MAX
Two fuckingalphas in Rys’s territory without permission? I was surprised he hadn’t lost his shit already. Mase tensed beside me, hands clenching and unclenching, and I could only imagine what emotions were coming through his soulbond.
“You have some things of mine,” Xen said, gaze flicking to me and Jake before settling on Elliot. “Make that three things. What the fuck are you doing here, Elliot?”
Elliot flinched but his voice held no trace of fear when he answered. “I’m trying to clear up the mess you made.”
Xen scoffed. “I’ll deal with you later.” His gaze swung back to Rys.
He’d do well not to take his eyes off him because I didn’t think I’d ever seen Rys so close to losing his control on the wolf inside him. His body vibrated with the need to shift.
“Hand them over,” Xen said, voice cold.
Rys’s lip curled, fangs the wrong side of human. “I have nothing that belongs to you.” He shrugged, pulling his wolf back under the surface until he looked like all this had no effect on him. The sheer willpower and control that must’ve taken blew my mind. I’d always known Rys would make a great alpha, but seeing him like this, knowing what it must’ve cost him to tolerate not one, buttwoalphas so near his pack house? My respect for him grew exponentially.
Xen snarled and took a step forward.
Rys’s roar cut through the air, stopping him in his tracks. “Don’t come any fucking closer if you want this to stay amicable.”
“Or what?” Xen sneered. “You’ll attack us?” He glanced at Frost as if to emphasise the fact Rys was outnumbered.
“You’ve come into my territory uninvited and unannounced. If I perceive you as a threat, then it’s within my right as alpha to protect my pack however I see fit.” Rys paused, letting that sink in. Xen frowned, clearly about to refute that, when Rys added, “According to the old pack laws, whichyouseem to be following these days.”
Xen’s mouth opened and closed, but he seemed lost for words.
“Alpha Calder.” Haylen Frost stepped forward, only one pace though. Enough to grab Rys attention but nothing more. “We’re not here to cause trouble.”
“Really?” Rys deadpanned. “That’s not what it looks like.”
Frost smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Jake Allen is engaged to my daughter. Bound by an alpha pact that he willingly entered into. We’d like to complete their bonding ceremony as soon as possible.”
Jake gasped, his grip on my hand bordering on painful. “You said we needed to be seen out together first. Let your pack get used to it.”
Haylen shrugged. “Things change.”
I caught movement in the trees to our left, downwind of Xen and the others. Talis, Axel, Dathal, Nick, and—I squinted—Chylath and Wyn crept through the trees. Rys might’ve told them not to use magic, but the silence with which they moved wasn’t natural.
Fuck.
But were they close enough forAxel’smagic to work? On the off chance it decided to cooperate, Xen needed to be thinking about that night. Rys had all his attention focused on Xen and Frost. I didn’t know if he’d seen the others approaching.
“Hmm…” Rys cocked his head to the side. “Let’s talk about that pact.”
“It’s nothing to do with you,” Xen spat.
“I think it’s every alpha’s concern when two of you start resurrecting pack laws that have no business seeing the light of day again.”
Xen grabbed John and shoved him forward. “John Allen killed Haylen’s beta. Haylen was well within his rights to take his life in compensation. The deal we strucksavedhim. Would you rather John had died?”
“I’dratheryou’d called the paranormal police and let them do theirfucking jobsrather than roll out laws that were abandoned for a reason. I’dratheryou let justice be served than force two innocents into a bond that neither of them wants. That practice is abhorrent and I’m ashamed to share the title of alpha with the two of you.”
Frost snarled, hands curled into fists. “Watch your fucking mouth.” He stepped forward, Owen matching him.
Sasha and Syl stepped up beside Rys, flanking him.
“What happened that night, Xen?” Rys’s gaze never wavered, but I knew then that he was well aware of Axel’s approach. “It’s convenient that you were the only one there to see what happened. That when Jake and Max arrived, Faris was already dead and John had no memory of what went down. And you’d already made a deal with Haylen on Jake and John’s behalf.”
“You seem to know an awful lot about that night.” Xen’s eyes widened, gaze landing on me and Jake. “How?”
