Page 39 of Entwined
She’s about to learn why all the things shethinksshe knows about me are the very reasons she should’ve walked the other way whenever she saw me coming.
I take a slow step forward, my head lowering down as a threatening growl rumbles out of my chest. The female wolf whines, backing up, but there’s no supplication in her eyes—not yet.
I don’t give her any warning, closing the distance in one leap. I cover her back with my bigger body, teeth latching into her shoulder, ripping bloody chunks from her as she yelps in pain, staggering under my weight.
She wriggles under me, snapping her jaws. But the angle means I’m out of reach, and each movement just sinks my teeth deeper into her shoulder.
She swipes out, raking her claws down one leg in a lucky shot. My mate screams, her rage and fear a potentmix that scalds me. Over the noise, Vaelor demands, “Finish it, asshole. Stop toying with her!”
I pull back, and the female wolf skitters away, the whites of her eyes on full display. Knowing the only way out is fighting, her survival instincts kick in, and she dashes forward, jaws gaping. She’s too blinded by her anger, weak from fatigue and pain, and it’s easy enough to step out of her reach, her momentum making her stumble.
I take advantage when she’s trying to get her bearings, tackling her back to the ground, going straight for her neck this time. As my teeth pierce the skin of her throat, she goes limp with a low whine.
“He’s gonna fucking kill her,” someone yells.
“And?” another person hisses. “She went to attack his mate. What the hell did you expect?”
“Submit! Selena, stop fucking around andsubmit!”
She trembles in my grip, her blood pooling in my mouth. Vaelor calls out, “That wasn’t much of a fight. There’s barely any blood splatter on the ground.”
I snarl, eyes flicking in his direction, teeth sinking in another inch. The imminent end renews the she-bitch’s fight. She scrabbles at the ground, desperately trying to pull away from me, but all she’s doing is causing more damage to herself—flesh, muscle, and tendons rip under the strength of my teeth.
“What’re they doing?” Felicity’s confused voice reaches me, my ears twitching. I can’t see her from this position, and I don’t like it. But my wolf isn’t prepared to give up his kill. Our mate is safe—Vaelor has her—and this bitch needs to bare her neck.
“She has to submit,” Vaelor informs Felicity casually. “Essentially declare him the winner.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
I can’t see him, but I canhearthe bloodthirsty grin in his voice. “What happens if she doesn’t submit, Connor?” He suddenly moves into my view, no grin in sight, his golden eyes cold. “End the bitch.”
“No, you can’t—” a female shifter screams, but it’s too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
felicity
It’s over so quickly, an eerie silence settling over us as Selena’s lifeblood pours out onto the grass, soaking into the dirt.
The tawny wolf drops her body to the ground carelessly, his fur matted and discolored with the remnants of the fight. I can’t tell what’s her blood and what’shis, and worry beats at me…But underneath that, there’s a thread of pleasure, making me wonder if I should be concerned with just how much I enjoyed that.
I can’t say I’ve ever watched someone die before, especially so savagely, but that’s not what I enjoyed. It was knowing that Connor did it for me, toprotectme. The fact has a strange warmth trickling through my veins, leaving me almost giddy.
No one has ever protected me before.
I was the surprise child after a drunken one-night stand, a physical reminder of where my mother’s life had gone wrong—something she has never let me forget. My grandfather saw me as a pawn, an accessory he paraded out in front of his acquaintances and colleagues, determined toincrease his own standing by throwing me to the wolves…Quite literally, as it turned out.
But I’m not a pawn to Connor and Vaelor.
I’m not some bargaining chip to them. And as I stare at the large wolf standing over the body of another shifter, his bloody tongue hanging from his jaws and eyes fixed on me, I’m beginning to trust that.
“Is he going to get in trouble?” I whisper, unable to look away from the wolf. “For killing her.”
Vaelor glances at me. “No. Shifter law supersedes any university rule. He might need to go before the council to justify the kill, especially considering the small amount of power her family does have. But she knowingly interfered in a fated mating, and then challenged him by going after you.” He shakes his head, completely unconcerned. “And in front of witnesses.”
“I provoked her, though,” I remind him, just as the wolf steps away from the dead female, padding toward us. He’s massive, his head reaching my waist. As he reaches me, he presses his weight against my legs, almost making my knees buckle.
Any other time—or any other shifter—and I might’ve felt nervous, having such a deadly animal so close to me. Especially one still covered in blood. But I only feel grateful as I stroke a hand over the thick fur covering his head.