That was who he was—the shadow that made sure the light stayed safe.
