Page 15 of The Alpha’s Forced Plus-Size Mate (Silverfang Creek Wolves #3)

The house was too damn quiet.

Too still, considering what was going on outside. It put my nerves on edge. I paced the length of the living room with the phone pressed to my ear. Saul’s number rang again and again, but there was no answer. What the hell was the point of having a witch on contract if he wasn’t going to answer the fucking phone?

“Pick up, dammit,” I growled under my breath. My wolf clawed at the edges of my control, uneasy with the silence stretching between rings. When the call finally dropped to voicemail, I slammed the phone onto the counter, my jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth.

Behind me, Faye stood in the center of the room, her hands raised and her lips moving in silent prayer or incantation—probably both. Her face was pale, sweat beading on her brow as she worked to wrap the house in some kind of invisible shield. Power radiated from her, a slightly different flavor from my pack’s human witch. Hector’s wolf-witch wife was infamous, and if my house wasn’t under fucking attack, I might have been impressed. Before she had begun the chant, she told us that she could only hold a full shield for a few minutes before it knocked her unconscious. We were banking on Saul showing up to add his power, which would give us significantly longer.

Naomi hovered close by, her eyes wide and dark. She was scared, which was natural, but she also refused to go into the basement where she might have been safer. If there was going to be a fight, Naomi would be right there in the middle of it with everyone else.

I both loved and hated that about her. I wanted to keep her safe, but I also admired her bravery. So complicated, my mate.

“You sure this is worth the time?” I asked Faye, my tone sharper than I intended.

She flinched but didn’t stop chanting, simply giving me a thumbs up. I guess that was all the answer I was getting out of her.

“Saul’s not answering,” I snapped to no one in particular, frustrated and feeling helpless. I was the Alpha, dammit. I was supposed to be the one driving the demons away, not waiting for them to show their ugly faces.

As if on cue, a deafening crash rattled the walls. I spun toward the window just in time to see something massive and shadowy slam against the invisible barrier Faye had erected. The witch stumbled like she had been physically shoved. The shield rippled with the impact, faint golden light sparking along its edges before fading again.

“Five,” Faye gasped, her voice shaking, tone otherworldly. “There are five of them.”

“Demons,” Naomi breathed. “Five demons. Oh my God.”

Five—we were outnumbered. Adrenaline surged through me, my wolf rising to the surface, ready to fight, but there was nothing to hit. Not yet.

“Keep trying to hold the shield,” I ordered Faye.

“I’m trying,” she bit out, her voice strained. “But they’re—They’re strong.” There was a grey tint to her lips that worried the hell out of me. She must have been expending a massive amount of power. “Call—Hector— please.”

“He was my first call,” I assured her. I might have been an asshole, but not so much of an asshole that I wouldn’t let another Alpha know his mate was in danger.

Another crash. Then another. Each one sent a tremor through the house and a wave of golden light flickering across the shield. Faye’s knees buckled, and Naomi rushed to steady her.

“Faye, don’t stop,” Naomi urged, her voice steady despite the fear I knew she felt.

“I won’t,” Faye said through gritted teeth. “I’ll hold until I can’t anymore.”

I gripped the shotgun leaning against the wall, my knuckles white around the stock. The rounds were spelled against demons, but shooting through the barrier would weaken it—and Faye. We needed to be calculated about this.

“Can you let one through at a time, Faye?”

A loud, guttural roar erupted from outside, followed by the unmistakable sound of claws scraping against wood. They were testing for weak points.

“Maybe,” she huffed. “Definitely—if—your witch—gets here.”

“Dammit, Saul,” I muttered under my breath. “Where the hell are you?”

As if summoned by my frustration, the air in the room shifted, a sudden gust of wind sweeping through. The doorway was flung open by the gale, and Saul appeared in the doorway, looking like some wild priest blown in from the distant past.

“Looks like I’m just in time,” he said, his sharp gaze assessing the situation in an instant.

It was Naomi who snapped at him, and if the situation wasn’t such a mess, I would have loved to see that fire in her. “Actually, you’re fucking late, Saul. Help her!”

Saul ignored her, already stepping past the two of us to stand at the center of the room. He raised his hands, his voice low and commanding as he joined Faye in reinforcing the shield. The crashes came faster now, each one making the walls tremble. But with Saul’s help, the golden light around the house grew brighter, stronger. Faye sighed in relief, her legs and arms no longer trembling.

“I told Faye to let them in one at a time,” I told Saul. “We can take them easily like that. Only. One!”

“Yes, Alpha,” Saul droned, already lost in the spell. “Be prepared.”

The first demon breached the barrier, wearing the body of a middle-aged man whose eyes were pitch black, his fingers curled in claws. I didn’t hesitate. Raising the shotgun, I fired, the spelled round tearing through the demon’s chest and sending it sprawling to the ground. It degraded immediately, disappearing in a flash of light and ash. I felt a rush of triumph.

“Hell yes. Saul, these rounds are incredible.”

Voice just as otherworldly as Faye’s, Saul spared me a chuckle. “I know.”

Two more followed; their grotesque shapes, once normal and human but now utterly corrupted, were illuminated by the golden glow of the shield as they were individually let through. The shotgun barked, and Saul shouted something I couldn’t hear over the gunfire, his hands moving in complex patterns as he hurled spells at the demons.

Whistle. Pop. The smell of brimstone and burning rubber. The demons fought, but they still died to our hands, bullets, and spells.

We fought like hell. By the time it was over, three of the demons had been destroyed. The other two had vanished into the night, retreating with eerie, inhuman cries. Faye collapsed to her knees, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Naomi rushed to her side, murmuring reassurances I couldn’t make out, stroking the witch’s overheated forehead.

I turned my attention to the black smears on the ground that had once been demons, my wolf growling low and angry as I noted the scorch marks where they had tried to crawl in their last moments. They’d reached for Faye. For Naomi.

They weren’t just here to destroy. They were here to take our women. The thought was like a bucket of ice water over my head.

I watched as Saul and Naomi helped Faye to the dining table and got her some herbal tea and cookies to regain some of her energy. There was cleaning to be done, and I needed to investigate outside to see if I could find any clues about where the demons had originated from, but that would all have to wait. First, I needed to circle the wagons.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Julian. He picked up on the first ring.

“We’ve got a problem,” I said, my voice grim.

His voice was rough like he had been sleeping. “What happened?”

“Demons,” I said simply. “We killed three, but two got away. They were after Naomi and Faye.”

Julian swore under his breath.

“My friend,” I growled. “We need to prepare for war.”

Because this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

***

The first rays of dawn filtered through the curtains, painting the kitchen in muted golds and reds. It should have been a peaceful scene—the kind of calm that settled after a long, brutal night. But the air inside the house was anything but; it was charged with an energy that had no outlet.

Julian had arrived late last night, and we sent the women to bed, cleaning up the demon remains alongside Saul while we discussed what to do next. The investigation outside hadn’t given us any information either. It seemed like the demons had shown up out of nowhere, disappearing just as quickly when it became clear we would obliterate every one of them.

Naomi sat at the table, her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, the steam curling in lazy spirals toward her face. She was pale, her usually warm complexion drawn tight with exhaustion, nose ring winking in the light. Next to her, Faye poked at a plate of scrambled eggs, her appetite clearly gone after last night’s events.

Across the table, Saul leaned back in his chair, his sharp, calculating eyes scanning the room like he was piecing together some invisible puzzle. Julian, on the other hand, was slouched forward, his arms crossed over his chest, radiating an energy that was uncomfortably close to hostility.

Something was up with him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He had been pissed when he showed up last night, but I had chalked it up to being woken up in the middle of sleep and missing out on the action. Now, though, I had no idea why he was being such a grumpy prick.

I sat at the head of the table, trying to focus on the food in front of me, but my wolf was restless. The events of the night before kept looping in my head—Faye’s screams, the demons tearing through the barrier, the way they’d reached for Naomi like she was some kind of prize.

My hand clenched around my fork.

“Worried about your straight-laced mate?” Julian asked, his tone mocking. Naomi’s head popped up and she looked in our direction, confused.

I looked up, frowning. Surely I had heard him wrong. “What?”

Julian tilted his head toward Naomi, his expression unreadable but his tone sharp enough to bite. “She’s too straightlaced for this. For you. For us. You think she can handle the biker life, Danny? Hell, you think she can handle the demon-fighting life? She’s barely holding it together.”

The words landed like a slap. Naomi flinched, her hand tightening around the mug. She didn’t say anything, but the hurt was plain in her eyes.

“What the hell, Julian?” I had to force the words between my teeth.

He shrugged, leaning back in his chair like he hadn’t just insulted my mate in front of me. “I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking. She’s not cut out for this. You’re setting yourself up for failure, Danny. And her. You’d be better to send her back to the Silverfangs.”

My wolf surged forward, a growl rumbling in my chest. I pushed back from the table, standing so fast that my chair scraped loudly against the floor.

“Don’t you dare talk about her like that!”

Julian raised an eyebrow like he couldn’t believe I was serious. “Come on, M an. You know I’m right. She’s—”

“She’s my mate,” I snarled, cutting him off. What in the fuck was wrong with him? Julian had expressed concern about the mating, but he trusted me when I reassured him. Julian always trusted me. “Naomi is my Canine Queen. And if you think for one second I’m gonna let you—or anyone else—disrespect her, you’ve lost your damn mind.”

The room went deadly silent. Faye’s fork clattered against her plate, her wide eyes darting between me and Julian. Great. Fighting in front of the Silverfang Creek Alpha’s mate. So much for proving the Red Canines weren’t the brash assholes our reputation made us out to be.

Julian stood slowly, his movements deliberate, like he was trying to remind me that he wasn’t afraid of me. “You really think she’s queen material, huh?” he asked, his tone mocking.

I took a step toward him, my fists clenched at my sides. “Say one more word, and I’ll make an example out of you in front of the entire pack—but first, I’ll kick your ass right here and now as a warmup.”

His eyes narrowed, and for a moment, he didn’t look like himself. His eyes were dark, and it looked like he might actually challenge me. But then he stepped back, shaking his head.

“You’re making a mistake, Danny,” he said, his voice quieter now but no less bitter. “Maybe it’s time I started my own pack. One that doesn’t get dragged down by bad decisions.”

I didn’t say anything, didn’t trust myself to speak. My wolf was too close to the surface, too ready to lash out. Julian turned and walked out, his boots echoing against the hardwood floor. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the room in heavy silence.

Naomi shifted in her seat, her gaze fixed on the table. “He didn’t mean it—”

“I don’t care if he did or not. The words still came out of his mouth,” I said, my voice still rough with anger. “And he can go to hell for it.”

I glanced around the table, meeting the wide-eyed stares of Faye and Saul. “This is my pack,” I said firmly. “And Naomi is my queen. Anyone who has a problem with that can join Julian on his way out.”

No one said a word, the room’s energy thick and suffocating. I went back to my seat, blood rushing in my ears with the fury I was feeling. Of all the times for my best friend to be a fucking moron. I needed all the help I could get right now, and I’d just lost my biggest asset over some stupid opinion he had.

But then I looked over at Naomi and saw the thankfulness in her gaze. She appreciated that I protected her, even against Julian. Her approval, her happiness, was all I needed to know that I had done the right thing, no matter how hard it was.