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I’ll die first.
“I’m not.”
“Then you’re of no subsequence to me, pup,” he responds, waving me off and showing blatant disrespect.
“I am the pack leader of the Unforgiven.”
Wyatt steps out into the clearing, several of my brothers with him and they flank me, Wyatt standing tall beside me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, talking to him through our mind link, but staring straight at Jasinda’s father as his own men get out to gather around him.
“Your mate’s fear, along with your aggression, alerted the pack. You’ve claimed her. She is one of ours now and we’ll protect her no matter what.”
Wyatt’s words ring in my head and cause a burning in my chest. It’s been a while since I felt a part of my own pack. The fact that despite our issues, Wyatt has shown up now means a hell of a lot.
“Jasinda belongs to me now,” I tell her father, and I see his expression grow even harder.
“Daughter, let’s go,” he orders without responding to what I said.
I feel the quiver of fear that runs through her, but she beats it down. She moves from behind me and faces her father, her shoulders pulled back, her chin tipped up in defiance.
“My place is here with Colt now. We’re mated.”
“You’re promised to Stark,” her father says in response, his voice laced with anger.
“As Alpha of the Unforgiven and ruler of this territory, I’m ordering you to leave. Jasinda has chosen her mate’s clan over you and she is now under our protection,” Wyatt declares and something else slips back in place. Something that has been missing for a long time. I feel part of my brothers again. I feel my link with my Alpha slowly thread back together. “Under shifter fate and law, when a mating and claiming has occurred, there is no discussion of fighting. It’s set in stone. You have no power in these parts, and I’m demanding you leave.”
“She’s my daughter,” he growls.
“She’s my mate. I won’t let her go. She belongs with me now.”
“She’s been promised to me. I have claim to her,” another male says, standing beside Jasinda’s father, his face a mask of anger.
My wolf growls and I feel my eyes begin to change as my vision sharpens. It’s all I can do to hold him back. I’m a hair’s breadth from shifting.
“Why do you want me, Stark? We’re not in love. I’ve found my one true mate. You should be happy for me. I hope that one day you’ll find your mate, too,” Jasinda says and I snarl. I don’t like my mate talking to another male. I smell the want he has for her. He may not be her mate, but he covets what’s mine.
He reeks of envy.
“You were promised to me, as well as being Alpha of your clan one day. I will not step aside for that, Jasinda.”
“I’m mated. That can’t be undone.”
“But it can. If I kill your male, the bond will be broken.”
“No! I won’t let you harm him,” Jasinda growls.
“What say you, Beta?” Stark snarls, thinking his use of words degrades me. He wishes to mock me and have me react in anger, make myself vulnerable. He doesn’t realize that Jasinda is much too important for me to be stupid. He’ll soon find that out, though.
“Wyatt, protect my woman, please.” I reach out to him in my mind. I ask him in a way that I thought I never would again. The word please does not come easy to a strong shifter, and it shouldn’t. But my mate is all that matters. I need to make sure she’s safe.
“Kendra,” Wyatt calls out and I sense Kendra behind me, her arms going around Jasinda.
“Let’s go to the edge of the clearing with the others,” Kendra murmurs softly.
“My place is beside Colt,” Jasinda argues, and pride thrums through my body, my cock growing heavy with desire and the need to claim her again. She has such fire and spirit. She makes me proud to call her mine.
“We’ll only distract them. You don’t want to be the reason Colt is hurt,” the wold named Kendra says, and I must admit in that moment I misjudged her. She’s not weak, she’s not even afraid of Jasinda and even I know my mate’s wolf is ready to attack.
I turn to my mate, confident in ways that I haven’t been in years that Wyatt is guarding my back. I look deeply into my female’s eyes, my fingers softly caressing the side of her face. I let them trail down the line of her neck, moving over my mating mark.
“All will be well, my beautiful little mate. I’ll take care of Stark and then you and I will go to my cabin like we planned.”
“You promise you’ll be okay?” she asks stubbornly.
“Don’t you have faith in your male, sweetheart?” I ask her softly, a smile sliding on my face as I fill with peace.
