Page 49 of Fated to the Feral Wolf

“Not by half, muzica mea.”

“Oh, I—” She seemed disappointed, but I stopped her with a finger to her lips.

“A pretty rock pales in comparison to the true beauty standing right in front of me.”

Her eyes went wide as understanding hit her, and a blush stained her cheeks. The scent of her heated arousal took her sweet scent and turned it utterly irresistible. My wolf rumbled in my chest, voicing his own approval of our perfect one. I couldn’t resist the urge to stroke my thumb over her bottom lip, her lips parting under the tiniest caress.

I was so wrapped up in our little bubble of discovery that it confused me when she lurched forward, squeaking in surprise as she fell against me.

But the confusion evaporated as I looked up and saw Dax at her back, hands on her hips and nose buried in her hair as he reveled in the scent of her arousal.

I saw red.

The snarl that ripped out of me at the insult to my mate was inhuman.

“Oh, shit on a stick.” Leigh swore like a sailor as I pushed Shay toward her, barely controlling my wolf, who was clawing to burst from my skin.

The bear didn’t register the threat immediately, his odd, ursine eyes still locked on my mate, mouth slightly open as desire poured off him in a cloud, the obvious competition making my wolf even more rabid to tear into him.

His hands had shifted to claws, though, and when I barreled into his shoulder at full speed, he swiped at me with those two-inch long daggers. His body shuddered as he toppled to the ground beneath me, but I didn’t relent.

I had the upper hand, and while I lost some advantage to his sheer bulk, when my fist connected with his jaw, he felt it.

I only got in three strikes before my pack mates dragged me off the downed bear, who was now bleeding from his lip as well as a cut on his eyebrow. My knuckles throbbed and had split in several places, but it was a good burn as I shook them out, ready for round two.

“He put his hands on her.Scented her.” My voice was not my own, the deep, angry wolf inside demanding that we tear his head off for the affront.

“We saw, Dirge. It’s going to be okay.”

“He has to pay,” I snapped, finally realizing that it was my brother standing in front of me.

“He does, I agree. But right now, your mate is scared and she needs you.” I reeled back as if he’d punched me in the gut, scanning for Shay as if my life depended on the sight of her.

The world narrowed to nothing when our eyes locked, and the scent of her terror registered in my nose. I broke Reed’s grip and ran to her, but she flinched back from me when I moved to wrap her in my arms.

It was a blow like none I’d ever experienced.She was afraid of me.

“Easy, killer. She’s spooked. Somebody just manhandled her without her consent. It’s not you.”

Leigh’s words sank in, and fury bathed me again. The desire to turn to that bear and finish what I’d started nearly pulled me under. The shaking of an impending shift started in my hands, then my arms, as I willed my wolf to stay put.

“Ah-ah, that’s the wrong direction. Calm, please,” Leigh said sternly, and it clicked that Shay hadn’t said a word. Her expression was drawn, her face pale. She was shaking as her friend hugged her, and her wolf’s golden gaze held mine, clearly on the edge of her control.

“Muzica mea, please, tell me what to do,” I begged. I hated seeing her like this. The urge to turn back and keep pummeling the bear was overwhelming, but I knew that wouldn’t actually help Shay, and she would always be my top priority.

She shook her head, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“I’m here, I’m here if you’ll still have me. I’m so sorry.”

A single, shaking hand extended toward me, and I took it gratefully, chafing it between mine to warm her.

Many voices twined behind us, rising to a chaotic din, but I ignored them. In this, I trusted my pack. I could turn my back and focus on my mate and let the diplomats do what they had to.

Besides, Kane should have enough juice to handle the bears if it really came to that.

But it didn’t.

“What is the meaning of this?” The feminine voice was low but filled with pure steel. It brought everyone else to instant silence, the weight of power subduing the gathered bears as if they were kittens, not apex predators.

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