AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pax climbed down and began speaking in an undertone to his tiger.
A moment later, Orley came running into the stable yard. I’d never seen the alpha so angry. “There you are! What took so long?”
“What have you been doing?” I jumped out of the box and strode towards him. “Where is Trix?”
“Been? With my wife and unborn child.” The ugly alpha snapped. “And your mate rode off. That damned Hartwell—”
“Why? What happened?” Pax growled.
“Beatrice left… Rode towards Wales because the omegas think Stimpson took Hero there. Or Hero took him. She—”
My fist flew and there was the satisfying feeling of my knuckles against his face, but it wasn’t enough. He stayed on his feet. All the control I had achieved evaporated the moment my fist landed on the alpha we’d left to protect our mate. He’d failed, and I’d have his blood for it.
“She hates riding,” I spat, bouncing on the balls of my feet and jabbed at the air, loosening my muscles after sitting for so long. “Why would she do that?”
“She took a groom with her,” he said as he dodged the next punch. “My wife is pregnant!”
“You are the alpha! Fight back,” I grunted.
“I did what I could!” he ducked. “But you know Hartwells.”
“Did you tie her up, lock her in a room, and throw away the key?” I snarled. “If you didn’t, you didn’t do enough. She was in your protection. We trusted you. We trusted her.”
The next blow caught him just right, and the great Duke of Orley went down like a stone. I brought back my leg, ready to kick his head in, but Pax jerked me back against his chest.
“I owed you that,” I growled, looking down at him. “Threw the fight that one time, but then you had to go and endanger my mate. Won’t do, duke. Won’t do.”
Orley rolled into a seated position, arms resting on his knees, giving his head a shake. “Fair.”
“Be grateful he missed your pretty nose,” Pax growled at my back.
“Grateful.” The duke spat out some blood. “I shouldn’t expect you to think it much, but I tried. The groom that went with her is the best. Strong man. Good in a fight…”
“Pray it don’t come to that, yer Grace.” A stableboy muttered.
“Keep your mouth shut if you want to have a job, come your next breath.” Pax’s tiger jumped into the man’s way. Then turned that sparking anger towards Pax. “Wouldn’t let me go. That Dickens fellow insisted he go instead. Ain’t right when Miss Hartwell is my master’s mate.”
The tension was high. Alpha aggression aggravating the betas.
“Stop!” We turned to see the duchess standing in the archway. “Please! It… It will be okay. Beatrice had a gun. She had a gun. She will be fine. I promise. We talked about it. Even though it is a Tuesday, it is worth the risk.”
I dropped my fists and the fight. Tuesday. Given the family’s superstition, if the sisters had taken such a dangerous risk on a Tuesday, then they were committed to it. I caught Viola’s expression, pleading and red-rimmed eyes as she watched her husband.
Pax, always needing to be the alpha, glared at the pregnant omega. “Viola. Go to your nest. Rest. Orley… Go after your wife and put an end to her meddling.”
“We have to trust the Goddess,” someone said.
“Menaces. Every damn one of them.” Orley shook his head with disgust. As if we hadn’t had a choice. We had. And we chose Hartwells.
I looked up. The moon already hung in the vast, clear blue of the sky.
I howled. Primal fury could not calm my alpha. Only a fiery omega had that power.
“We’ll rest,” Pax said, a barely perceptible purr seeking to soothe me. “Rest and leave for Wales in the morning.”
“We cannot waste any time—”
He cut me off with a sharp slap. I welcomed the pain, but it didn’t dull the ferality.
