Page 19

Another growl rumbled from the pits of my beast. I stepped closer, and my brother had the sense to look wary.

Behind me, one of his betas shifted, and the sound of ripping fabric filled the clearing. A low, warning snarl rattled from the male’s jaws, and I recognized the animalistic sound as belonging to Anders. If I took another step toward our alpha, he’d attack.

Let him attack,I thought.

You are angry with me for protecting your mate? For giving her my scent—thepack’sscent—when you would not?He laughed through our mind-link, and his outward expression matched. Arrogant eyes. A wicked smirk.If you’d done your job and fucked her, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Red flared at the edges of my vision again at the mere fact that another male used that word in connection to Aria, and my claws sank into the damp earth, muscles bunching together to launch…

And yet, in the same instance, something like shame squeezed at my chest, grounding me. One second passed, then another, and my anger dwindled alongside my pride.

Was Roman right? Had I failed Aria by refusing to mark her? At the time, I’d thought I was doing her a service. I wanted to spare her.

And now, my brother had stepped in to fulfill where I had failed. Just as he always did.

My hackles fell, and I took a small step backward.

“That’s right,” Roman soothed, speaking as though he’d just tamed a terrible creature.

I hated it. The condescension. The superiority. The fact that he spoke out loud for all to hear.

“You know better than to raise a hand to me,” he continued, smug.

But Ididknow better. He’d hounded the truth into me more times than I could count. Before our father died, he’d warned Roman against letting me live.

I was twenty two. Roman was eighteen. Since the attack, it had been ingrained in me that I was unworthy to lead the pack. I knew where I belonged, but our father wanted me dead nonetheless.Father offered to kill me himself, if it meant securing Roman’s rule of theIntonat NoctePack, but my brother refused.

Romansavedme. He gave me purpose. Molded me into a weapon where the rest of the world saw me as a monster.

I owed him my life. But I didnotowe him Aria.

She is mine,I warned, finding my words at last.

He cocked a brow and nodded to a spot over my shoulder, where I knew Aria stood. “Thenclaimher, brother.”

The hair lining my wolf’s spine bristled, but I managed to spin away from my brother. With the brash movement, I glared at the onlookers with bared teeth, and most of my pack members took a handful of steps backward and averted their eyes. To them, I was the monster my brother painted me as.

When my gaze landed on Aria, my anger sparked anew.

She stared at my wolf with wide eyes, her alarm evident in the way she retreated a small step as I neared. From the time I reached maturity, my gray and brindle-coated wolf towered above other males in the pack. Even Roman could not match my size and mass. I was accustomed to the fear, but I detested seeing it in her brilliant blues.

I inhaled deeply, catching notes of her honeysuckle and pear scent that aroused every nerve-ending in my body. My blood warmed, but it started to boil when I smelt it.

Him.

Roman’s mark. His saliva slathered overtop her pulse point, coating the spot where the blood pumped so close to the surface of her skin.

A dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and rage simmered in my veins, pumping to parts of my lupine body that wanted—needed—to rectify this situation. Every primal urge demanded that I claim my mate, regardless of the audience or her needs. Sink my canines into her neck and wash over any trace of Roman on her skin, then fill her to the brim with my seed. It would be rough. Dominating.

If she was in her wolf form, I didn’t know if I would’ve been able to resist it.

But, as I prowled closer to her and she blinked up at me with herhumansmallness, I held onto my control with a vice-like grip.

When I reached her, I huffed and nudged at her shoulder with my snout, a silent command for her to turn and follow me. I wanted her away from the clearing. Away from Roman.

She obeyed immediately, speed-walking from the training ground as if she couldn’t move fast enough. I prowled a few paces behind, slinking at a slow pace so she always remained a step ahead of me, my body constantly between her and Roman. Shielding her.

Several minutes passed in silence, only the sounds of our footsteps and Aria’s heavy breathing surrounding us. Eventually, with a safe distance separating us from the training grounds, she slowed.