Page 34 of Rejecting his Mate

As the shift rolls through my body, I can feel the wolf I share consciousness with sliding into my mind, taking control. I give it over to him, and as I do, I feel the building rage and anger pelting me. My wolf is pissed,and as the last of my shift slips into place, I test my new limbs and shake my head before raising my muzzle to howl into the air.

“They’re coming,” Halle warns.

I swing my head in the direction our attackers will come from. I can sense Halle’s trepidation as she readies herself.

My wolf steps up to her, baring his teeth. Anger and need war inside me. My wolf wants her, even as my mind warns that getting involved with her is a bad idea.

It’s too late, though.

I’m already involved.

I was in this from the moment I stood in front of her mate and defended her from him, before that too. I’ve been in this since I first caught her scent in the woods. The human part of me had cautioned against getting involved in pack politics, but my wolf wanted us to save her, to keep her protected.

My wolf won.

I don’t know why I am so drawn to Halle, but something kept me walking through these woods to spy on her every day. There is a connection between us, one that is undeniable. She is an outsider, like me. I could tell that from the moment I first laid eyes on her. There was a loneliness about her as I watched her from the undergrowth, alone and far from her pack family.

I thought I would never see Halle again after that first day, but she was there the next day in the same spot. Over the next few months, I could sense her shutting down, pulling back, and I could see the bruises on her neck and cheek. I knew the wolf who gave her thatclaiming mark was the one who put his hands on her, and my wolf wanted to tear his throat out.

Now we both want to protect her, and if I get the chance, I’m taking her asshole of an ex down.

I pace in front of her, ready to defend us both from the oncoming threat. I can hear them getting closer, and their scents drift on the breeze, infusing my nose.

I want to tell her to stay behind me, but I can’t speak in my wolf form and we’re not pack, so she can’t hear me. All I can do is signal my intent with my body language and hope she understands.

My gaze locks onto the trees ahead, seeking movement. Wolf senses are stronger and keener, and so I see the flicker of something before I can work out what it is.

I drop to my haunches, baring my teeth, ready to fight, unlocking that part of me I keep secure, or I did. Before Halle.

She makes it harder for me to control those primal urges my wolf has, that lust for blood and destruction.

If we’re going to survive this, I need my wolf to cross lines and take no prisoners when doing it. So, I let go of those carefully crafted manacles I have kept locked around him, and I allow him to become the beast he is.

My awareness is shoved to the back of my mind, and all I can feel is waves of rage and fury coming from him. Death and destruction fill my thoughts as I see more movement through the trees.

Rationality is fast evaporating. All sense of self too as my wolf takes over completely. Blood is on his mind, and the need to destroy and leave no one alive is too.

He lifts his snout and howls, making it clear to ourattackers that he is here and ready to fight.

A flash of marl fur, white, gray, and brown zips through the thick leaves, and then a white wolf erupts out of the trees.

I leap, my teeth exposed and my jaws snapping as I clash with the wolf. It takes me a moment to free myself from the tangle of limbs as we crash to the ground, but then I’m snapping at the white wolf’s hindquarters.

My teeth sink into flesh, the coppery tang of blood filling my mouth as a high-pitched whimper pierces the air.

Another wolf attacks my flanks, sharp teeth breaking through the skin just beneath my ribs.

I twist and savagely bite the wolf attacking me on the nose. Satisfaction fills me with his cries, and I want to make him scream more.

Blood mats my fur, filling my nose with the sweet scent of it. I pin the white wolf to the ground with my front paws on its throat, and then I tear at his jugular. Red sprays over both of us, and the gurgling sound of him drowning in his own blood makes my wolf roar in triumph.

“Stay back!”

Halle’s panicked voice has my wolf twisting his head in her direction. A gray wolf is stalking toward her, teeth bared, and his head low in a fighting stance.

Her mate.

The one who tried to kill her.

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