Fury boils up inside me at the thought of anyone else trying to claim my mate.
"What the actual hell—" I start, then stop."No, you know what, I'll yell at you later.Let's go."
I shift.She shifts.Cole shifts.
And we run.
Chapter Fourteen
Andrew
We hit the parking lot behind Hannigan's Bar at a dead run.
The lot is gravel and weeds, bordered by dumpsters on one side and woods on the other.A ring of wolves has formed in the center—six Frostbane pack members standing in a loose semicircle.In the middle of it all, Silas stands alone, human form, fists clenched.
I can smell the fear rolling off of him.He’s a brave man.He knows he doesn’t stand a chance against Roderick, but he came here to try to defend his niece anyway.
Roderick is circling him.Also in human form.Smiling.
“She wants nothing to do with you!”Silas cries out, his voice desperate.“Leave her alone, or you’ll have to come through me!”
That earns cruel laughter from Roderick and his thugs.
Henrietta, Cole, and I burst out of the tree line, still in wolf form.We shift fast—bones cracking, fur receding—and I'm on my feet before the change is fully done.
Roderick's smile fades when he sees me.
I do a quick count.Six Frostbane wolves.Silas is alone and outmatched, and Roderick knows it.That's why he was smiling.
"This doesn't concern you, Moonstone," Roderick says.His voice is steady but his eyes flick between me and the woods behind me."This is between me and the girl's uncle.He started it.He’s the one that made the challenge.I was going to wait to claim her until they finished their contract with you."
I let out a low, rumbling snarl."Anything that concerns her, concerns me.”
A truck pulls up at the edge of the lot, tires crunching on gravel.Doors slam.Jesse leaps out first, then Dax Rowan—the pack Sentinel, from a family of Sentinels.Their role is to guard their pack – to the death.They’re fearsome and brutally loyal.
Another car is pulling up.Dax’s cousins.
Dax is grim-faced and already scanning for threats.
Roderick's jaw tightens."You're interfering in a legitimate challenge!"
"Henrietta Romero is my fated mate," I say.Loud enough for everyone to hear."That makes this Moonstone pack business.You want her, you go through me."
Behind me, I hear Henrietta suck in a breath.
I just claimed her.Publicly.In front of two packs.
Roderick's nostrils flare."Fine.You want to make this official?Let's go, fleabag!”
I yell to my men “Nobody interfere!This is between me and him!”
Roderick glances nervously at his men.They can’t interfere with a legitimate challenge – not when there are so many witnesses, and not when they’re faced with much bigger, stronger opponents.
I shift.
The change rolls through me fast and hot, my wolf surging forward, ready.I'm bigger than Roderick in human form.In wolf form, I'm bigger and meaner and absolutely done with this.
Roderick shifts.