Aurelia felt cold.
Her eyes were closed and her breathing had grown shallow, each breath quieter than the last.
She had already been weak from whatever had happened to her yesterday, and now these damned idiots had found another way to push her body past its limits.
Darius shifted her slightly in his arms before brushing the strands of silver hair away from her face.
Her skin had gone noticeably paler, the cut on her forehead still staining the side of her face with dried blood.
His jaw clenched.
He slowly lifted his head and turned towards the crowd.
“Who started this?”
No one answered.
They stood there with stones still clutched in their hands, refusing to meet his eyes.
It made something inside him snap.
“I SAID WHO STARTED THIS!?”
The roar shook the courtyard.
Several people flinched, others instinctively stepped back, but still no one spoke.
The sheer audacity of them to remain silent after dragging an injured woman out of her own home made his blood boil.
Nicolas hurried over, his expression tense as his eyes swept over Aurelia.
“We’ll figure this out later,” he said carefully.
“She needs a healer.”
Darius looked down at the woman in his arms.
Only then did he notice how limp she had become.
Nicolas was right.
Whatever punishment awaited the people responsible could wait.
Aurelia couldn’t.
Without another word he started walking, intending to get her to the healer as quickly as possible.
He had barely taken three steps when someone blocked his path.
It was the man he had punched.
Blood still trickled from his crooked nose, but he stood his ground with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.
“With all due respect, Alpha…” His voice was hoarse but unwavering.
“That’s a murderer.”
Darius’ patience wore thinner.
“She’s not.”
He stepped forward yet the warrior didn’t move.
Only now did Darius properly recognize him.
Adam.
One of the warriors under his command.
“The sorceress has bewitched you,” Adam said, taking a step closer.
Darius looked at him for a long moment, almost amused by the man’s pathetic attempt to challenge him through sheer size alone.
“Move.” His tone was cold and flat, a warning more than an order.
Adam swallowed, but instead of backing down he squared his shoulders.
“I challenge you, Alpha.”
A ripple moved through the crowd.
Several wolves sucked in sharp breaths while others stared at Adam as though he had lost his mind.
Adam never took his eyes off Darius.
“I challenge Alpha Darius Dane…” His voice rang across the silent courtyard.
“…for the position of Alpha.”
The words made a growl erupt from Darius’ chest, low and thunderous as it rolled through the crowd.
Deep within him he felt Kyle’s rage rise to meet his own, the wolf pacing furiously beneath his skin.
This fool had already crossed a line by laying his hands on his mate.
Now he dared to challenge him?
Without taking his eyes off Adam, Darius carefully handed Aurelia over to Nicolas.
“Get her to the healer.”
Nicolas nodded immediately, adjusting Aurelia in his arms before stepping back.
The people around them instinctively widened the circle.
No one spoke, they didn’t dare to.
Adam was the first to move.
Bones cracked loudly as his body twisted and expanded.
His clothes tore apart as coarse grey fur spread across his skin, replacing flesh until a large grey wolf stood where the man once had.
He bared his teeth, a deep snarl rumbling from his throat as his claws dug into the snow.
Darius didn’t move.
His eyes remained fixed on the wolf before him.
Come on, Kyle.
The response was immediate.
Heat spread through his body, followed by the familiar pull beneath his skin.
His muscles expanded, bones shifting with loud cracks that echoed through the silent courtyard.
Thick black fur swallowed his skin as he dropped onto four powerful legs, his massive frame towering over Adam’s.
His amber-brown eyes settled on the grey wolf.
Around them, the crowd instinctively took another step back.
The moment Kyle’s paws touched the snow Adam charged.
The grey wolf came at him with a snarl that echoed through the courtyard, his jaws snapping straight for his throat.
Kyle didn’t retreat.
He lowered his body and met him head on, the force of their bodies colliding sending snow spraying in every direction.
The sound of teeth crashing together made several wolves flinch as Adam’s jaws missed his neck by mere inches before Kyle drove his shoulder into the other wolf with enough force to throw him several feet across the ground.
Adam rolled once before scrambling back onto his paws, blood already dripping from where Kyle’s claws had raked across his shoulder.
The pain only seemed to make him angrier.
Foam gathered around his jaws as he snarled again and circled slowly, waiting for an opening.
Kyle watched him.
His chest rose steadily, amber eyes never leaving the grey wolf.
He looked almost bored.
That only made Adam more reckless.
With another furious snarl he lunged again, this time aiming lower.
His teeth sank into Kyle’s foreleg.
A sharp gasp rippled through the crowd.
Blood stained the black fur almost immediately.
Kyle didn’t even whine.
Instead, he twisted violently, ripping his leg free and bringing his jaws down on Adam’s shoulder.
Flesh tore beneath his teeth with a sickening sound, hot blood spilling over the snow as Adam let out a cry that sounded more desperate than threatening.
The smell of blood filled the air.
Kyle shoved him away only to meet him again before the grey wolf could regain his footing.
His paw struck Adam across the muzzle with enough force to split the skin beneath his eye.
Blood sprayed across the white ground as Adam stumbled sideways, dazed, but still refused to stay down.
He came again.
Again.
Again.
Each attack grew sloppier than the last.
Kyle avoided every one with frightening ease.
The difference between them became painfully obvious.
The black wolf finally lost what little patience he had left.
The instant Adam overcommitted to another bite, Kyle caught him by the throat.
His jaws clamped down hard enough for blood to seep between his teeth.
Adam’s eyes widened.
Kyle lifted the fully grown wolf clean off the ground before slamming him into the snow with a force that cracked the frozen earth beneath them.
The impact knocked the breath from Adam’s lungs.
He tried to rise.
He tried again, growling through blood that now dripped steadily from his neck and shoulder.
Kyle didn’t give him another chance.
He was on him in a heartbeat.
One massive paw pinned Adam flat against the snow while his jaws hovered just above the exposed throat.
Warm blood dripped steadily from Kyle’s muzzle, landing on Adam’s chest one drop at a time.
The courtyard had gone completely silent.
The place had gone quiet, they simply watched.
Adam stopped struggling, the fight had left his body.
His ears flattened against his head and, after a long moment of trembling beneath the Alpha’s weight, his tail slowly lowered in submission.
Kyle held him there for another few seconds.
Just long enough for every wolf present to understand who was in charge.
Kyle wanted to rip Adam’s head off.
Darius felt it.
The urge burned through him, hot and violent, making his claws itch to finish what they had started.
Adam had touched their mate, had dragged her through the snow like she was nothing.
He deserved worse.
Retreat, Kyle.
The wolf answered with a low growl of protest, his jaws still hovering dangerously close to Adam’s throat.
Retreat.
For a long moment Kyle refused.
Then, with obvious reluctance, he stepped back.
The black wolf slowly disappeared as Darius shifted back into his human form.
Blood streaked his bare skin, some of it his own, most of it Adam’s.
His chest rose and fell steadily, but the anger beneath his skin hadn’t faded.
It still hummed through every vein.
His eyes swept over the crowd.
The wolves instinctively shrank back beneath his gaze.
A few lowered their heads while others avoided looking at him altogether.
Moments ago they had been throwing stones and demanding Aurelia’s death.
Now they couldn’t even hold his stare.
Darius finally lowered his gaze to Adam.
The warrior lay sprawled across the bloodstained snow, his breathing shallow as crimson spread beneath his battered body.
Every attempt to rise ended with him collapsing back onto the frozen ground.
“Leave the pack,” Darius said, his voice cold enough to freeze the air around them.
“And never come back here.”
Adam said nothing.
Whether it was pride or exhaustion, Darius didn’t care.
He turned to leave.
The crowd immediately parted, giving him a clear path without a single word.
No one dared stand in his way.
After a few steps, he stopped.
Without looking back, he spoke.
“If anyone repeats this…” His voice was quiet.
“…I won’t be so merciful next time.”
Hey guys!
Give a comment!
don’t be a quiet reader..
show Mami some love with powerstones or even better…
a golden ticket!
Also check out my other book