Page 19 of Ruby's Strength

Cole lifts his fist to hit him again when he says nothing, but one of the bouncers that work at Remy’s interrupts him. “Fuck Cole, finish this shit outside. We don’t need the cops coming in here and shutting the place down.”

Slate and Gabe grab the two guys in front of them and push them out of the emergency exit nearest to us. I follow Cole out as he drags Collin with him outside, dropping him on the ground of the parking lot.

“Tell your alpha if he wants to have a conversation about us leaving town he can stop playing games and come talk to me himself.”

“He’s going to slaughter your entire clan, starting with your mate,” Collin says laughing.

Enraged, Cole starts beating the shit out of Collin, kicking him over and over again. Gabe and Slate turn their backs to pull Cole off the guy when his friends change into their wolves. They attack Slate and Gabe from behind, jumping on their backs and sinking their teeth into their limbs, while another goes after Cole.

Fuck this. I’ve had enough. I wasn’t able to do anything to save my men before, but I sure as hell can now. Over the last few weeks, my bear has started to awaken inside me, but I haven’t felt the need to shift, so I haven’t pressed it. Now he’s pacing inside me, waiting to get out and show these pieces of shit that they won’t put us down.

My bear bursts out of me, the change happening in seconds. I let out a loud roar and charge the beasts that stupidly thought they could get the jump on us. I manage to pull the wolf off of Slate before another one jumps on my back. By this time the Cole, Gabe, and Slate have all changed into their bears and are all fighting alongside me. There’s only three of them to our four and I know we have nothing to fear, this will be over soon.

The guy who I remember from years ago runs at me full throttle, biting me on the backs of my legs. Rolling on my back, I kick at his face to get him off of me, but he keeps coming back for more. The next time he lunges at me I roll to the side and then throw him to the ground, placing my much larger paw over his neck, seconds away from ending his life.

One by one the guys all shift back into their human form, even the asshole that I’m pinning to the ground.

“Rett, what are you doing there buddy?”

I look over at Cole who is know edging his way closer to me.

“They’re outnumbered Rett, it’s not a fair fight.”

I growl at Cole when he gets closer, but he doesn’t flinch or stop walking in my direction. I’m pissed that he’s asking me to let this guy go. He and the others are a threat to our family, and I’ll fight to the end to ensure our family is safe. A shake my head no and press down harder on the guy's throat. He’s grasping at my paw, and his face is turning red.

“Change back,” Cole commands using his alpha tone that I have to abide by. I’m helpless to stop myself from changing back into my human form. I walk away from the group needing a minute to myself before I lose my shit. When I turn back around, the guys are limping away.

“We should have ended them.”

“Are you a murder now Rett? Because from what you’ve said, that’s not who you are.” Cole asks from beside me.

I glare at the ground, hating that he’s right. “Was it your bear pushing you to end his life or was it you? I know you’re new to this, but we are in control, not them. When you let your bear take over more often than not, that’s when you start losing yourself.” Slate says, imparting some wisdom on me.

“Got it. Sorry, Cole. All I could think and see at that moment was that they posed a threat to us. I’m never going to let anyone hurt our family. Never.”

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