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“Failed you?” I sidestepped the attack and slammed my elbow into their face with brutal force. “I have done everything in my power to keep this pack safe and united.”
“Your bloodline is weak,” someone sneered, joining the fray. “The Blackwoods have no place here.”
“No more of this bullshit!” I roared, throwing myself into the fight with renewed ferocity. They were wrong—I wasn’t likemy ancestors. I would never prey on my own kind. But if they wanted to challenge me, I’d make sure they regretted it. My punches came faster, harder, driven by a primal need to protect what was mine.
“Behind you!” Jaxon’s warning pierced the din just as a crushing blow landed on the back of my skull, sending white-hot pain shooting through my head.
“Fuck,” I hissed through gritted teeth, struggling to maintain my balance as the room spun around me. More blows rained down on my body, and I fought to stay upright, determined not to let them take me down.
“Ridge, no!” Tori’s desperate pleas sounded so far away.
“Get back, Tori,” I managed to choke out, even as my strength waned. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Stay down, Blackwood,” a voice hissed in my ear as another heavy hit slammed into my side, driving the air from my lungs.
“Never!” I gasped, still fighting, even as blood streamed down my face and the world began to fade away. I wouldn’t give up, not while there was still breath left in my body.
“Ridge, please!” Tori was barely audible now.
“Love you, Tori,” I said right before everything went black.
Chapter 28
Tori
The anger in the air suffocated me like a noose tightening around my neck. I tried not to let it show on my face, but it was getting harder by the second.Everyonewas shouting, throwing accusations and threats at one another. It was chaos, pure chaos, and I hated it.
“Get a grip, Tori,” I told myself, clenching my fists. “Ridge is fine. He can handle himself.”
Yeah, he could handle himself, but where the hell was he? I scanned the room for any sign of my mate. The moment I had lost sight of him in the crowd, my inner wolf had roared to life, snarling and snapping inside me. She wanted out, wanted to find her mate and protect him from all these angry wolves. But I could not let her take control, not when things were so tense and dangerous.
“Can you all just shut up for a second?” It was impossible to tell who said it, but the Greenthornes’ voices rose above the others, further inciting the already volatile situation.
Great. Just what we needed.
“Hey, what’s going on in there?” More people were trying to push their way in from outside, drawn by the commotion. This was getting out of hand, and fast.
“Uh, guys? You might want to leave. Like, now,” I tried to warn them, but they ignored me, joining the fray instead.
“Seriously? You’re all acting like a bunch of rabid dogs.” At this rate, we’d never get out of here.
“Oy, quit shoving!” The crowd had become a mob, everyone pushing and jostling against each other, making it even harder for me to find Ridge amidst the chaos.
The metallic tang of blood hit my nostrils, and a chill ran down my spine. “Oh, this is about to get ugly,” I said as I scanned the room, desperately trying to find Ridge.
“Out of the way!” Margo’s voice cut through the noise as she muscled her way into the jail. She caught sight of Clawson, unconscious on the floor, and her eyes went wide with horror.
“Clawson!” She quickly shifted into her wolf form, snarling at anyone who dared come too close to the downed sheriff. She was like a mother bear protecting her cub, ready to fight for him. She shifted back into her human form so she could communicate with me, but stood over Clawson, naked as the day was long. She bent and picked up his service weapon, holding it in front of her to protect her mate.
“Everyone needs to calm the hell down!” I yelled, but it was no use. The room had devolved into a frenzy of snarls, growls, and snapping teeth. Clawson’s deputies tried their best to separate the fighting shifters, but their efforts seemed futile against the tide of fury.
“Margo, we need to find Ridge and get out of here,” I hissed, darting between the tussling wolves.
“Ridge can take care of himself,” Margo snapped back. “We have bigger problems right now,”
“Like what?” I demanded, ducking under a flailing arm.
“Like the fact that this whole place is about to become a war zone!”
