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She raises her chin to look at me. I hate the uncertain wavering I see in her eyes. I press a kiss to her lips and strengthen my resolve.
“I will find every single person—human or shifter—looking to hurt you or take advantage of you, and I’m going to kill every last one of them.”
The light radiating off of her recedes slowly.
“Is anyone going to explain this witchcraft that’s currently going on?” Tobias asks dryly.
Tasha and I lock eyes as I answer him. “No, we’re not.” Mostly because I don’t think we have an answer. From what I can tell, this power of hers surprises her as much as it does anyone else. Whatever it is, it protects her. And as long as it keeps protecting her, I’m perfectly willing to accept that the Jarreau sisters happen to come with a little magic.
I wish I had an explanation myself,Tasha admits.
Once I know you’re safe, I’ll go to the ends of the earth to help you find an answer.
Tasha’s expressions warms for me, a tentative smile gracing her lips. The unexplained glow fades slowly until it disappears altogether. We don’t have it all figured out yet together, but we’re getting there.
This threat brought a consequence I don’t think our enemies intended…
Hope for our future as mates.
* * *
Too long passes before Dominic comes to retrieve Tasha with a grim face. She starts to step out of my grip but then hesitates, her hand searching for mine. And fuck that makes me feel good in spite of the circumstances.
Dominic leads us around the corner of a random building where I guess they’ve moved the body of the wolf that attacked me. I was in too much pain in the moment to really catch the details of them finishing the other wolf, but now I’m faced with a mangled body. This doesn’t look like a necessary kill. This looks like an outright slaughter.
Dominic catches my eye, his lips thinning.
Tobias. My wolf instantly wants to search him out, but he didn’t follow us over and I’m not leaving Tasha’s side. I turn my head and study her, looking for some sign of reaction. Her face is surprisingly blank.
Are you okay?I ask her silently.
She meets my gaze, acknowledging me. Only then do I see the anger barely simmering under the surface. It would be hidden from a casual observer, but I’ve studied this woman. I see the anger she’s trying to keep sealed away. I need to get her the hell out of here.
“Well?” Tasha looks at Callum, lifting her chin in a show of strength.
He nods slightly. The action seems to pain him, his shoulders hunching. I almost feel a little bad for him until Tasha starts to pull out of my grasp to move toward him. I jerk back but stop short when she shoots me an angry glare.
This is the wrong time and place to make a scene. Still…You’re mine,I growl across mind link.
She closes the short distance between us and reaches for me. I don’t realize until her fingers caress my skin that she intends to run them over the mark she gave me. A moment passes between us. The touch feels like she’s trying to tie herself to me, which is fucking stupid when the mark itself already did that.
Still, with the two Alphas’ eyes on us, this feels like another stage of claiming. While our eyes are locked, I will her to draw onmystrength to help herself face this nightmare.
I would carry the burden for her entirely if I could.
Tasha pulls herself away from me, though her eyebrows dip like she’s not really sure she wants to. She turns and walks toward the lifeless wolf on the ground, her feet stopping inches away from its shredded neck.
The scene is graphic, but I know as Luna Sovereign, she doesn’t get to recoil. She’s the one who has to answer to other shifters if any questions arise about what happened here. Rogue deaths aren’t uncommon, and I can’t imagine there’s anyone to claim or question the state of the body. But you never know.
She looks at the corpse for far longer than I expected her to before she moves to Callum’s side. Her eyes meet mine briefly, and she pointedly keeps a few inches of space between them. Her words to him are quiet, but not so much that wolf hearing can’t pick them up.
“Jimmy was proud to be your Beta. He was proud to die serving you and our pack. You and I both know it’s the most honorable way for a wolf to go. And now, his death has been balanced.”
She looks to Dominic and then to me. “There won’t be sanctions over this.”
I think she needs to say it for her own benefit more than ours. Even if thereweregoing to be consequences, they would be worth it to know this piece of shit has been dealt with. He didn’t just attack me, he came for my mate.
“I appreciate that,” Dominic speaks up. Of all of us, he’s the one with the most at stake. His pack’s reputation is widely known. And that pack is a layer of protection that all of us need right now. As much as I hate to fucking admit it, the tradition of pack life finally seems good for something.
