Page 48 of My Possessive Alpha

When the beta from before, Will, appeared, giving us hesitant glances despite his attempt at appearing stoic, more of my anger roiled within me.

Another beta, one I hadn’t seen before, stepped forward with his teeth bared at me. “Who the hell are you?”

But Will, seemingly knowing better, put an arm out to stop him. He swallowed hard.

“Don’t. You don’t want to get in the middle of this one.”

“Wise choice,” I muttered, pushing past them and continuing toward the inner cluster of houses. As my group followed, they, too, growled their warnings to the betas, letting them know that if they tried anything, there would be no hesitation.

Disarmed and unwilling to follow through with their duties to stop intruders from infiltrating the pack grounds, the betas stood off to the side and could only watch while we went unfazed by their presence.

If I really wanted to, I could’ve put the time in to fight them all myself before working my way up to Jack, but I didn’t see any reason to—not when they were already scared and going against their instincts as a beta. They weren’t my targets.

With another deep breath, I caught more of Lydia’s scent and zeroed in on the house in the center as other pack members appeared, looking afraid at the sight of us. They either whispered to one another, ran to hide, or lingered just out of reach to watch what was going on.

Before I could say anything or head into the house myself, my eyes settled on Jack as he pushed his way out the front door, expression laced with irritation and arrogance.

The sight of him alone sent my instincts into overdrive. I clenched my fists as I stopped, aware that my genuine opponent was right in front of me.

“So, it is you,” Jack sneered, crossing his arms over his chest as he took several steps away from the door, garneringthe attention of his pack while they looked on with concern in their eyes. While he maintained his otherwise unimpressed facade, I could sense his anger roiling beneath his skin. “Here to apologize for taking what was mine?”

My lip twitched at his condescending words, but I ignored them. Instead, I raised my chin confidently and looked at him with pure determination.

“Release Lydia to me, or risk being killed. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me,” I said, feeling the formidable presence of the guys and Zoe behind me. “Regardless, with my friends here, there’s nothing you can do to stop us from doing what needs to be done. Give up, or face the consequences. But don’t claim I never gave you the chance.”

Jack looked at me for another moment, brazen in his assumption that I was either bluffing or that he truly did stand a chance. I could only imagine that the years of being praised by his pack members had inflated his ego to delusional proportions.

He scrubbed a hand over his mouth with a bitter laugh. His gaze narrowed as his anger took the driver’s seat. “Then I guess you’ll just have to fight me for her. This is the only way we can truly settle this. Man to man, the winner gets the mate.”

As he sealed our fates, the weight of the confrontation sat heavily on my shoulders—a tipping scale that would determine win or loss, life or death.

Even if the outcome was in the air and would come down to pure alpha strength, I knew I had no other choice and wasn’t willing to deliberate any longer.

For Lydia, our bond, and our unborn child, I had to make those sacrifices.

She trusted me to keep her safe and placed complete faith in me and our connection. I wasn’t prepared to let that trust go to waste.

As Jack approached, cracking his neck with a smug look, he uttered, “Better try and kill me now, Sebastian. If you don’t, I’ll never stop going after her.”

Even if he was trying to get under my skin as a tactic, it was working.

That taunt and claim alone was enough to make my composure snap, and with a low growl in my chest, I gave in.

Passing the reins to my inner wolf, I no longer tried to suppress it.

Instead, I succumbed to the shift as the world around me readjusted, and I hit the ground with tension and fury rippling through me. Baring my teeth at him, I snarled, ready for the fight, regardless of its outcome.

Jack did the same in response, morphing until his form mirrored mine—sandy fur tousling as his muscles twitched, rigid with his wrath.

We stood face to face for a moment as the air around us seemed to fill with undeniable electric tension, ready to be discharged at any moment.

With Lydia at the forefront of my mind, I let that red veil of anger fit over my eyes, ready to do whatever it took to get her back. To fulfill my promise to shield her from the world's horrors and prove that I was worthy of her love.

Circling one another in our wolf forms, we were locked in, and I never let Jack out of my sight.

As if an invisible partition between us had finally been shattered, I lunged forward with a snarl, and the fight finally began.

Chapter 28 - Lydia

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