Page 18 of Fractured Mates

His bite increases until we hear bones snap and the wolf goes limp beneath us.

Killing isn’t usually our first choice, but it’s one we’ve made many times before and I have a feeling today won’t be the last time I take a life.

The brown wolf who’s done a fine job of bloodying my back with his teeth and claws while I’ve been otherwise distracted spots his fallen friend and takes off like a bat out of hell before I can attack him.

We should give chase, but I’m bleeding more than I’d like to admit, and the one whose eye I ripped out is still standing.

He’s foaming at the mouth and stalking toward us. While I’m injured, he’s definitely worse off with blood dripping from the open wounds on his face. Still, he doesn’t back down.

The opposing wolf lunges forward and mine smacks him across the face with an open paw. It’s an even bigger insult to the other shifter considering a practically gentle hit has him falling back to the ground.

If we just take him out, it would feel more like murder to me. He can’t win, and he isn’t going to hurt me or Sophie. Not in the state he’s in now.

Yet he attempts to attack again, and I can’t not fight back.

When his mouth widens, going for our throat, we dart out of the way and go around the wolf’s side, pinning him to the ground with ease. With all the crimson coating his head, I doubt that he can even see at the moment.

Our teeth grip his neck, but not in a way that we intend to kill him. If he submits, he can walk away and live to see another day. One spent owning up to his crimes.

My wolf growls another warning at him, and he finally relaxes beneath our hold, letting out a light whimper.

When we back up, our eyes stay locked on the wolf until I hear another one coming from behind.

Shit. That better be Sophie. With all the blood around me, I can’t identify the scent coming closer, but whoever it is, they aren’t slowing down.

A dark tan wolf leaps over mine and lands on the ebony one I’m ready to arrest, as I so often do. We might be called protectors, but that’s only half of our job for the supernatural communities.

Sophie and the other wolf are fighting fiercely, which confuses the hell out of me, considering he could barely stand just seconds ago.

He was playing with us, my wolf snarls as he looks for an opening to jump in, but before we can find one, Sophie’s wolf has already done what I’m realizing too late that we should have.

She immediately shifts back to her naked human form and points a finger at me, a deep glare on her face. “You’re either an idiot or a traitor. I can’t tell which, and that’s not good for you.”

Her words cut deeply. Idiot and traitor. Two things I’ve never in my life been accused of. Maybe today wasn’t the day I should have accepted a job. Is my grief messing with my ability to make the right choices? I don’t know, but I do know that Sophie’s anger isn’t misplaced.

It’s her, my wolf says with another growl. You need to walk away.

The pain in his voice isn’t only something I can hear but can feel. My own heart aches with what he’s not saying.

Sophie isn’t our mate, but she’s the first wolf in fourteen years to make us feel something.

But I don’t know that he’s right. As much as I’ve hated the fates over the years for only allowing me a brief time with my mate, I’d already decided it was time to move forward with my life before I even set eyes on Sophie.

I’m not walking away, I tell him. Once again, he goes back to giving me the silent treatment.

Sophie’s naked ass stalks past me and when I try to get a closer look, my wolf jerks his head in the opposite direction.

Well, this is going to be interesting.

I force him to release control and shift back to my human form. I’m not bleeding any longer, but that doesn’t mean the injuries my wolf received haven’t carried over.

My back burns with every move I make, and my left calf has an open wound. Nothing that I don’t believe won’t heal within a few hours, but still not convenient.

Pushing through the aches, I jog to catch up with Sophie. Night has fully set in, but with my enhanced vision, I can make out every curve on her body, the white scar that travels over her ribs, and I see the way her dark hair sways over her spine.

Today is the anniversary of Cara’s death, my wolf says with undisguised loathing. How dare you look at another?

Because it’s been fourteen years, Wolf, I reply sternly. Cara is and always will be my mate, but she never would have wanted me to be alone like I’ve been. It’s taken me too long to accept that, and you’re only furious because you feel something for this new wolf, too.

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