Page 47 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

He was just… keeping everyone else away from her.

The monster studied her seatbelt, trying to decide how it was trapping her. The focus it took made him let his guard down. The prison around me relaxed.

I waited a moment while he sniffed the seatbelt—and finally broke through the bars holding me.

Skin replaced fur as I locked the wolf down again, crouching in the smashed car underneath Nova. My shoulder was against her breasts, her head hanging near my back while he roared and fought against my hold.

But he wouldn’t escape again.

“Hold onto me,” I commanded her, adjusting my position and undoing the seat belt.

Nova made a noise of pain as I took her weight, easing her down.

Enzo was there at the door when I turned around, and fur broke out on my arms as my wolf rammed the cage.

“Give me space,” I gritted out, and Enzo stepped back, watching me closely.

He took two steps back. It wasn’t much, but I knew he wasn’t satisfied that my wolf wouldn’t hurt Nova.

I wasn’t either.

“Is he claiming her?” Enzo asked.

Hunter snarled behind him.

His wolf may have backed down, but the beast still considered Nova his.

“No,” I said, though the fur on my arms didn’t recede. I tightened the bars on his cage as he slammed into them, again and again.

“You can’t mate her,” Hunter gritted out.

“I know. He’s not trying to,” I said.

The possessiveness was out of character for him, but the violence wasn’t. I didn’t think he had killed Nova’s stalker because of what he did to her—he just killed him because he wanted to.

Hunter scoffed as I eased Nova out of the vehicle. “Hewas putting his scent on her.”

“Or erasing her stalker’s scent from her skin,” Enzo said. “We can figure this out later. Right now, we need to know how much she’s bleeding. The doctor’s on his way.”

“He won’t be able to touch her,” I warned.

“If she’s badly injured, he’s going to have to.”

I gritted my teeth as the wolf slammed into his cage, harder. “We’re going to need the sedatives.”

“Are they still in the glovebox?” Hunter strode toward my car’s door. It had been a long time since we last needed the drugs, but they were still there. I always replaced them long before they expired. I wasn’t risking anyone’s life any more than I already did just by existing.

“Yeah. I’m going to set her down in the back.” My car’s trunk opened up with a large, flat space, and Nova was small enough that she’d fit.

Enzo swore viciously. “Aspen’s refusing to stay away. How good is your hold on him?”

“What do you think?” My arms were still covered in my wolf’s fur. My body felt like it was trying to change, even as I fought like hell to suppress it.

“We’ve got five doses,” Hunter said. “Enough to get you to Stray. Nova will have to go with the doctor. To get him away from her.”

I snarled, “Watch what you say.”

“If he’s claiming her…” Hunter started, eyes glittering darkly as I opened the trunk and carefully put the woman down.

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