Page 27 of Witches Be Damned

I told him everything I knew while he helped me fit into the device, and I stood in it, performing the moves he suggested, completing the test. By the end, we had new leads to track, and a clearer grasp of what was going on. I had renewed hope of ending this nightmare for good and putting those that wanted me dead behind bars, avenging Serena, Jaz, Supergal, Loco, and the rest of my team, and the damn gantii those bastards trafficked.

CHAPTER 9 - RAZE

Whatever the healer did worked. I felt calm, logical, and in control, when I’d been out of my mind with panic and instinct to get Little Wolf to safety. Now I wanted to nest with her, form a layer of pillows and clothes with my scent on them, and lie her in it to inject her scent into it. I wanted her to snuggle up in my lap and remember what it felt like to be enveloped by my massive frame.

I carried her to the sofa and set her down instead.

The vigil present at my door stopped me in my tracks. Liv. My Alpha. Making sure I didn’t turn feral and harm any of the shifters within her shelter.

Time to call her in and apologize and face the music for disobeying an order. “Alpha,” I called out.

She poked her head in the flyscreen door. “Everything all right in here? Need some food? The warlock will be here soon to fashion some protective wards.”

Dash slipped into the cabin behind her, sliding his gun out with lethal grace. I didn’t like that he aimed it near my mate and growling at him, pushing her behind me.

“I’m grateful for your hospitality and mercy, Alpha, when I don’t deserve it for breaking protocol.” I lowered my head and eyes in submission to her, even though I took a risk by taking my eyes off her mate. “You may punish me now.”

“Raze, no.” Little Wolf’s blunt nails dug into me.

She thought we intended to settle this like wolves in the dirt and wearing our fur. Liv might very well take that route, and I would have to endure it. This was the Lycan and werewolf way just as men sorted out their differences with fists in a dust up in prison.

“Very well.” Liv shifted and I lifted my eyes to catch her cross her arms over her chest. “You know you must seek permission for visitors. The protocol is to protect everyone.” She growled her dominance.

By joining the sanctuary, I accepted her as the Alpha female of my temporary pack, and that meant no one came onto her commune without her permission, and I broke the rules. For my offense, I had to apologize and seek her approval to shelter my mate or leave and find alternative accommodation.

Loyalty was everything in Lycan society, and I wouldn’t risk harming our Alpha and being shunned, exiled, and homeless. Not again. I needed the company of a pack for survival and protection after the Guardians and my tribe cast me out. For now, we had to comply with the rules and remain safe from the Guardians’ hunters.

“I’m sorry, Alpha. I won’t do this again, I promise,” I pleaded my case to not be thrown out of a third pack. “I didn’t know what else to do in the moment, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. I will accept whatever punishment you see fit.”

The commune and its members came first, despite my duty to my mate. I told Liv about Astra, but not when she’d visit, since the new warden revoked the prisoner’s weekend pass privileges to apprehend the dangerous criminals that escaped. Try telling my wolf to submit when threats to my mate’s survival dialed up his protective instincts from level one to ten.

“No, please,” my mate begged, pushing her way to the front. “This is extraordinary circumstances. What would you have done in his place?”

That was my mate, always going into battle for me. Why I loved her with all my soul. I stroked my hand on her back.

Liv glanced lovingly at Dash, but he didn’t strip his edgy gaze from me. “I would have done the same to save my mate.”

I clasped Little Wolf’s shoulders in the event I had to put her behind me again. She wriggled against me and gave up when she realized I couldn’t be moved.

Liv slowly stepped up to me.

My mate’s amber magick glowed in my eyes.

My Alpha pat me on the shoulder in a gesture of forgiveness. “I won’t deliver any punishment in this case. I will, however, ask that you’re more careful on missions with the Shadows and don’t get kidnapped.”

I growled at her for emasculating me in front of my mate and hers. “I promise.”

“I don’t like this, Liv. He broke the rules.” Dash made his opinion on the matter known, just like he did when Luna brought me here.

He still regarded me as a threat and didn’t want me to reside here. Funny, he wanted me on his team when his enemy kidnapped Liv, and I single-handedly slaughtered over twenty rival soldiers, protecting his back as he marched into their pack.

Liv stroked his face, prompting him to lower and holster his weapon, and I let out a whine of appreciation. “In fairness, Raze came to my rescue, and I owe it to him to take in his mate.”

She was motherly and protective to all who sought refuge in her sanctuary. I thanked the Munyara every day that she saw it in her heart to give me shelter, protect, and feed me.

Dash growled his objections to her, and she returned the gesture, showing her authority. Those two always debated decisions back and forth, but eventually came to an agreement, supporting each other. They were perfectly suited in that regard and held a deep love and respect for each other that reminded me of my relationship with my fiery Little Wolf.

The heat of Liv’s Alpha stare bore into me. “This is the last favor, Raze. Do I make myself clear?”

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