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I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Yet at the same time, every beastly instinct inside became alert. My beast craved this. Yes. Do it.
“The bite balances everything. It’s…the…only—” He screamed, wrenching my heart back down to my chest.
“Levi!” I dropped the phone as my hand shifted into beast mode, my body contorting, fangs dropping, my beastly awareness surging into my head, demanding we fix this. The primal need was relentless, urging me forward, the same primal need that had caused me to bite my uncle. The same one that had coaxed me into mating with Levi and Johnny.
Kane had my phone, and he was shouting at Levi, trying to get him to respond, but I was too busy fighting for control as my beast side switched my brain from logic to instinct. I reeled back, fighting against this urge to bite yet again.
My body turned toward Ruby like I had no control, and I was horrified, not knowing if my next actions would end my friend’s life right here, right now. The only drive I had, clear as anything, was to bite.
No! I clawed at the threads that bound my beast and I together, pleading with that side of myself to be reasonable, to be calm. We couldn’t murder the only friend I’d ever had.
My eyes rolled back, a wave of dizziness turning my vision foggy, and, in my mind, I saw…
A battle raging, werewolves fighting side by side, a female werebeast roared, her snout in the air, jaw wide, baring teeth, chest flexed, arms bulging. The answering call wrapped itself around my head, echoing with familiarity. As I blinked away the fog, I saw the threads of their connections. She pulsed her strength through those threads, out to each of her pack, amping them both physically and emotionally. I saw the connection as it coursed through the lines that bound them, and I saw when those pulses bounced back, racing toward her so she could absorb their answering calls.
I blinked to reality as my body surged forward, inches away from Ruby. Kane roared. He wrapped his arms around my bulky waist, attempting to hold me back.
But he was no match against the desires of my beast.
Confused, I continued to fight, trying to hold myself back but slowly, inch by inch, like I was moving through molasses, I finally got close enough to Ruby to do some damage. I elbowed Kane back, sending him flying to the wall with a sickening crunch. The plane teetered sideways.
The thundering approach of his men came toward the back room.
My monstrous arm swooped toward my friend, but instead of raking her down the middle, I surprised myself by taking her gently, reverently into my arms. Confused, I gave up the fight. Unhindered by my own objections, a new understanding washed over me.
I tenderly brushed away Ruby’s hair, clumsy with my big fingers. I cleared her throat and bared her flesh, then without any hesitation, I lowered my gnarled muzzle to Ruby’s neck and pierced her swiftly.
Ruby didn’t cry out, but her mouth opened, along with her eyes, wild with panic at first, only to calm as my bite penetrated her awareness. The link between us snapped into place instantly and, as I pulled myself back, sliding unconsciously to my human form, I knew what I had to do.
“Charlie?” Ruby croaked. “Did you…bite me?”
I caressed her cheek, and as I stared into her eyes, I sent all my love, my strength, my calm through our newly forming link. My mark spread along her skin, not a starburst like what Johnny and Levi had but spirals that moved from my bite toward her heart.
With every intention comes a mark. Words from the scripts that Kane had read out loud to all of us. With every mark comes a bond. With every bond comes a commitment.
“You’re safe. You’re going to be fine.” I kissed her forehead, and as our connection snapped firmly into place, her trust and love rebounded back to me. “Rest, friend.” I sent the command through our tether, and Ruby closed her eyes.
It was more power than I could fathom, but my beast felt perfectly at home with it.
I rubbed my hand over my face and the cobwebs cleared from my thoughts. I’d always known what to do. I only had to accept it.
“What have you done?” Kane roared as he pulled me roughly away from Ruby.
I let him tear me off the bed. I didn’t fight when he shook me like a rag doll. When he hauled me up his body and gripped my face, glaring daggers into my soul, I let him do that too.
“Answer me, Charlotte.”
“I saved her.” I met his glare with confidence settling my feet to the floor, then rising up until I met him eye to eye, a little beastly reinforcement lengthening my spine. “And I know how to save Johnny and Levi, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlie
Once we arrived at the mansion, we got Ruby set up in a medical room where she would be contained while we waited to see how my bite impacted her transformation. For now, she was unconscious and resting, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the tranqs or because of my bite. Either way, I was grateful for the reprieve. She was here, with me, and I’d be able to guide her through the worst of it. I mean, that’s what I thought would happen. I was going on beastly instinct. No more cutting people off from my thoughts, my emotions. From now on, I’d be open to them, including my pack and my mates…and now Ruby.
I turned my attention to the werewolves who needed me most. Johnny was on the way via the fastest jet Duke money could buy. He’d land in a couple of hours, which gave me time to focus on my other suffering mate.
Levi hadn’t greeted us when we arrived, and he wasn’t answering his cell.
