Page 16 of Owned by Four Alphas (Silverthorn Alphas #2)

Rage and fury bubbled under his skin, groaning and shrieking to be released.

His body was thrashing now, fighting against itself to keep the beast within from exploding and ravaging everything in its path.

Malek roared with the effort of keeping his mind clear, but he was losing it.

Flashes of teeth, the scent of blood, the screaming of his prey—

He threw himself against the floor, pounding his fists into the stone, his bones cracking and twisting.

The ceiling had come down.

All around him was chaos.

The air was a thick miasma of magic, clashing and angry, grating against him.

His own.

Selena’s.

Elian’s, Kaelen’s, the Fae, the dragons, the wolves—

Vaguely he was aware of his mate, shining and resplendent, tears falling down her cheeks.

She had done this. Lost control. Brought the very rock down around them.

And now she was in danger from him.

No. No, he couldn’t hurt her, couldn’t lose control as well, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself—

Pain, rage, fire, blood, pain, chaos, blood, blood, BLOOD…

Selena was running away now, fleeing from the hall, tripping over herself, her magic still pulsing and crackling out of control.

He couldn’t stop himself from lunging after her to consume her, to protect her, to devour her to love her to ravage her to take take taketaketakeTAKE—

“NO!” he roared, slamming himself back into the stone, back away from her, his skin shredding, legs extending, claws sharpening—

Ronan staggered to his feet with a groan, his scent spiking, angry, scared, desperate.

“Ronan!” Malek managed to howl, his human form almost completely shed away, “Ronan, please!”

The other alphas, the ones that smelled bad, wicked, hunting, were getting to their feet, their teeth sharp with the need for vengeance.

Some of them were dead.

Selena had killed them.

And now they wanted to hunt her.

He roared, his paws striking the ground as he got to his feet, his tail lashing as he took in the enemy.

They want to hurt her. They want to kill her. Must protect. Must stop them. Must kill, kill, KILL—

“Fuck!” Ronan yelled, dropping low and shifting.

“Can you subdue him?” Kaelen’s voice was far away, but Malek’s gaze snapped to him.

Packmate. No, alpha. Alpha that hurt Selena. Danger. Must protect—

“Not with so much of Selena’s latent magic still in the air,” Elian yelled. “I’m trying, but her power over him eclipses my own!”

He could feel it. The Fae Lord. His shadows battering against Malek’s mind. Feeble and weak. He couldn’t control him. Not again.

He wants to stop you, wants to hurt you, wants to hurt Selena, must kill, must kill—

With a roar of pure fury, he leapt towards the Fae, teeth ready to rip and maul and destroy—

A huge weight rammed into him, pinning him to the floor. Heavy jaws closed around his neck.

Wolf. Wolf jaws.

No, the wolf is an ally. The wolf protects. But he attacks me. Must protect Selena. Must have Selena—

With a snarl he dug his claws into the wolf’s thick skin, dragging them down, throwing him off. Dimly he was aware that the dragon and the Fae were leaving, chasing after his mate.

“Ronan, you get him under control, we need to get Selena out of here!”

He lunged after them, needing to stop them, needing to protect his mate, but the wolf crashed into him again.

Malek roared in outrage, turning once more to the wolf, its snapping jaws, its gleaming yellow eyes.

“Malek,” it growled, “Malek, you have to stop!”

“She killed Ordovic, the bitch killed Ordovic!”

It was one of the other alphas. Another wolf.

Malek howled, ripping into Ronan’s skin, desperate to be free of him so that he could attack.

“And Egais!” A dragon this time, injured but furious.

The scents in the air shifted, changed, becoming dangerous.

Malek snarled again, teeth clashing with Ronan, a furious mix of claws and rage.

“Where did the little bitch go?”

“I think she ran that way.”

“Come on, we’ll hunt her down and bleed her dry!”

Ronan, heavy lacerations torn down his flank, snarled in surprise at their words. “Fuck!”

Malek twisted and writhed, trying to break free.

They want to hurt her. They want to kill her. Must defend. Must protect—

“You won’t go near her!” Ronan bellowed.

“She killed your own kind, Ronan, are you so blind? We’re hunting her down and killing anyone who gets in our way.”

They want to kill must attack must stop them must make them bleed—

Malek dug the claws of his hind legs into the wolf’s heavy form, rolling over and throwing it off of him, where it collided with the wall with a heavy thud.

He was free.

Getting to his feet, he assessed the enemies.

Alphas. Injured. Angry. Defensive.

Blood dripped from his teeth as he stalked towards them, a rumbling snarl echoing through the decimated hall.

They turned to him, their eyes wide, their scent spiking with fear.

Good. They should be afraid. He would rip them limb from fucking limb.

“Malek,” Ronan called, roaring around the agony of broken bones. It wouldn’t take him long to heal.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the bitch’s little pet,” one of the alphas spat, a blade appearing in his hand. “A shame that we’ll have to skin you before we kill your master. It would have been satisfying to make you watch us gut her alive.”

Malek pounced, his teeth singing for more blood. The alpha in front of him, the one who had dared threaten her, was first to die.

Swiping his claws forward, the Fae tried to block them with his blade, but it was futile. He was no match against Malek. With a savage growl, Malek tore his head from his shoulders, ripping down his torso until he was nothing more than a bloodied heap of flesh and viscera beneath Malek’s paws.

Yes, yes, kill, hunt, destroy. Protect Selena, stop them, kill them, taste their blood, blood, bloodbloodBLOOD—

Ronan was up again, his bones healed, an almighty rumbling snarl pouring from his chest.

Malek turned.

The wolf was stalking closer, its yellow eyes gleaming, its lips peeled back over its razor-sharp teeth.

Malek pounced first.

Once more, they were a raging ball of fury and blood, ripping and tearing into each other. The wolf was holding back, Malek could tell, avoiding the jugular.

He snarled and doubled his efforts.

The wolf grunted as Malek swiped at its neck, rearing back to avoid his deadly claws. “Malek, you need to stop!”

Malek didn’t hear him. He had to stop him. Had to stop them all. Had to protect Selena, protect his mate, rip apart her enemies, keep her safe—

“Selena needs you!” The wolf was using more of its strength now, pinning him down to the ground, snapping jaws close to his face.

Selena needs me Selena needs me I know she needs me needsmeNEEDSME—

“She needs you to think! She needs you to get control!”

Control, control, no control, just blood, chaos, anger, blood, blood, blood—

The other Alphas were swarming, but one of them was fighting them back. An alpha, a dragon.

“He’ll kill you all!” the dragon roared.

“Let us through, Iveir, or we’ll kill you. too!”

They want to kill you if they kill you they will kill Selena you need to protect Selena—

The momentary distraction was enough that the wolf managed to clamp its jaws around his neck, and he roared in outrage, trying to throw it off. But it didn’t work. The wolf had him pinned.

NO! No, must get free, must get to Selena, must protect, must protect, must—

“Slaughter the fucking Nightwalker before he gets free!” one of the alphas roared.

Nightwalker what is a Nightwalker, Nightwalker, me? Is he talking about me? Am I Nightwalker? Nightwalker, name, that’s a name. I made it. I am a Nightwalker. I named myself, I chose the name, I have control. I’m not a monster. I am a Nightwalker—

Beneath the overwhelming fog of fury and blood, a spark of consciousness shone to light.

Nightwalker. I am a Nightwalker. I have control. I am in control. I can name myself. I am not a monster. I am a Nightwalker.

The beast receded just enough that Malek was able to break through for half a second, then a few seconds, his fight diminishing, his bloodlust settling.

I am a Nightwalker. I am in control. I have to get back in control!

With a bellow, Malek surfaced, shaking the remnants of his beast away, panting and trembling with the effort.

“Ronan,” he managed to croak out, his voice low and monstrous, “where is she?”

Ronan opened his jaws, releasing his neck, but kept him pinned beneath him.

“Malek, are you in control?”

“Yes,” Malek gasped, “I—I think so. Where is she, we need to get to her!”

The other alphas were shouting, a cacophony of murderous intent.

“Go!” roared Iveir, Kaelen’s general. “I’ll hold them back!”

Ronan leapt off Malek, allowing him to stagger to his feet.

There was so much blood. The beast lurked, just below the surface, desperate to be unleashed once more. Malek shook his head. He had to stay in control.

“Come on,” Ronan snarled, taking off into a loping run out of the ruined hall and down the corridors of the palace.

It was pure chaos, people running, screaming, eyes wide and scents spiking.

Fear, anger, blood, blood—

Malek roared against himself, pushing his legs to run faster. He had to get out of here. Had to get away from the scents and the chaos and the mayhem and the death.

Ronan had caught the scent of the rest of their pack, leading out of the palace, out of the city.

Their paws thundered against the stone as they ripped through the Marble Halls, following desperately after their mate.

The marble floor gave way to packed earth and stone as they reached the passageway through the mountains, back to the forest. They were close now. Malek could smell fire and fury. Kaelen. His shadows sung out to Eian’s magic.

But beyond that, Selena. There was Selena. Shining bright as a star, even as she sobbed hysterically in Kaelen’s arms.

Ronan reached them first, shifting smoothly into his human skin, not stopping between his feet hitting the ground and his arms reaching out to take Selena from Kaelen.

The dragon snarled, but Ronan snarled back, louder.

Malek too hit the ground in his human form, but he didn’t reach out for his mate.

He had lost control. He had killed someone. He could have killed Selena.

Guilt churned in his stomach, threatening to overwhelm him, and he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, his claws scraping against his skin. The flash of pain was nothing. He had threatened Selena. How could he? How could he have threatened his mate? His lover? His one reason for existence.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ronan said, kneeling next to him with Selena in his grasp. Malek didn’t know which of them Ronan was talking to. It didn’t matter.

“Here,” Ronan placed Selena in Malek’s arms, but he reared back. No, no he couldn’t touch her. Not when he’d lost control to the bloodlust. Not when he’d ripped someone apart.

“Malek, it wasn’t your fault,” Ronan said again, his voice hard. Selena, her magic pulsing around her, thrashing against her skin, wept as she crawled into his lap.

Malek hesitated, but when she pushed her face into his neck, her hands gripping the fabric of his black robe, he broke down. With a sob, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close to him as was possible, cradling her waist and the back of her head into him.

She was so small. So delicate. So fragile. And he had put her in harm’s way.

He would sooner kill himself than hurt her. And he had come so close.

“What do we do now?” Ronan said, standing protectively over their embracing forms, his hostility towards Kaelen and Elian clear.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” said Elian, his voice grim. “We have to run.”