Page 47 of Wolves' Midlife Reunion
Sparkling green magic quickly lifted the young wildcat into the air. He was still hissing and spitting, swiping uselessly with his fierce little paws as his mother Erin brought him back to safety.
It all happened so quickly, but Dex was already on his way. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to Sage. Chris was there for him, but he abandoned that fight to protect his daughter. He dove for Jacob.
To his surprise, so did Chris. The two wolves slammed into him at the same time, knocking him back down to the floor. Chris brought his jaws down on Jacob’s throat, growling and snarling until Jacob yipped in submission.
As quickly as it’d begun, the fight was over. The orbs and sparks of magic instantly dissipated. John shifted back into his human form and put his hands in the air. “We’re cool, we’re cool,” he kept repeating. Amanda stood watch over him, making him twitch whenever her bear’s hot breath reached him.
Jacob was also a human again, though he was still on the floor.
“What the hell?” Chris asked him, getting up. “Why would you go after a little girl?”
“Dude, I was just being your backup,” Jacob protested. “I don’t know.”
Dex left the two of them. He scooped Sage up in his arms and held her tightly. “Are you okay, baby? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Daddy. What about you?” She touched the fresh scar along the side of his neck.
“Don’t you worry about me.” The scar had been a deep gash a moment ago, but his shifter genes were already healing it quickly. By the next day, even that pink line would be gone.
He turned to Tina, who was hovering nearby with tears in her eyes. “Is she all right?”
“What about you?” His wolf was still very present within him, and it urged him to reach out and pull her into his embrace. Dex stood there for a moment, holding Sage and Tina and trying to absorb the fact that they’d all lived through this nightmare.
“Get him out of here,” Chris was commanding John. “I’ll deal with him later.”
“I’m really sorry,” Jacob muttered as John grabbed him by the back of the collar and led him out of the house.
“I’m not really into curses, but I’m sure I could come up with one,” Maeve said, glaring after him.
“Dexter.”
He turned to look at Chris. For the first time, his high school foe looked truly remorseful.
“I—I hardly know what to say.” His voice was quiet, and Dex thought he saw Chris’s hand shaking as he swiped it through his hair. “I’m horrified it went that far. It’s one thing to fight man-to-man, but a kid…That wasn’t okay.”
“I think my Sisters and I should take the kids into the kitchen to get a bite to eat,” Tina said, reaching out hopefully for Sage.
She lunged into Tina’s arms. “Do you have any cookies?”
“I think we can find some,” Tina promised as she moved past Dex toward the kitchen.
The other witches followed. Chelsea was giving Corbin an earful. “I’ve told you not to use your dragon in the house. Before you know it, you’ll be far too big. And what were you thinking, getting involved, anyway? You could’ve been seriously hurt!”
“It was Arden’s idea,” Corbin protested. “He said we needed to protect Sage.”
“We did a good job of it, too,” Arden added. “Did you see me, Mom? The way I ripped his fur out? It was awesome!”
Erin pressed her finger and thumb to her forehead. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, Arden.”
Amanda and Maeve exchanged amused glances as they followed the others.
That left Dex alone with Chris.
18
Dex restedhis hand on the newel post. It’d survived the battle, but it wiggled at his touch. His eyes traced the railing upward to the broken spindles and the splatters of blood on the carpet. The more he looked, the more blood he found. Drops of it had been flung like paint against the wall. The area rug closest to the door was dark with it, a mix of his own blood and Chris’s.
Chris took a deep breath. “I really am sorry, Dex. I wanted to fight you, but I never meant for anyone else to get involved—especially kids.” He cast a worried glance over his shoulder at the kitchen door. “Do you think they’re all right?”
