by T. S. Joyce
He had to do something to stop Morgan’s tears before they dragged Wolf right out of his skin. Before he burned up like a dying star and exploded into a billion pieces. Marcus rapped the gavel on the podium to quiet everyone down, then he leaned over the stage and spoke in a quiet discussion with his fellow Old Ones. Grey listened, tuning out everyone else to get a feel for which way they were leaning. None of the suggestions they were throwing around would be good for his and Morgan’s future together.
Their future was about to be so violent, and as he looked around at the sheer numbers of werewolves in the room—and these were just the alpha’s and their mates—he knew he would struggle to keep his family safe. He needed to buy them some time for peace. Time to quietly plan an escape, time to breathe, time to feel safe, time to plot a new future that these werewolves didn’t have a say in.
“Give me six months,” Grey ground out.
He couldn’t accept what they were about to suggest. Wolf would give a go at killing off the entire species before he let another man touch his mate. For the good of everyone, they had to give him time. The room grew quiet, and Marcus stood back up at the podium.
He drew his tortured gaze to Marcus. “Give me six months. If I get her pregnant, this is never to be brought up again. She will be mine always, and anyone who questions it will die. If we can’t get pregnant in half a year, other wolves can start giving formal challenges for her again. Good fuckin’ luck surviving me if anyone is stupid enough to challenge though. I’ll kill every last one of you. Hear me clear, and hear the honest notes in my promise. I will annihilate this entire fucking species to keep her safe. Six months. Give us space for six months.”
Morgan’s eyes went wide, and her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Dean got up and left the room, slamming the door loudly behind him. Grey shot his mate a warning look. She obviously hadn’t heard the alternative the Old Ones were about to suggest. She remained quiet and still as a stone while Marcus looked to the other Old Ones, and after a quick discussion, the one on the end nodded his head in affirmation. The old leader rapped his gavel on the podium and claimed it done. Chaos ensued from the crowd, but Grey needed out of here. He grabbed Morgan’s hand and led her immediately out of the building.
Dean and Rachel waited in a fog of despair just outside the door. The pained noise that came from Morgan’s throat was enough to rip his guts out. She slammed an iron door on the bond between them so quickly and unexpectedly that it made him queasy. Rachel caught her as Morgan slid to her knees sobbing. Lana clung unsteadily to Grey’s leg, and he patted the little girl’s hair. He needed to take his eyes away from his mate’s pain but couldn’t.
Dean gathered Lana into his arms. “Those wolves in there are going to be coming out of those doors any second now. They don’t need to see her like this.”
Numbly, Grey picked Morgan up. He held her tightly against his chest and walked her straight to the cabin. “I had to do it,” he gritted out, desperate for her to understand he wasn’t trying to hurt her. “They were going to take you away from me if I didn’t buy us some time.”
Morgan’s quiet crying gutted him. “It’s my body, it should be my choice. This isn’t fair, Grey. I should be allowed to choose my mate and we should choose exactly how we want to build our family and our pack, together. Those assholes in there should have no say.”
And she was right. Every single word was right.
When they were inside their cabin, Rachel followed Morgan into her room and crawled into bed with her. Grey kept his distance. The last wisp of emotion he had received just before she shut their bond down was gut-wrenching sadness and fear that she would fail and be absorbed into another pack. That she would lose him, but silly girl. She would never lose him. He would take her to the ends of the earth to keep her safe. He didn’t know how yet, but he would.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts, and Marissa stuck her head inside.
“Can I talk to you?” She had been crying, too.
“What are you doing back so soon? Are you all right?”
Marissa nodded and wiped her face. “I have to tell you something.” She looked worriedly over at the bed where Morgan was crying and Rachel was rubbing her back. Grey shook his head. Best for her not to ask right then.
“Um, I might need to tell Dean, too. It involves his new wolf.” Grey rubbed a hand over his face and nodded, opening the door into the joint living area. Could one fucking thing go right tonight?
Dean sat at the table with his head in his hands while Lana devoured a chocolate chip granola bar.
Marissa took the seat across from him. “When I was running with everyone, the boys did a good job of staying close to me. I don’t think they can tell where I am without seeing me since I’m not in their pack anymore. They got ahead of me, and these two wolves separated me from the rest of the pack. I was trying to get back, but they worked together to steer me farther and farther away. They were rubbing against me and nipping at me, and I was so scared. But all of a sudden Levi jumped in between them. I mean, it was pretty dumb of him because they were both way more dominant than him, and they were really big. Anyway, he fought them off long enough for Wade and Logan and Brent to figure out I was missing and come find me.”
“Jesus, are you all right?” Grey patted her arms as if he could fix it by touching her.
“Yes, I’m fine, thanks to the new wolf. The point of this is that I know the wolves who did it. They are the ones who were stalking you and Morgan in the woods this afternoon.”
Grey frowned. “How do you know?”
“I was out with Rachel and Lana when we heard some of the packs talking about Morgan. Rachel took Lana back to the cabin, but I was pissed at how they were talking about her, so I stuck around to listen. I heard the two wolves who were spreading the gossip. They were giving first-hand accounts, and I smelled them so I could remember them. These were the same wolves that came after me, Grey. They stalk women. It’s a game for them.”
He shook with the overwhelming rage inside of him. Berserker. Wolf was about to go completely out of control. The past hour had gone so horribly wrong. He wanted to roar as loud as he could and pound his fists against the table until it was nothing but tiny splinters and dust. Lana was looking at him curiously now, and he had no outlet for his rage.
Dean’s eyes shown bright gray, and his face flushed red. “Grey, the fights start in a couple minutes. I was waiting to tell you so it would give you less time to think about it, but I signed you up yesterday.”
Ha. Of course he signed him up. Dean was giving him his outlet.
“I don’t know if I should be fighting right now,” Grey growled.
“Right now is exactly when you should be fighting. Challenge those animals. Beat them. Fight the next one and the next one and the next one until they are all defeated. Teach them a lesson, and then show every single son of a bitch who thinks he has a chance of challenging you in six months that you will murder them. Be Demon Wolf, Grey. Let. Him. Out.”
“Marissa, do you need to see it?” Grey asked. Marissa was young, but did she need to see her alpha defend her?
“Of course, I do.”
Grey grunted. Both members of his pack could be bloodthirsty little creatures when they wanted to be.
“Take care of my family?” he asked Dean.
Dean nodded. “Of course I will, brother.”
Grey clapped him on the shoulder before he led Marissa outside and to the mess hall.
When they arrived, Marissa immediately found and pointed out the men who had attacked her. Grey called them out in challenge, and Marissa scrambled to the check-in table to set it up. As she passed them, she flipped them off, letting her eyes slide into an eerie light blue. Grey smirked. Morgan was rubbing off on her.
When she was safely seated next to Sarah, Grey turned his cold gaze onto his first challenger.
And as Wolf grinned inside of him, everything faded to black.
Chapter Twelve
A bell rang, and Grey ran straight for the sneering face of the man. He grabbed his throat and hooked a foot behind his legs just before slamming him to the ground. He pummeled his face until the referee called it. The gray-eyed man wasn’t sneering anymore.
The second man had taken notes. He was smarter about his approach, ducking out of the way immediately and landing a few punches in between getting hammered by Grey’s unrelenting fists. Grey spat red after getting punched in the face and offered the rangy shifter an empty smile. The blood that flowed from his nose and lip were only a minor nuisance. Wolf didn’t feel it. Other than to mock the second fighter, Grey never flinched or reacted to the furious fists he absorbed. The man drew back farther to hit harder, giving Grey more time to work him over. He hit the floor like a sack of rocks, just like the first one.
“For my pack,” Grey snarled as the man lay gasping for air on the ground. He looked up at the crowd and held his hands out as he stalked around the edge of the ring. “Who’s next?”
“Do you need a rest?” the referee asked.
Grey shook his head slow at him.
Wolf lived for this.
He didn’t need rest.
****
“Where’s Grey?” Morgan asked Dean quietly.
“Mess hall. He’s gone to fight.”
She stared vacantly at the stone fireplace for a moment. She had to see him, to be there for him as he had always been there for her. She was angry about the alpha meeting, but he’d asked for that six months for a reason. He had never made a decision without her and Lana in mind. Somehow, he was trying to protect her. That’s what he always did—had her back. And she had his. “When do they start?”
“He’s probably fighting right now.”
“We’ll be right back,” she told him, then wiped her puffy eyes on the sleeve of her hoodie and followed Rachel out the door.
She walked in on his fourth fight. Sarah and Marissa waved them over to the side where they had commandeered a group of chairs. By the time they were even settled, Grey had finished his opponent off. He jumped and shifted his weight from side to side, and then jabbed at the air to stay warm and loose. Grey didn’t have a shirt on, and blood trickled from his nose down his short beard and dripped down his chest, which glistened with sweat. His chin-length dirty-blond hair was damp and hung in front of his glowing gold eyes. Sharp cheekbones and a slight slant to his eyes made him look pretty damn scary, but to Morgan, hot as hell. His jeans rode low on his hips. Scars everywhere from protecting her. Muscles and scars and beard and that brand on his shoulder that matched hers.
“He’s killing it,” Sarah whispered excitedly.
His nostrils flared, and he turned his head. His gaze collided with hers, and he straightened, a slow smile curving up his split lip. She waved and smiled back. He cocked his head to the side. Come closer. Slowly, she approached him. He smelled of adrenaline, and his skin was slick with sweat and blood. If the big grin on his face was any indication, Wolf was utterly in his element. His hand snaked gently around her waist, and he kissed her. The blood on his lips tasted dangerous, and the contrast of his unshaven face against hers was so damn sexy.
“I had a reason for what I did,” he said into her ear. “Everything I do is for you, Morgan.”
The deep rumble of his voice against her earlobe sent a shiver through her. “I know, Grey. I trust you. I’m not going anywhere.”
He nodded and kissed both of her hands before he nodded his head at her seat, and made his way back into the middle of the ring.
The next fights were a blur. Marissa rushed to see who was fighting next and let Morgan know that a number of the wolves who had signed up had backed out after Grey’s first few fights. She watched him in awe, completely stunned that her mate could fight like this. He was brutal and fast, no teasing, no taunting, no playing. He was so graceful and fluid when he fought. Every time his fist made contact, the crack of power blasted through the room. She’d watched boxing matches on television, but none of them had ever touched this. Werewolves brawling, and Grey was making this look too easy. And between each fight, he found her in the crowd. Always checking on her.
“Next,” he said, stepping over another body. Tiredness didn’t touch his tone, just readiness.
The referee looked at the sign-in table and shook his head. “That’s it. This year’s Summit Champion is Greyson Crawford, alpha of the second Dallas pack.
He found her and made his way over. She was already holding a towel she’d snagged from the check-in table so he could clean off all the blood. He’d been cut above the eye by a wolf wearing a ring and it was streaming down the side of his face. If he felt it, he sure didn’t show it. He flung his dark gray T-shirt carelessly over his shoulder, and he draped his arm around her as they scanned the crowd for Marissa. No one had signed up for a girl’s strength challenge, so everyone filed toward the doors that led back to the cabins.
“I challenge Silver Wolf.”
It was amazing what those four little words did to her and her wolf. Morgan froze in her tracks. The crowd stopped their escape and milled around in confusion. Alexis stood on a chair that leaned against a pillar in the center of the room. Her arms were crossed, and irritating smugness was etched into the cocky curve of her lips and the high arch of her brows.
Morgan offered her a vacant smile and said, “No thanks.”
“Chicken.”
“Tastes delicious, but last time I checked, I was all wolf.”
The masses parted as Alexis jumped off her chair and closed the short distance between them. She slapped Morgan hard across her face. Morgan froze. She’d really and truly just open palm slapped her.
“Oh, Alexis,” Marissa murmured. “You stupid, stupid girl.”
A smug smile tugged at the edges of Grey’s lips, and he nodded. “Give them room,” he demanded quietly.
Morgan slid a hard gaze to Alexis. “Accepted.”
Alexis swung a fist before she had even finished the word, but Morgan had expected a dirty fight. She flinched back and brought her hands up to protect her face. Alexis had swung too hard, expecting to crack her in one punch, but the force of her unanswered blow threw her off balance. The instant she angled back to Morgan, she threw a combination—a right a left, a knee to the stomach, and then shoved her backward.
The air in Alexis’s lungs left the building and she hit the pillar, gasping. Morgan stayed on the balls of her feet, following her, hands up, always up, always ready, remember your lessons, always protect the face.
Alexis ran a knuckle under her nose and caught the stream of blood there.
“I definitely broke it, in case you’re wondering,” Morgan said. And then she used her earlier words on her. “Not so pretty anymore, are ya, Alexis?”
Alexis screeched and ran for her. She was fast, Morgan would give her that, but she was enraged and working off anger, not smarts. She threw three fast punches that Morgan blocked and then she opened herself up. Morgan reared back and clocked her so hard, Alexis hit the ground.
“Not done,” Morgan murmured, lifting her by the throat off the floor. Her feet dangled off the ground. “I want you to scream. I want you to know the fear that come right before you die. I felt that fear before, when you tried to kill me. When you turned me into this.” She tightened her grip.
Alexis’s face was cherry red, and she was clawing at Morgan’s grip, kicking her legs.
“You tried to kill me. You told the others about me. You put my family and friends in danger, and then blamed Brandon’s death on me. And after every horrible thing you did, you fucked up that alpha meeting to try and ruin any life I managed to put together despite your efforts to ruin me.”
Morgan let go of her neck, and Alexis fell hard and landed with a thud on the floor. The sound of her pain-filled gasp tasted like hot cocoa for the soul. The instant Alexis’s body touched cement, Morgan knelt on her, knee pinning her chest.
“All because Grey
likes my bunny more than yours?” Morgan gripped her hair to keep her face still and lifted a fist in the air.
“Morgan,” Grey said softly.
There was chaos around them. Cheering, clapping, jeering, but all of it died to nothing, and all she could hear was Grey.
“You can kill her, but it won’t fix anything.”
And she considered it. She did. She thought about what a relief it would be to get revenge on Alexis. How good it would feel to know she would never fuck with her life again. But did she need more ghosts haunting her? What good would it really do?
Morgan slammed her fist down, and Alexis flinched as she stopped it at the last second. Morgan opened her hand and patted her cheek a couple of times as Alexis emitted a shuttering whimper. “Saved by Grey.”
Alexis’s face went from fearful to furious. “You don’t even know what is coming for you,” she whispered harshly. “And when the time comes, when you’re bleeding and tortured and have nothing left…I hope you put it together and figure out it was me who killed you.”
The threat was so sincere that a wave of gooseflesh washed across the back of Morgan’s neck. “What did you do?”
Alexis’s eyes brightened. “It’s not what I did. It’s who I know.”
Morgan narrowed her eyes at her, stood and straightened her shirt as a bewildered referee declared her Summit’s new female champion. Marissa and Rachel started the clapping, and it slowly picked up steam as the shock wore off the crowd.