Page 52 of Never Submit

“Noble,” he says sharply, his voice low and biting. “Move. This doesn’t concern you.”

I lift my head in defiance. My stance is firm and unyielding. “It absolutely concerns me. You’re my friend, and she’s my mate.”

“Friend?” He snorts at that. “I’m your alpha. And a mate you’re willing to share? That doesn’t sound like amateto me.”

This is the side of Torin I hate. I always have and I always will. It’s why I almost didn’t come back to this place all those years ago. He let me go, something he’s never allowed me to forget, but I came back when he asked.

Sometimes I think I should have stayed gone.

Alpha or not, Torin can be a cold-hearted bastard when he wants to be. One can even say it is his specialty.

My wolf hates the way I refuse to roll over and show my belly to him when he demands it. The human side of me is ready to tell him to fuck off.

Right now, that side of me is winning out.

“You’re marrying a woman who doesn’t care if you face-fuck someone else?” I throw back nastily.

Torin lets the insult roll off of him. His blond hair bristles but he refuses to adjust, to pivot, despite the intensity of the situation.

“She’s a wolf now, like us. She needs to learn her place,” Torin says. His eyes dart past me to Ren, who’s crouched behind me, teeth bared. “If you insist that she must be part of this pack, then she needs to know who her alpha is and submit.”

That word.Submit.It makes my blood boil. The arrogance in his tone, the way he says it like she’s some feral thing that needs taming.

I’m not sure if it’s my feelings, or Ren’s, or both. On this, we seem to be of the same mind.

Submit.

We won’t. We refuse.

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way, Noble,” Torin warns.

“Make me.”

His eyes widen in disbelief, but right when he’s about to lash out, his phone starts ringing again—Catarina calling back, no doubt.

He glances at me and Ren and then the screen, debating.

This is it. It’s time for him to make a choice.

Brrnngg… Brrnngg…

Still, he doesn’t move, and his hesitation fuels my anger.

“You should be helping me teach Ren what to do,” I say. “She’s scared. This is all new to her. And instead, you have your head up your own ass?—”

Ren’s growls fade.

I glance back to watch her struggling to shift back, her form shrinking, the fur receding as she digs her way toward control. When it’s over, she’s on her knees, naked and shaking, tears streaming down her face.

Her shaking fingers curl against the cool floor.

Torin looks at her, then at me, his jaw tight.

Brrnngg… Brrnngg…

“Torin…please,” I plead.

What am I pleading for? Understanding? Concern?

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