Page 18 of Bear with Me

Brock glanced back and saw his mate standing next to Helen and Fletch.

“I can smell her on you,” Declan added, pulling Brock’s attention back to him. “How’s it feel to be a mated man?”

“We’re not mated yet,” Brock admitted. “She was hurt during the recent attack.”

“That will definitely wake a man to what’s important.” Declan patted him on the back then moved on to greet Matheus. Brock headed over to join Jemma, putting his hand against the small of her back as he tugged her against him.

“Feeling okay?” he murmured at her ear, rubbing his nose along the line of her jaw.

“I’m good.”

More people spilled from the cars that had followed Declan’s. Greetings were tossed out as more of the members of the Langston den joined their numbers. Brock kept his eyes on his sister-in-law, Em, as she moved among them, welcoming them. They would have to officially swear fealty to Laramie and the Holloway den before they’d be allowed to join, but he didn’t doubt they would, just as the rest of the members who’d joined them had.

“Lawrence Walker!” Laramie bellowed as the male in question was shoved to his knees.

Any chatter halted immediately. Brock pulled Jemma even closer as he felt a tremble go through her. It was a reminder his mate had been the only survivor in her family. Both her parents had been killed, and Jemma had only been thirteen at the time. Had she heard their deaths, or had she already been hidden away? Brock had been so busy running from himself and what he felt for her that he’d never taken the time to ask. God, she deserved so much better from him. Going forward, he’d make sure he was the mate she needed, the one he should have been all along.

“The great and powerful Laramie Holloway,” Walker sneered. Holt gripped the other man by the hair and jerked back his head, so he was forced to keep his eyes on Laramie.

“You’ve betrayed your den,” Laramie thundered. “Spilled the blood of those you should have protected. Tonight, you will be judged and sentenced. Blood for blood. Life for life.”

Roars of agreement filled the air at Laramie’s proclamation. Walker hadn’t just spilled blood in the Holloway den. He’d helped attack the Langston den, as well. Em hoped he’d share who among her group had been involved. While the Holloways had lost most of their females, the Langston’s had lost mostly their males. Both packs had lost their alphas, Mathew Holloway and Emory Langston.

Lawrence Walker had a lot to pay for. But he wasn’t the only one.

“I’ve betrayed no one,” Walker yelled back, drawing more snarls. “It’s always been survival of the fittest when it comes to our kind.”

“Survival of the fittest?” It was Jensen who stepped forward then. “You targeted our women. The lifeblood of this den.”

Walker laughed. “Looks like you replaced them.”

“There is no replacing them,” Laramie fired back before Jensen could speak. “There’s no replacing anyone who’s blood has been spilled by you or the hunters you colluded with.”

“I heard you had a visit from some of those hunters.” Walker grinned, and Jensen punched him hard in the face. It was wild seeing one of the most controlled of his brothers lose his cool. Declan, Matheus, and Jensen were the calm ones.

“Jensen!”

Jensen turned with a snarl. “Every day, I fight tooth and nail to save our people. I patch up wounds, work to counter the drugs we’re injected with, operate with the sole purpose of saving lives. I research and research until all I can see is blood pathology and our unique DNA coding in my mind. Still, it isn’t enough. Still, I watch us die. Even worse, I watch the most precious among us fall into a place where I can’t reach them. Where death is preferred over one more day on this planet. And you have the gall to say survival of the fittest! You are the one unfit to live. Did you even show your face when you lured out my father and murdered him? Or did you hide in the shadows and watch while others spilled his blood?”

Walker growled, and Brock knew Jensen had hit the nail on the head. Lawrence Walker was too much of a coward to actually face an alpha like Mathew Holloway.

“No, you prey on women, like the weak male you are,” Jensen charged.

Walker laughed again, the sound a bit mad. “Looks like I’m winning.”

“You pompous sonofabitch.” Jensen flew at him, and it took Brock, Slade, and Matheus to pull him off.

“Enough!” Laramie roared. “You’ll get what’s coming to you, Walker. On my timeline, not yours.” He glanced at Koby. “Take him away. Judgment begins at sundown.”

Holt and Koby jerked Walker back to his feet and led him off with Wood, Declan, Fletch, and Milo. Laramie headed toward the rest of his brothers.

“Jensen?” he questioned.

“I’m fine,” Jensen snarled, trying to shove them off him. At Laramie’s nod, they let him go. “I’m not sorry I punched him. I’d gut him like a fish and let his blood and organs spill out.” He lowered his head and took a deep breath. When he glanced back up, he’d regained control. “I won’t be there tonight. My time is better spent trying to save lives. We’ve lost too many already.”

Laramie nodded, and no one tried to stop Jensen as he walked away. Jemma surprised Brock when she stepped away from him and glanced at Laramie.

“I’m going to go with him.” When Brock moved to follow her, she shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Jensen shouldn’t be by himself. He’s alone far too often with his thoughts. I know what that’s like,” she added.

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