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Hoofbeats broke the hushed nighttime quiet, followed by the squeaks and jangles of large bodies dismounting outside the stable doors. Fresh nerves rattled around her chest as she wrung her hands together, cursing herself for even coming here. She’d told the man to fuck off, so why was she now deliberately putting herself in his path?Such an idiot move, Della!
The barn door slid open and Silas entered—leading his horse by the reins with one hand and bracing his other against his ribs. Sloan stomped toward the horse, scowling at Silas and wasting no time laying into him. “Where the fuck have you two been? You’ve got Gus all lathered up, and there’s a goddamn chill in the air.”
Silas muttered some shitty retort, which Della barely heard because Cal appeared in the doorway with a wide bruise discoloring his jaw and a vicious split in his bottom lip. Her eyes swept over the rest of his body, top to toe, searching for other injuries. Mid-perusal, she chanced on his enigmatic expression, and the world around her shifted into slow motion.
His dimple winked and lips parted as if to speak, but the unfamiliar Alpha strode forward and relieved Cal of his horse’s reins. They exchanged some quiet words, but Cal’s gaze never wavered. His bright, hazel eyes sparkled as if he’d uncovered the best possible secret.
Heat simmered low in Della’s pelvis, the pulsing vibration wheedling lower and lower with each passing second. She froze, transfixed and immobilized by the sensation as Cal took a decided stride in her direction. Alarm freed her, and mirroring his action, she took one step back, preserving the spare few feet between them. Hazel amusement and the additional appearance of a second dimple taunted her, mocking her assumption that a few spare feet would save her.
“So, are you two gonna explain what happened out there?” Colt’s harsh question disrupted the nonverbal dance.
“Ask that asshole.” Silas hiked his thumb over his shoulder at Cal. “He attacked me out of nowhere. We need to send him packing.” Silas’s glower shifted between Cal and the unfamiliar Alpha. “Himandhis trouble-making friends.”
“That’s not what happened.” Cal turned away from Della, his tone soft and studiously even. “I’d suggest you reconsider the story you’re peddling.”
“Hey, fuck you,” Silas snarled before tucking his shoulders and launching into Cal like an enraged bull.
Everything smeared in one fast-moving blur. One second, Cal stood a few feet away, and the next, his enormous body rammed into hers. The crack of her head against the stall door punched the air like a starter pistol. Agony rattled her skull, her vision blurred, and her ass ached as she slumped on the cold, hay-strewn floor. Discomfort spread from her head to her neck to her arm to her back, all of it like one giant throbbing bruise.
Noises crashed through the barn: Alpha shouting, big bodies slamming together, and the sloppy sound of blows landing on flesh. Behind her, horses snorted and whinnied and pranced in agitation. All of it congealed into one muffled mash jamming into her ear canals. Taking a deep breath, she blinked and blinked, trying to clear the cloudy red film that obscured her vision. Oh. Red? Huh. Was she bleeding?
“Keep this fucker away from me!” someone roared, and then a hazy face materialized in front of her. She knew this face, but there was something off about it. Blood trickled from his split lip and ran down the rivet in his sculpted chin. Did he have a cleft chin? A mysterious, handsome man with a strong jaw, a sexy accent, and perfectly cleft chin. What a cliché!
A laugh fizzed in her chest, but she ignored it because that would be wrong. You didn’t laugh at someone when they were bleeding.
“Della, oh shit. Della!” the man said, his frantic tone perplexing her. Why was heso upset? “Can you hear me?” He barked over his shoulder, “Get some water and a clean cloth.”
“Hey.” A second head floated next to the handsome man’s. This one she knew, too, with his glossy hair and kind eyes. His name came easily: Colt. “Let’s get you off the floor, all right?”
“Don’t touch her,” the handsome man barked, easing Della upright and propping her against the stable door. “Why don’t you get your Pack under control,Second.”
“What’re you gonna do, Cal, fight everyone?”
“If need be.”
“He says you attacked him first.”
“Yeah? Well, you saw him jump me and catch the Omega in the crossfire, so you make your own judgment.”
“She’s not Omega, and what business is she of yours?” Words ping-ponged back and forth, too fast to follow all the subtexts and implications. Colt glared at the handsome man, and distantly, Della opened her mouth to tell them their bickering was pummeling her tired brain.
A cloth appeared in the handsome man’s hand—Cal, she latched onto the name with some satisfaction. Cal with the drawl that poured over her like melted chocolate. God, it had been so long since she had chocolate. What she wouldn’t give for some chocolate...
Taking her chin in his palm, he dabbed her forehead, creasing his brow in concentration. The sting startled her awake, and a small whimper slipped out of her throat in protest.
“Hush now, darlin’, I got you.” His voice soothed soft and low, accompanied by a gentle rumble that seemed to start in his chest and end in hers. “How’s that? Better?”
She blinked some more, nodding as her vision improved, although her head still throbbed, and she swore her skull shrank three sizes too small.
“She might have a concussion,” someone said, their words coming clearer now. “We should get Hunter, he’s a doctor.”
Despite her confused haze, an amused snort ripped out of Della. “What’s he going to do? Order a CT scan?”
Two puzzled Alpha faces stared back at her as if she’d uttered a foreign language. Maybe she had. Her mistake—alluding to life before TheEnd always made everyone uncomfortable. Whoops. She knew better than that.
Cal nodded, his hazel eyes twinkling again, mesmerizing her with their pretty green-gray-gold sheen. “No need to disturb Hunt. I’ll keep an eye on her. You can go deal with...” He jerked his head over his right shoulder, where some ruckus continued in the barn, only now between Sloan and Silas as Lars wedged himself between them, commanding each to cool down.
“This is a problem for you, you know that, right?” Colt frowned. “Morris Hill is a peaceful village. No place here for violent Alphas.” Cal began to interrupt, but Colt spoke over him with authority. “We’ll convene the entire Pack tomorrow and go over what happened. You’ll get a chance to tell your side of the story. But you should know, if the fault lands on you, you’ll be expelled from the Pack. Immediately.”
