Page 192 of Tainted Romance

I saw her. He had her up against a food van.

‘I’m coming, Allie.’Surely, she knew I would come.

‘Thank you.’

Blake spotted her and pushed past me and broke out running.

He ripped the guy's hand off her, and that was my job!

It was when Blake wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to him like she was his – well that sent my blood pressure up.

“Here, I thought you left your prize possession completely alone, Blake,” the guy said to him. “Allie and I were just catching up.”

As soon as I reached them, I gave Blake a pointed look to let go of her. My mate. He had his hands on my Allie. He let go of her and pushed her towards me. Not fighting me on it. It was only natural to wrap my arms around her.

I heard her exhale slowly as soon as I did, but she was still stiff. Her heart beating like it was last night, only this time I wasn’t causing it, and it was beating out of fear.

‘Calm down, sweetheart. I’m right here, and so is Blake.’I wanted to reassure her that she was safe. She had to know I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her while I was around, and I doubted Blake would let anyone hurt her while he was around.

As much as that annoyed me, it was the truth. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her either.

I guess it wasn’t a bad thing if Allie had another person looking out for her.

“I told you last year to stay away from her.” Blake’s fists were clenched at his side. “You suffering memory loss?”

Dan’s eyes weren’t on Blake. He couldn’t give a care about Blake. His eyes were on Allie and me.

“You got yourself a friend, Allie?” He turned, looking at us more closely. “One with Alpha blood.”

“Not a friend, a mate,” I corrected him, feeling the need to make a stake on Allie.

His face twisted with understanding. “Allie and Alpha. What do you know?”

“An Alpha that will ruin you if you go near her again.” I pushed Allie behind me. Normally I didn’t like threatening people, or using my blood to do the threatening. I liked to consider myself as a relaxed type of guy, but I wasn’t feeling relaxed right now, knowing how scared Allie was. “Don’t go near her again or you answer to me. Simple really. Fuck with her, and I’ll ruin you.”

“Yeah, because you would really start a war over her,” he scoffed.

My expression didn’t change. His did though with the realization of how serious I was.

“She’s pretty, mate, but she isn’t worth a death sentence.” He started to back away. “But just for the record, Allie and I aren’t over.”

“Considering there was nothing between you and her, I think it’s fair to say, it is over.” I took another step towards him, and he took an automatic step back. “Touch her or go near her, and I’ll personally take care of you.”

Just like that he backed away completely - leaving us. Again, I couldn’t help but think why was it everyone’s mission to get in the way of Allie and me? Trouble followed Allie like a shadow and I knew for the rest of my life, I was going to be the one stopping that trouble from hurting her.

I was so tense watching him disappear in the grounds. If he went near her again, he was a dead man. No man, not even my father was going to stop me from being with Allie.

I’ll do anything to keep her in my life now, even walk from a role that I had been groomed to take over. Dad never wanted Ryder to take over. He never wanted Ryder to be the next Alpha. He had always wanted me, but as soon as he released Allie from her commitment to the pack, he also released me in a way because wherever Allie went, I followed now.

But she was yet to know that.

Chapter Seventy-two

ALLIE

The festival was joyful. For the first time ever, Zane and I spent time together and just chilled. We got to know each other better, and the more I knew about him, the harder I was falling in love with him which is what brought me to the pack house tonight and I was extremely nervous.

I hadn’t seen Zane in over a week, and I needed that full week to make the decision. Tomorrow, well, now, today was the date I was released from the pack, which meant I should be flying out tomorrow and leaving the pack behind like I always wanted.

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