Page 26 of Torn Mate
Ranger was vibrating, his fists clenched tightly as I backed up, my hands in fists. I didn’t want to fight him but I was pissed off now. This was too far. This was total bullshit.
“Fuck you, they’ve made no claim. She’s fair game, and she isn’t Kiba. I’ve liked her since freshman year, never had the guts to talk to her, but after she saw me dying and shit… well, she didn’t even blink at my scars. You don’t get it, pretty boy with all the girls chasing after you. Fuck you.”
I was on edge. Ada lived in Watson, she wasn’t a Kiba girl, and even if she did live there, those rules were shit. She wasn’t with Saint; he had told me that himself. Noah, well I didn’t know what to do there, I was still trying to work that out. But I didn’t care if they did put a claim on her, I would do the same… if she would have me.
Ranger was stripping. He was still going to fight me, the fucker. He shifted and growled at me. I couldn’t stop myself, my wolf was triggered by everything Ranger had said and the anger that Ada was hurt and I couldn’t protect her.
As soon as I dropped down onto all fours, I called to my pack, howling to let them know where I was—River, Kenton, and Mason would be waiting to give me a lift home—but I couldn’t finish as I was cut off. Ranger didn’t fight fair, he lunged for my throat. I didn’t move fast enough as he sank his teeth into my flank. I yelped in pain as the fucker used his venom on me instantly. I snapped at him, trying to free myself from his bite, but he held on.
“Ranger,” I heard Lexi calling. I tried to pull away again, but the venom was messing with my head and I wanted to rip his head off. The fucker knew what would happen if he did this. I couldn’t see Ada if I was all messed up on shifter venom. I would probably shift and attack her if I wasn’t in control. I didn’t know how I would react, I didn’t normally go looking for fights, so this was new to me.
“Ranger,” Lexi screamed, and Ranger finally let go. I whimpered at the pain, it fucking burned. I limped away feeling like a loser. I couldn’t win against Ranger. My wolf lost. Lexi came up close as I laid there in wolf form. I didn’t want to shift back with her so close. I didn’t trust myself, with Ranger’s venom running through my veins, not to attack her.
“Huxley, do you want me to heal you?” she asked. I shook my head and she understood. I would be fine by tomorrow. I would heal from this as soon as I shifted. But the venom would linger for a while.
While Lexi yelled at Ranger, I slunk over to my clothes and grabbed them in my mouth. Maverick was there and he nodded to me as I ran, meeting River halfway back, still in wolf form.
“Shit, dude.” He looked around. There were still students around and it would look bad if I shifted here. “You can be my big pet wolf. You can shift when you get in the car, then you can tell me how the fuck you ended up in the woods fighting Ranger Lovell without any backup.”
“Mom, it’s not that bad,”I snapped at her, the venom already messing with my emotions. It was like I could only see red. I wanted to hurt someone, mostly Ranger. Claiming I couldn’t have Ada, as if I wasn’t good enough for her.
“Not that bad,” she tsked. “I’m calling your fathers. I cannot believe Ranger Lovell did this to you. Over a girl?”
I shook my head and crawled under my blankets. I just needed to sleep for a while. I would get the venom out of my system and I would see Ada on Saturday for the wedding.
“Kenton, do you know why he would attack Huxley?” Ugh, the other two knew my mom well enough that they didn’t walk me inside like Kenton did. Now Mom wasn’t going to let him leave until she had answers.
“I… I, um… Blair, please let me go home.” I rolled my eyes knowing that Mom would just chase him down. She let out a warning growl. Mom didn’t shift as often as my dads did, or I did for that matter, but her wolf was strong, and she went all wolfy when I was hurt. It was her protective human side, amplified by her wolf. It came out scary, and that was why I was smart enough to hide in my room. Kenton had never been around her like this. I think next time he would just push me out the car and drive away like the others did.
“Hux was asking about Ada, she got hurt, and Ranger didn’t like that Hux asked his mate if she was alright ’cause he couldn’t get through to her when he called her. That’s all. Please, Blair. My mom will be wondering where I am.”
That was enough for Mom to let him leave, she had her answer. When I felt her hand on my back, I tried to breath in and out, letting the venom work itself through my system faster.
“You’re a good boy, Huxley Moore. I love you.”
I whispered, “I love you too,” and she left for me to sleep it off.
My dreams were littered with thoughts of Ada, her hurt, calling out to me. A bear shifter grabbing her leg and pulling her away from me. I couldn’t stop him as she screamed for help. Zayn appeared, and he stopped the bear, attacked and killed. It was strange to dream of Zayn, we had been such close friends in the past.
When I finally got to sleep, I dreamed of Ada’s smiling face as she held my hand, running through the woods at the back of my house before she dropped to all fours and turned into a beautiful white wolf.
She was elegant in both human and wolf forms.
