“Good.” My confusion turns into a breathy laugh as he offers, “Because these sweatpants hide nothing, so you can stand in front of me, and I’ll keep you steady on your feet.”
“Oh look, I’m useful, afterall. Yay, me.”
He chuckles, kissing the top of my head as we rearrange our position. “That you are. The first line of defense.”
With his boner pressed firmly against my ass, he settles a hand possessively over my stomach, keeping me pinned against him. For a brief moment, unease creeps in at the thought of several of the men around here being able to scent my arousal on the air and know that there’s a horny chick in their midst, but then Raiden and Kodiak land on either side of us, and I remember that there’s no reason to be afraid. They won’t let anyone here touch me.
Raiden assesses the scene in a fraction of a heartbeat. “Kodi, with me. Stone, Amara’s yours.”
Tongue in cheek, I say nothing. It’s hypocritical to be annoyed that he didn’t bother to give me any orders before striding away when I can’t do anything. It goes without saying that I’ll stick close to my guard. But after Kodi’s speech in the car, I realize how badly I want Raiden to consider me an asset instead of a liability, to trust me to help him handle a problem instead of always adding to his list.
Shoving that thought onto the backburner, I hone in on assessing our surroundings. The clearing is full of at least fifty shifters, the divide between the two packs as obvious as if there were a line drawn in the dirt. Raiden and Kodiak approach them, but all eyes are already on us, several settling on my face and widening before swiftly flicking their gazes away.
I’ll give the wolves this much. They’re brutal sons of bitches that cling to their hierarchy like it’s gospel, and embrace their animalistic halves more than any other shifter, but they respect a man’s claim to his mate. Openly staring at a mated woman is the easiest way to get your throat torn out, and even with tensions as high as they are, nobody has a death wish.
Raiden doesn’t bother raising his voice to be heard over the crowd, demanding respect. He earns it with effortless grace and a single raised eyebrow. “I don’t think I need to point out that I’d much rather be at home with my mate than here listening to grown men squabble. So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” He flicks his gaze between the two factions, honing in instantly on the alpha to the left. “You first.”
Aggression radiates off of the man in tangible waves. If it wasn’t for the confidence and purpose that clings to him like a second skin, he’d blend in with everyone else, apart from the one man off to the side that’s built like a tank; his beta, I assume. “My apologies you were forced to travel all this way, but it was unnecessary. This is a simple matter with a simple solution, and will be dealt with as our laws demand.”
Kodiak snorts. “Your laws are rules passed down by word of mouth, created by angry old men that sought to solve all of their problems with bloodshed, as were all of our ancestors’. They aren’t something recognized by anyone outside of those that choose to play your posturing games, and it’s my pleasure to inform you that many wolves these days refuse to participate in that cult-like charade anymore. So let’s try this again-” he spins his metal staff between his fingers lazily “- what’s got everyone’s panties in a twist this lovely evening?”
Fury pulsates off of not only him, but the other two dozen men surrounding the alpha. Still, he manages to keep a tight leash on his temper. “Apparently the fathers of one of my pack members doesn’t respect the sanctity of mate bonds. Now that they’ve accepted the dowry and alliance that came with marrying off their daughter, they wish to double dip the pot if you will and pair her off elsewhere for more gain.”
A furious snarl resonates across the divide before a red-faced man spits, “That’s a load of horseshit and you damn well know it!”
The indignant man’s alpha approaches Raiden and Kodiak with a clenched jaw. “I apologize for my pack causing you trouble, but it was unfounded. I’m not challenging their claim on my daughter, and I’ll handle my men before things escalate further.”
Another man shoves through the crowd and takes a swing at the man speaking to Raiden. I startle in surprise, Stone’s fingertips digging into my flesh as he subtly urges me to appear unaffected, a stark reminder that everything is a game in a world where demons masquerade as men.
“She’s ourdaughter!” the man seethes, spitting on the ground at his alpha’s, and apparently mate-brother’s, feet. “Those pieces of shit are hurting her, and you want to turn the other cheek because of some fucking alliance? If they’d abuse their mate, it’s only a matter of time before they say to hell with the treaty and shit goes back to the way it was before.”
Scanning the crowd, I finally find the tiny woman in the center of five men, and my chest tightens in sympathy. Even as the sun dips below the horizon, the little I can see of her face has a wicked bruise on her jaw, as if someone had backhanded her into next week before coming here, and the area around one eye is slightly swollen. If they have no problem leaving such visible marks, I can only imagine what state the rest of her is in.
The resigned alpha closes his eyes. “So itwasyou that called them.”
Unashamed, the volatile man I’m assuming is Eric stands a little straighter. “I wouldn’t have had to if you’d actually done something. But you’d rather see our daughter suffer the results ofyourfailure to protect our people than lose face. She deserves better.”
Across the way, a random man scoffs. “Says the man that had no problem accepting the money that came with this sham of an alliance.”
Things escalate into a screaming match, Stone tightening his hold on me and tensing like he’s prepared to take to the skies in a split-second. I can’t say I blame him when I watch a few men shift, their clothes shredding as they bare teeth, stalking forward. Bright side, only men that have received a claiming bite can shift, and female wolves are in high demand. The down side? It means most are carrying weapons to make up for the weakness, and several draw their guns.
Kodiak doesn’t wait for Raiden’s command. With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, he curls one hand, liquifying every gun and knife in the clearing as if it were no effort at all, turning their own weapons back on them to fashion muzzles around the snarling wolves. “Now, that’s no way to behave. There are ladies present, you know. You’re embarrassing yourselves with all these temper tantrums.”
Forty-eight furious glares turn onto Kodiak, temporarily uniting in the face of a common enemy. The other? Smug as shit, the wolf sits down on his haunches, relief and hope shining bright in his eyes.
Raiden walks toward the woman, appearing completely unconcerned by all of the hostility lobbed his way. Sensing the danger, the crowd reluctantly parts, giving him a clear path. Her mates aren’t as easily intimidated, defensively stepping closer to her, but it’s obvious to anyone with eyeballs that it isn’t to protect her, it’s more like toddlers that don’t want to share their toy.
Stopping within arm reach, Raiden meets her eye. “Those bruises. They were put there by your mates?”
One interjects before she can get a chance to speak. “She’sourmate. Ours to do with as we please. Or would you be fine with some random jackasses storming in and telling you how to treat yours?”
“If any of us were to forget the blessing in our midst, Ihopesomeone would step in on her behalf to smack some sense into us.” The cruel smile that paints Raiden’s face sends shivers downmyspine. How these men don’t piss themselves is a miracle. “But you wouldn’t get within fifty feet of her, so your point is irrelevant.”
With a series of quick, efficient hits, Raiden renders all five men unconscious. He didn’t even break a sweat, and if the small frown he’s wearing is any indication, the lack of a challenge has him disappointed. Shaking it off, he faces the woman yet again, raising an eyebrow expectantly as he awaits the answer to his previous question.
Voice trembling, the woman wraps her arms around her middle, but to her credit, holds his gaze, a fire in her amber eyes. “Yes, they were, and no, I obviously don’twantto stay with them, but I’m not going to be the reason that anyone else dies.” She glances at her one decent father, vastly outnumbered by the hostile glares from members of their own pack, and away just as swiftly. “It was worse before. At least now it's only me that suffers instead of everyone back home. I knew what to expect from this alliance, but apparently my father had his head in the sand about what would happen to me after they sent me off into enemy territory.”
She grimaces. “I don’t blame them; any of them. Not when the truth would bring more pain than clinging to the delusion that they weren’t sending me off like a cow to the slaughter. I’m more surprised that he chose to care now. Maybe... maybe he really thought my mates would treat me well.” She swallows. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s too late, the damage is done, and fighting about how unfair everything is will only result in more of the people I grew up with being killed.” Resignation dulls her eyes, her voice ringing hollow. “The good of the pack is more important than any one person’s desires.”
