Page 205 of All Packed Up

Unease slithered through her belly as she looked up at the alpha, as she took in his scent. It was bitter, made her nose wrinkle. How had she ever thought this was an alpha for her?

But if this alpha, who made her stomach churn so violently, could put on a mask of the utmost care and worry…

Then she could slap it off of him.

Before she could doubt herself, she lifted her arm and swung, palm flattened.

It cracked across his face, snapped his head to the side.

Wendy had never felt more powerful.

Her hand stung.

And then her throat was in the tightest grasp she’d ever felt, precious breath slipping from her lungs but unable to bring more in against the pressure on her windpipe.

There he is.

Gone was the fake love. The mask of care. The concern and worry.

In its place was fury.

Derek. The real Derek. Pure animosity burned in his gaze as he tightened the fingers of his left hand around her throat. She blinked at him through the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as pain radiated from her throat.

He knew he’d fucked up. She could see it dawn on him as he snapped his teeth at her in frustration.

Nic’s and Griffith’s shouts blurred into a growl, and she watched Gavin, Josh, and Roman disappear from her peripherals. Wendy wiggled in Derek’s grip, clawing at his arm and hand to no avail.

Behind her, growls bled into the tell-tale thunch of fists meeting flesh, and Wendy’s heart sank.

She had faith in Griffith and Nic, but it was three on two, and she’d never seen them actually fight—

What if they got hurt?

A whine built up in her very core, but she had no way of letting it out because she couldn’t breathe.

Her gaze fluttered shut, but she pried it back open at movement over Derek’s shoulder.

Wendy could have sobbed at the familiar forms racing toward her in the dark. Instead, her lack of air was making her vision spotty, and the bloody scratches she was leaving on Derek’s hand weren’t deterring him.

But Wendy wasn’t going to let him win.

A growl and shouts of outrage sounded behind her, and Derek’s gaze flicked over her head, the perfect distraction. It was in that second that Wendy acted.

She reached up and over with her right hand, grabbed his right ear, and pulled down and to her right. At the same moment, she jerked her hand down on the bend in his left arm, the one around her throat, and lifted her leg to kick him between the thighs.

The world slowed down as she moved even though it only took a handful of seconds.

His hand dropped from her throat as she yanked his head down, throwing off his balance as his entire body folded in on itself to protect his jewels. The sound he made was something between an oof and a pitiful groan.

She wished she could have relished in the sound of his pain, at the pride she felt for taking care of herself. But instead precious, chilly air scraped down her throat like sandpaper and she coughed and coughed, eyes watering, throat burning.

Arlo ran right for her, bypassing the alpha completely. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her back out of the way as Tate made sure Derek wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Through the chaos, her mind was repeating one phrase, a soft victory chant in the back of her mind.

I was right!

She would have shouted it to the skies, but her throat was so bruised all that came out was a hoarse scratchy sound. Arlo sat her on the trunk of Nic’s car as the thunch of flesh meeting flesh sounded behind him, but he was too tall to see over.