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ChapterThirty-One
SAVANNAH
The one called Victor, Donovan’s old friend, dragged me away from the others, ignoring my struggles to get away from him.
Will was hurt. Donovan was ready to lose it. And now I was getting dragged away by an asshole who’d hurt my mate.
I told him exactly what I thought of him, struggling against his hold.
“Shut it,” Victor demanded, yanking me in between two storefronts. He shoved me against the wall and held me there. “Be quiet.”
We were a distance away, but I could still see the gathered crowd around Donovan from our viewpoint.
Victor checked me over again. He got closer to my concealed weapon, so I fought harder, trying to wriggle away from him. He caught my arms and trapped himself up against me. The muscled beast had wild eyes of ice blue; his hair cut close to his head to reveal a scar that ran from the side of his head to the nape of his neck. With sharp, angular features, he was someone who’d demand a second look under different circumstances.
I tried to headbutt him, but he moved out of the way, forcing me to keep still by grabbing my cheeks with one hand and digging his fingers into my flesh. “Do you want to help Donovan or not?”
Confused at his question, I stammered, “W-what?”
I struggled again, trying to get free. He held me tighter.
“I know you have a gun hidden in that jacket, Savannah, so don’t screw it up now.”
“Screw what up?” Angry, I found his eyes and his cold veneer disappeared. I frowned. “You’re here to help.”
“Yes. I’ve been protecting Warren,”—he cursed—"Donovan, for a long time. Don’t fuck it up now.”
“But how? I don’t understand. He said you slept with Gideon’s daughter. That you got her pregnant and grieved when she died. He said you work for Gideon, that you do his dirty work, and—” He put a hand over my mouth to shut me up. I knocked his hand away. “He told me all that because I’m his mate. The last thing I’ll ever do is put him at risk. But you need to tell me what you’re up to before I put the fate of his life in your hands.”
“You’ve mated?”
“Yes,” I gasped, desperate to get back to the others, to help Donovan.
Uncertain, Victor snatched my hair to the side to see the scars from Donovan’s mate mark on my neck.
“Shit,” he bit out. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“See what?”
“Him mating with you.” He shook his head. “I suppose I should have. You’re as stubborn as he is, heading out here instead of getting help.”
“Help?” I said, aghast. “Who the hell would have helped me? You know what Gideon would have done if I’d gone to the cops.”
Victor went to argue but the words stuck in his throat. Frustrated, he kicked at the wall, looking as if he wanted to throttle me
“Belinda, Gideon’s daughter, got pregnant by a man she loved, and it wasn’t Donovan, okay?” he blurted. “She came to me in tears saying Donovan had refused her, that he was suspicious of her bringing the wedding forward. She was scared, petrified. She knew her father would be furious when he found out she was carrying a half-human baby. She said she’d have to confess all to Donovan, and maybe then he’d marry her anyway. Her hope was that Donovan would protect her from her father’s wrath by claiming the child was his.”
“Oh no…” The pieces began coming together.
“I couldn’t let her do that to him,” Victor continued. “He had so many grand plans, wanting to be alpha one day. But even if he’d married Belinda, Gideon would never have stepped down as alpha without a fight. He was a mean bastard, but at first, Donovan was blinded by his compliments and his eagerness for him to marry his daughter. He treated him like a son in the beginning, and Donovan blossomed in the falsehood of light he shone upon him.”
“You claimed the child?”
“Yes. Donovan didn’t love Belinda. He thought he did but it was bullshit, and she didn’t love him. She had her eyes set on another man. A human. Not part of the pack. Her father would never have allowed the marriage though. And the mate magic would never have engaged between her and Donovan.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because he would have stopped me. He would have stepped up and married her on the spot. I couldn’t let him throw his life away. Not when I saw so much potential in him. Whereas me …” He drifted off, watching the commotion. “They’re about to enter a challenge.”
