Page 21 of Rejected By the Alpha King

Rising, I gripped the one wolf still attached to me and snapped its neck. It fell, lifeless, to the ground, and I launched myself at the other two. One jerked away just in time, and the other one and I rumbled to the ground. It was smaller and leaner but scrappy. It got in a few good blows before I tore its throat open.

Turning to search for the one who got away, I watched, in horror, as Anna pulled out the flare gun from the bag. She aimed it at Jenson and the wolf he was fighting. As soon as she pulled the trigger, a wolf was on her.

Shift.

I pushed the command through our bond. She was human and could barely pivot on that knee. She wouldn’t last two minutes under the claws of the wolf.

Instead of shifting, she fell, pinned under the wolf. Her screams seared into me, and my wolf roared with rage as we threw ourselves and shoved it through the fire and to the other side of the camp.

There was strength behind all that matted fur. Strength that, at any other time, I might have admired. Tonight, I just wanted him dead for daring to touch my mate.

He put up a good fight, and by the time it was over, the campsite had quieted. Dead wolves lay at our feet. I turned to assess the damage. Everyone was in wolf form except Saul. He leaned over Anna, and he was paler than he’d ever been.

“Shift,” he said hoarsely. “You have to let your wolf heal you.”

Instantly, I shifted and raced over. “How bad is it?”

I immediately checked her head and neck, but they were both fine. There was a nasty gash across her shoulder, but that didn’t explain the tightness in Saul’s voice.

Then I saw her leg. “Her femoral artery has been slashed. If she doesn’t shift in the next few minutes, she will die,” Saul said. “Someone get me a belt.”

“Shift,” I told her in a low voice. “You are going to die. You have to shift. Now.”

“No,” she rasped. “No, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Shift, damn it. Shift!”

Panic seized me. A shadow swept over her, and she immediately tried to shrink away.

Jenson handed Saul a belt. “Will this work?” He asked in a low voice.

“It’ll buy us more time.” Quickly, Saul made a tourniquet at the top of her thigh. “But not much. Jax.”

“Twenty feet perimeter. Now,” I commanded hoarsely. “Everyone.”

“But…” Bridget started.

“Do it!”

My voice thundered, and everyone turned and raced to follow their orders. Kneeling by Anna, I placed a hand to her heart. “When I took you in, you swore an oath of loyalty to me, and I to you. You are in no danger here. It’s just you and me. I’m going to shift, Anna. Your wolf has to know that under no circumstances would my wolf ever hurt you. He will die to protect you.

Let her out. If not, you’re choosing death for her. You’re choosing death for you both.”

There was nothing but pain and panic in her eyes, and for a horrid moment, I wondered if she even understood what I was saying. “Don’t do this,” I whispered, and I let my wolf out.

She cried out, but the change was even faster than usual. My wolf was more than prepared to come out, to watch over and nurse her. I gave him complete control, and he whimpered and butted his head against her.

Precious seconds ticked by.

Then, like a miracle, she closed her eyes and exhaled. The change was long, far longer than it should have been, but when a small and honey-colored wolf whimpered under me, it was alive.

She was alive.

Sitting back, I howled, and my wolves returned. They performed a tight perimeter around us, and Saul stretched over.

“She’s pretty,” Bridget commented.

“She is,” Saul agreed as he ran his hands over her leg. “And terrified. Give us more space please.”

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