Page 5

E li

Fear and anger course through me as I carry my mate through the woods. My expansive manor and the castle had been an equal distance from our location, so I chose to head to my home–knowing I have the best healers in the country and my mate will need them.

Looking down at her, it’s hard to ignore the anger that flares in my chest. That fucking piece of shit had been hurting her.

He’d been playing with her, so I’d shown him what happens to anyone stupid enough to touch what belongs to me.

If the man survives, he will have reminders of what I’d done to him for the rest of his life. I only wished that I killed him.

But my mate needed me. And there would be time to kill him later, if he even survives his injuries.

“And I’ll always be here,” I tell her softly.

I shift her ever so slightly, amazed by how little she weighs. I’ve seen small omegas in my travels, but I’ve never seen one as tiny as her. And she is my mate. The thought sends a warm feeling through my veins.

She just needs to be healed.

My heart hammers in my chest. Her injuries are…

bad, but surely they wouldn’t kill an omega, even an omega as small as her.

Could they? My mind starts to work. Ultimas heal the fastest of all the wolves, then alphas, then betas, then omegas.

I would recover from such injuries within a day or two.

But her? I’ve never spent much time looking into the limits and capabilities of an omega’s healing ability. Now, I wish I had.

No, she’ll be fine. She has to be.

When I walk into my home, the servants are practically shaking, their heads bowed so far down it looks like their necks might snap clean off. I know the anger rolling off of me is enough to make them all inch to the floor, their bellies on the marble, if only to get low enough to appease me.

I don’t want that. I’ve never exploited my powers as an ultima. But right now, I can’t stop it. Anger, cool and unmovable, like liquid steel, flows through my veins. I have half a mind to turn around and find that alpha where I left him and finish him.

If he’s even still alive.

“Find the other ultimas. Send them to me,” I command, and the servants race to obey.

Pushing through the main ballroom, I watch as several of the servants stop what they’re doing, gasping and falling to their knees when they catch sight of me. It must be quite the show—me, strutting in, naked and covered in blood, holding my tiny omega in my arms.

My tiny mate.

What kind of alpha would attack an omega under any circumstance, let alone one in which the omega in question was this small, this weak?

I call her weak, but that’s not entirely true. It’s clear that she’s strong enough to withstand many abuses. Her hair is damp, her body is covered in bruises, and she smells of the river. I’d hazard a guess that she spent some time in the rapids before I found her. Something even I wouldn’t do.

And that’s not taking into account that she’d fought with an alpha so much larger than herself. He’d put his teeth in her, his claws in her, playing with her like a thoughtless animal rather than a shifter.

Why? I have no idea. But when my mate is well enough, I’ll be sure to ask her.

Moments like these make me wish I’d accepted a damn spot on the council.

I preferred traveling and helping packs in need and didn’t want to restrict myself, but if I were on the council, I’d no doubt know her attacker.

If I’d been on the council, I would’ve met this omega on her first day at The Selection, and she never would’ve ended up in a vulnerable position.

But I’d also have to deal with those pricks — Brock, Hector, and Lance — all the time… and I’m not exactly a patient man.

Two servants gasp, pressing themselves against the wall as I stalk down the hallway. When I finally reach the tall double doors, I kick one of them in, watching as four healers all stop what they’re doing, their heads snapping up at me, then immediately lowering down.

“Master,” the one closest to me says, his body already trembling. I imagine it’s taking every ounce of his willpower to remain standing. “What can we do?—?”

“Help her,” I say, cutting him off and sitting on the largest bed in the back, the one that’s typically reserved for me when I come in with an injury.

It’s been a long time since that happened, but I’m especially grateful that we have a bed capable of accommodating my size.

Because there’s not a chance in hell that I’m going to be letting go of my tiny mate any time soon.

Now that I’ve found her, I will never let her out of my sight again.

She will be cared for and worshipped, the way my mate deserves.

“What happened to her?” one of the healers asks as she gathers her equipment.

“An alpha tried to kill her,” I explain, each word dripping with rage. “And I didn’t reach her fast enough to stop it.”

I think about the moment I’d first scented her, about following her along the road from the town to my home.

I’d just gotten back from helping a neighboring pack, so the last thing I expected was to pick up the irresistible scent of an omega on the road.

Instantly, I knew her scent belonged to my mate.

Instantly, I knew my life would be changed forever after that moment.

And then I heard her scream.

I have never known pain like that. Have never known anger like the fury barely contained within my body, knowing some male was hurting my mate.

Even now, my bones are aching with the urge to shift, to go back to that wolf and tear him limb from limb, leaving his carcass for the buzzards, reducing him to nothing more than food for the maggots.

It’s what he deserves. It’s what he truly is.

When I smelled her blood and knew that someone—a shifter, an alpha —was attacking her, it was like I lost complete control.

And for a man who thrives on control, the experience was shocking.

I’d tasted his blood. Heard his cries of pain.

But all I wanted was to hurt him more. Slowly.

To draw out his suffering. Until the moment she cried softly, and my focus had switched to her.

Then I’d seen how terrified she was of me. How the shifter, the one attacking her, had ruined her trust in men, in what we do when we shift into our other forms. I’d forced myself to withdraw, to leave him with his injuries and his life, for her sake.

After going through so much, the last thing she needed was to witness one more atrocity.

Now, the healers are frantic, pressing salves and balms to her body, asking me to shift her this way and that so they can get a closer look at her.

One is undressing her from her tattered dress, revealing more and more injuries with each article of clothing that’s removed.

Another is carefully placing slivers of seaweed into the puncture wounds on her shoulder.

I get the impression they’re most worried about the wounds caused by the alpha at her shoulder, and the one I suspect is from the river on her side.

They’re checking for internal bleeding from the injury on her side and trying to stop the bleeding from her shoulder.

It’s scary to watch them, to see the concern on their faces, but these healers are the best…

Their practices are ancient and effective. They can save her. I know they can.

I’m just thankful she’s unconscious for this part.

Hopefully, by the time she wakes up again, most of the pain will be gone.

She’ll be stitched up and the bleeding will be stopped.

And then she’ll just have to focus on healing, which she’ll do well, because I won’t allow her to focus on anything else.

The door bursts open, and I watch as three ultimas walk in, looking rather out of breath.

Brock, Hector, and Lance, the ultimas that make up the council, knew to come when I called.

Because as much power as everyone believes they have as the council, I have more.

My time spent helping the many packs in our country has made me so many allies that should I choose to ever stand against the council, I’ll win.

Their eyes roam through the room, landing on me and my tiny mate. They straighten their clothes and rush toward me, even though their movements are somehow measured. I get it. They don’t want to seem like they hurried over, like I can command them.

“Eli,” Hector says, and I tighten my hold on my mate slightly when I see his gaze focus in on my mate with a mixture of confusion and horror. “What are you doing with that omega?”

I watch with annoyance as the healers struggle to continue doing their work in the presence of four ultimas.

Yes, I know they’re powerful, but my mate’s life is more important.

I meet the healers’ eyes, one at a time, to encourage them to keep working, despite the most rude interruption of the council, walking into my home like they own it.

An insult I will deal with later.

I struggle to fight the wolf down inside me, which demands I defend my territory.

They should be waiting out in the foyer, like any other guest. It shouldn’t be until I’m ready to speak to them that they’re allowed to enter my home, but no bother.

Things must be discussed, so I may as well discuss them now.

As long as the healers continue to do their work…

“First, I would like to introduce you to my mate.”

My words are met with silence. Each man looks at the woman in my arms and probably believes I am disappointed to have discovered that my mate is so weak after all this time.

I read the thoughts on their faces. And yet, they’re wrong.

I do not need a strong mate. I am strong enough for the both of us. I need her .

“ Faye is your mate? Are you sure there’s not some kind of mistake?” Brock finally asks, and at the sound of her name, my body feels our mating bond click into place. Faye . My tiny mate.

My voice is deadly low, daring any of them to try and challenge that statement.

“Yes, she is my mate. There is no doubt about it. And she is gravely injured,” I say coolly, even though just mentioning her injuries hurts.

“My healers are doing their best to patch her up, which is an endeavor that you’re currently interrupting with your presence.

I don’t think I need to say it—but, should something happen to her, you should fear what I’ll do. ”

“Eli—” Brock starts to say, but I cut him off, tiling my head.

“I was not finished.”

“Apologies,” Brock says, gritting his teeth.

“The reason I called you here is because there’s something you must handle, and handle right away. The reason for Faye’s injuries is my mate was attacked by an alpha.”

I note that the three of them don’t look particularly surprised by this fact, and I raise an eyebrow at them. Why the fuck aren’t they surprised? If they suspected such a tiny omega would be hurt by an alpha, then they should never have allowed it to happen.

“Yes, well…” Hector begins, but says nothing more.

Rage flashes through me. “You know the alpha who attacked her.”

Lance finally speaks up. “We suspect we do.”

I grind my teeth together. “Hopefully he’s not important to you, because that alpha is currently dying in the woods—though, he may have already bled to death. It doesn’t matter to me either way. Frankly, I think we should let him die.”

Hector’s eyes widen with panic. So he does know the bastard. How the fuck did they allow this to happen? I take deep breaths. I can handle them later. My mate is my focus right now.

Brock and Hector turn immediately, going back the way they came, but Lance stays in the doorway, surveying the scene, watching the healers as they work hard over my mate, trying to heal her wounds as well as they can.

And unlike the others, he seems less concerned about the dying alpha and more curious about me and my mate.

Knowing him to be a man who roots for the underdog, I believe he’s pleased about the turn of events that led to Faye being my mate and this alpha being dog food.

“Eli,” Lance says after a long moment, his eyes meeting mine, holding them. “Welcome back. It is always such a pleasure.”

I give him a smile that’s all teeth. It won’t be. Not for anyone involved in my mate being hurt.