Page 332 of Alpha Mates

“Another one,” a warrior whispers with unmasked horror.

“No. No … That one’s ours,” I breathe as relief nearly sends me to my knees. “That’s … that’s Kat.”

“Well,” Katerina drawls overhead as she gazes down at the witches. “Are we going to do this, or am I just here to look pretty?”

The witches’ smiles disappear a moment before they take to the air to attack. The first strikes with a blazing whip of fire that soars towards Katerina, cracking in the air like a gunshot that sets the rest of us back into motion.

Max pushes against me, forcing my shift as I run into the valley and land back on my paws. Snarling, I race down the hillside, every wolf around me charging towards the chaos.

Claws and teeth clash with rabid snarls as bodies collide and the real fight begins. No, not a fight. A bloodbath.

Rogues are torn apart limb from limb, splashing the soil with tainted blood while we rain down on them in destructive numbers. Magic poisons the air like it did that night with Katerina, but it’s not nearly as unrestrained. They blast her with attack after attack, but it might as well be a light show with the way she swats them down before returning one twice as strong.

I keep my eyes on Oliver because Reon’s not here. Wherever he’s hiding, I’ll snuff him out soon, but I can only handle one demon at a time, and this one is an amber-eyed nightmare in foreign skin.

It’s not Oliver, not the one Julian knew. I know that the moment he shifts and I catch a glimpse of those crazed eyes.

Oliver always fought when he needed to. I remember every single time he put me down for going at Julian, but he never enjoyed it. This one does.

Which makes what I have to do a hell of a lot easier.

If I get to him first, Julian doesn’t have to. I take the hit, carry the weight, and Julian gets to hate me for it instead. Fine by me.

But Oliver—or whatever the fuck he is now—doesn’t make it easy. He doesn’t stay in the middle of it, leading the charge. He moves out of the fray, carving his path through wolves like it’s sport. He dims the light of my pack bond, a bond he should’ve known and felt … but there’s nothing behind those eyes. Nothing.

He runs ahead, and my mind rattles as I try to make out his path. If he’s trying to escape? Is there a rendezvous point? Somewhere Reon’s waiting? Was there more to this?

I try to keep myself alive with one eye on the threat. A threat that’s—fuck!—he’s getting away.

Stop him,I snarl through the bond.Stop that fucking wolf!

They all hear me, some try to follow suit. But it’s the one I wish would stay the furthest away who actually heeds the call.

There’s a flash of white before Julian cuts into his brother’s path, forcing the wolf to a stop and face him.

My heart skids to a screeching halt as I watch Julian dig his claws into the earth with a warning growl. He looks every bit the alpha I know him to be, snarling behind his long canines, but I know those eyes.

I can see the way they break as he faces his brother.

If Oliver sees it too, then he doesn’t care, because he still charges straight at him with open jaws and a resolve to kill that’s all rogue.

Chapter 66

Julian

The wolf who taught me how to fight wasn’t my father. It’s the wolf who charges towards me now. He’s the one who taught me how to protect myself against everyone. Everyone, except for him.

Poised on all fours, in a body packed with muscle, Oliver races towards me, and for a moment, I can only stare. Because he’s here … and he’s real.

It’s not the trick that I’d still secretly hoped it was. He’s alive and he’s whole, with his all-too-familiar brown coat and amber eyes. But those hallmarks come paired with certain oddities. A dullness of his fur, a discoloration in those eyes that almost glow as he stampedes towards me without slowing.

I dart out of the way before his raised claws can tear my face in two.

It’s instinctual—a drive to live because I’m under attack. My body understands that long before my mind has a chance to do the same.

Oliver’s long claws dig into the dirt instead as he lands heavily and turns with a growl.

His eyes meet mine, and I hold my breath. I watch him, waiting for the moment he realises it’s me—Juli. For him to fight past whatever is making him do this; for him to stop. But he doesn’t.