Page 32 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

Our collision made a high-pitched ringing begin in my ears. It sounded similar to a train’s whistle. Maybe I had a head injury from when my head went through the glass to break the window. But I wasn’t going to let a small thing like a concussion stop me from protecting my Mate, our son, and my compound.

I stalked toward him, wanting to end this fast.

Axel growled as I neared closer, but he didn’t scare me. Not in the slightest.

He rolled to his side and stood up on shaky legs.

I am your future Alpha, I said through our mind link. You will not be able to win any fight against me, Axel. Leave my compound. Now.

Axel howled with rage and leaped at me, his sharp teeth heading for my neck.

But I was ready for him.

I dodged out of the way, spinning until I was balancing on my front legs, and used that momentum to kick Axel’s stomach with my hind legs. My paws made contact with his ribs with a satisfying crunch.

Axel’s body flew thirty feet through the air and landed in the shattered glass. He howled as sharp edges dug into his fur.

Rage and frustration flashed in Axel’s eyes.

The clinking sound of more glass falling to the ground momentarily distracted me. Summer still stood inside the hospital, just behind where Axel was lying in the glass outside. The wind from the shattered window made her hair whip around her face and showcased her wide, anxious blue eyes. Her head turned to glance down the hospital hallway—looking at the place where our son was.

She was still in her human form, guarding the window in case Axel tried to get in the hospital, but she didn't dare transform into her wolf inside that enclosed space.

But this made her a sitting duck. She wouldn't have time to transform and protect herself against a surprise attack.

Axel’s head turned in Summer’s direction and it dawned on me with cold horror what he planned to do.

Axel and I pounced at the same time.

Axel lunged for Summer through the open window and I leaped toward him. But Axel was only a few feet away from his goal…and I was thirty feet away from mine.

Rage and dread shot through me as I watched Axel’s front paws push Summer to the ground. The two tumbled through the air until they were out of sight.

Summer let out a high-pitched scream. The sound cut me deeper than any knife ever could.

A fury unlike anything I’d ever known pumped through my bloodstream as I flew through the window, but Axel had already sunk his teeth into Summer’s right shoulder. Then, he opened his mouth and lunged for her neck.

With a roar, I barreled into him, knocking him away from Summer and standing in front of her, prepared to defend her, even if I had to kill him.

After what he just did to my Mate, I wanted to kill him.

Summer whimpered in pain behind me.

My heart tore in two. Her pain was my pain.

I stalked toward him and growled, planning the most painful death for him.

Axel's eyes widened in fear. Then, he spun around and leaped back out through the broken window, his movements hindered by his injuries.

I wanted to go after him. I wanted to make him pay for what he had just done. But I needed to take care of my Mate. I kept my eyes on his retreating form, needing to make sure he was gone before I could attend to Summer’s wounds.

As Axel ran away with a slight limp, I heard his voice inside of my head.

I’m going to get you back for this, you bastard. You have no idea the kind of connections I have and the kind of hell you just unleashed on WaterLock. You better sleep with one eye open. I denounce you and your father as my Alpha.

My heart throbbed with pain as the mind link between us broke. His denouncement meant that he was no longer a member of the WaterLock Pack.

Quickly, I spun around to help Summer, my brother's rejection echoing in my head.

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