Page 50 of Bronx

Cora.

His breath caught in his throat as a young rebel shifter stalked toward her, teeth bared, eyes filled with violence.

The sight ignited something primal inside Bronx, a burning rage that demanded retribution.

Bronx roared, launching himself at the attacker with blinding speed. His powerful form collided with the younger shifter, their bodies crashing to the ground in a tangle of fur and fury.

“Bronx, stop.” Cora’s voice barely registered in his ears.

He tore into the rebel, teeth sinking deep into flesh, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone beneath his jaws. Blood stained his muzzle, a visceral reminder of the consequences of threatening those he loved.

“Please, Bronx!” Cora cried out again. “He’s just a kid!”

At last, her words broke through the haze of rage that consumed him. He stared down at the whimpering shifter beneath him, seeing for the first time the fear in his eyes.

Slowly, Bronx lifted his paw, freeing him. The younger shifter’s entire body trembled as he scrambled away from Bronx.

Bronx watched him go, then glanced at Cora.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill him,” she said. “He still has time to learn better.”

With a single nod, he turned back to assess the battle still raging in the clearing.

“Go,” Cora urged him. “I’ll be safe here.” A quick grin flashed across her face. “And I have a wolf form too, you know. I will take care of myself.” Her voice dropped. “I promise.”

And that, Bronx realized, would be part of loving Cora too—trusting her to protect herself while he took care of the pack.

“I’ll be here too. We’ll be okay.” Ivy’s voice coming from beside him startled Bronx. He’d been so wrapped up in wanting to protect Cora that he’d forgotten he wasn’t the only one who loved her and would watch over her.

She was a Moonstone now, and Moonstones took care of one another.

That was what finally decided him.

With a lupine grin and a nod, he plunged back into the fighting.

Chapter 21

CORA MOVED TO Asafe distance as she watched the ferocity of the battle, trying to swallow her terror as Bronx raced headlong into danger without her.

This was what it meant to love a guardian, after all—accepting that he would fight for the pack when necessary.

The knowledge came to her in a flash of revelation as electrifying as a lightning strike.

He’s fighting for me. For Samuel.

For the rest of the Moonstone Pack too, of course.

For his family.

The realization that Bronx truly thought of Cora and her son as his family—not merely two members of an entire pack he’d risk his life to protect, but two of the most important people in his world—sank into her heart and her mind, healing the wounds still hiding in the darkest corners of her being, then spreading out to fill her with a lightness and joy like nothing she had ever felt before.

More than anything, she wanted to show him she understood—and that she’d fight for him too. Her inner wolf urged her to join the fray, but instead, she edged toward the forest, where she knew Samuel waited with Mila. If any of the rebels broke through, she’d shift and protect the human and her son.

Within half an hour, though, the rebels crumpled under the might of the Moonstone Pack, their resistance quickly fading as they realized they were fully surrounded and outmatched. Steele, who had shifted at some point when Cora had been watching Bronx, stood tall, his gray wolf form towering over one of the rebels he had pinned to the ground.

As a Moonstone Pack member in human form wearing thick gloves chained the rebel with silver, Steele stepped away from the Idahos and shifted back into his human form.

“Enough!” he growled, his voice full of authority. “You’ve lost. Surrender or face the consequences.”

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