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Chapter One
Rylan
Reality was slow to return. The wall between my wolf and me had collapsed with a single touch. I was trapped inside my head with him while my body did Spirit knows what against my will. Feeling returned first but my vision took longer.
My limbs trembled as awareness returned, the present hitting me like a ton of bricks. My right hand was wrapped around the hilt of a blade—a blade that made my skin burn. It was tempered by the fingers I felt on my wrist.
As my sight returned, I recognized the touch. My lips twitched, knowing my mate had saved me from whatever this was. I couldn’t wait to show her how appreciative I was later on, but right now I had to assess the situation and figure a way out of this.
Beautiful russet eyes met mine, and I’d know them anywhere. Their depths held my heart and soul, everything that I was and everything I hoped to become.
Red was the next color that registered. For a moment, I thought Pearl had changed her dress. Not that it mattered. She would look stunning in any color or fabric. She could be dressed in a burlap sack, and I’d still want her.
The thought made my blood surge and my pants suddenly become tighter.
A sharp inhale made me shake the rest of the fog off; my body trembled against my will. My eyes sharpened as my wolf merged back with my human side, revealing what exactly I was seeing.
Pearl was in front of me, dressed in the white dress I bought for her, but it wasn’t white anymore. It was red. Crimson red bleeding down her front from the blade that was nearly halfway buried in her neck. Right where I was planning my mating bite to go.
Panic gripped my heart, followed swiftly by horror. My hand still held the hilt of the blade that had cut into Pearl’s throat.
My other hand was suddenly gripping her shoulder before I made a conscious command for it to move. Her eyes rolled as her body went limp. I caught her before she could drop an inch. I pulled her against my chest, the panic surrounding my heart about to erupt into full blown fight or flight.
That’s not what happened. Those instincts were pushed to the side as something dark and visceral bubbled up from deep inside. An energy that burned but also felt incredible.
She’s just unconscious from the blood loss.
My jaw clenched as I tried to get a handle on whatever this was, but my wolf stepped in, advising me not to fight it.
Instead, I concentrated on Pearl, on her heartbeat, on her breathing. It didn’t help. Every sense I had was filled with my mate, her blood seeping into the material of my tux.
I just got her.
Rage ignited and joined the burning energy that threatened to consume me.
Fur rippled down my arms as my muscles bulged. My body was trying to shift, but my wolf insisted I stay in control. My gums ached as my teeth elongated, cutting my lips and cheeks, the taste of copper coating my tongue.
My head tilted back, a pressure building in my lungs until I couldn’t hold it back anymore. A power I’d never felt before and the mightiest roar I could muster met and became something I didn’t think I could ever explain.
A sound mixed with so much raw unfiltered anguish and power exploded from every cell in my body. The concussive blast rocked me backward, making me scramble not to drop Pearl since the knife was still lodged in her throat.
“Rylan?” a male voice asked as a presence settled down beside me.
My teeth bared; a warning growl rattled my chest before I realized who it was.
Deacon, my friend.
“I’m here to help,” he said, doing his best not to rile me further.
A buzzing filled my ears like a hornet’s nest had suddenly decided to take up residence. I fought the urge to shake my head until my wolf forced my attention to the crowd around us.
Shifters from every pack were staring at me while I held my blood-covered mate.
“You broke it. Somehow you broke whatever it was that was controlling everyone.”
My attention was on Pearl though. I couldn’t care less what happened to everyone else. My mate was all that mattered in this moment. I was ready to say fuck them all. My mate’s life wasn’t worth this. She deserved so much better than this.
‘Get your shit together, Alpha,’ a depthless voice spoke in my mind sternly.
