Page 24 of Rituals & Runes

CHAPTER8

My wolf sprang forward slamming into Bane's white and grey-haired wolf chest. He yelped as I knocked him flat on his back to the ground. Aila’s worry for me streaked through me but I pushed it aside as I circled.

Bane dodged me but I slipped by him and went for his back paw, clamping down with my jaws, sinking into his flesh. A sharp yelp rang into the air. Bane yanked free and spun back around charging me, darting for my front paw.

Aila gasped. “Kaden, watch out.”

Dan replied, “Aila, he knows what he’s doing. Try to stay quiet to help him focus. If your mating bond has developed at all, try sending him your confidence and strength to him.”

I shuffled to the side but Bane managed to bite my upper paw. He sank his teeth into me as I bit down on his upper shoulder. He let go and then dashed toward the exit which led outside. One of his pack mates opened the door to allow him to leave and moved to swing it shut on me but our pack enforcer stopped him. Tam shoved Bane’s pack mate aside and then propped the door open.

“No cheating,” Tam, an enforcer, growled and held Bane's pack member back.

Pounding footsteps thumped after me as I raced after Bane into the pine forest, determined not to let the damn coward escape. The almost full moon lit up the small clearing where Bane had ended up. Growling, I pounced onto his back, clawing him and dragging him onto his side. He snapped at me then wriggled out of my hold. Though Bane was somewhat smaller than me, he had speed on his side.

A sense of strength and confidence flooded into me from the growing mate bond. In theory, we should be mated for her to be able to transmit her emotions to me. Her being able to do so only confirmed how special and true our connection had to be. I had my physical strength and strategies to overcome Bane, but it didn’t hurt any for my beautiful mate to send me her support. It only made me fight harder. For her, and because my wolf and I still craved to mate and claim her to have at my side as my beautiful mate.

Every so often, I caught a whiff of her feminine scent. It threatened to derail me, but I wouldn’t let it. I fought harder so I could hurry up and take her to bed to ease her carnal desire.

I once again lunged for Bane, slicing my incisors into his ribs as he dodged me. He yelped then wrangled free. Blood covered his dark fur but he didn’t give up.

All around us, my pack had gathered. Aila peered at me with her big, hazel eyes from behind Dan. Next to her, Beta Ethan stood with Caitlin at his side, watching me as intently as Aila did. The few members of Bane’s pack also stood to one side, including the blonde that eyed Ethan. I dismissed the crowd to focus on the fight.

Bane pounced at me, knocking me on my back but I launched him to the side with my front paws before he could reach my throat. He skidded across the dirt and then shot after me again, ramming into my ribs. He managed to sink his teeth into my side. I twisted away and withheld a yelp but Aila’s gasps didn’t escape my wolf hearing.

She sent me another flood of confidence and power. It warmed my heart how much she needed me to win, how much she fought for me inside her heart. She needed to claim me as her mate, and couldn’t live without me.

In the corner of my eye, Bane lunged for the side of my neck, his jaws wide open, going for a kill. I spun around, leaping through the air and racing forward as if I wanted to escape. Bane’s paws trotted after me. I bounded around a tree, zig-zagging between bushes to tire him out. Tension from Aila seeped into me as she lost view of where I had gone, but I charged ahead with Bane on my heels.

When we returned to the circle, I plowed ahead and then skidded on my paws in a sharp about-face. Bane’s snout appeared in the circle, panting and charging toward me but at a slower rate than the last time. I shot ahead straight toward him with every ounce of power and strength I had, sending my alpha energy forward to double the impact.

My body slammed into Bane with the force of a boulder forcing him onto his back. I shot straight for his throat clamping my jaws onto his jugular vein. Blood flooded my mouth as he went limp beneath me.

I sensed Aila’s shudder rattle through me but when I stood on my two man legs and peered in her direction, her face remained stoic then turned to relief. Without a moment’s thought, she shoved my enforcers aside and rushed toward me, throwing her arms around my torso.

“For a moment, I thought my dad would kill you. Are you okay?” she murmured against my nude skin. Then her face changed various shades of red and a grin spread across her round cheeks. She took a step back. “You’re um, naked. I guess I haven’t been around shifters enough to remember our customs.”

She swallowed hard while stealing peeks at my body. Her eyes widened and the tips of her soft lips tipped up.

I chuckled as Ethan handed me a stack of clean clothes. “Guess you like what you see, huh? Even with the cuts? Don’t worry, I’ll give you a better chance to see all of me later. Stay behind me, Aila, the danger’s not over.”

She raised one of her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t call myself a pro, Kaden, but I can hold my own. Remember, I lived on the streets, alone.”

I pulled her against me and then tipped her face up so I could look into her deep, hazel eyes. “I don’t underestimate, you, Aila. But you’re my true mate, the one I need to protect above all else. And I need to finish the business behind us.”

Not giving a damn what anyone else thought, I leaned down and placed a gentle, warm kiss on her lips. She inhaled sharply and pressed her fingers into my middle. I wanted to stay here forever, to dip my tongue into her sweet mouth, and explore every part of her lithe, Wolfling body, but an intruding pack glared at me from across the clearing.

With Aila at my side, I strode across the circle. Bane’s body lay in the periphery of my vision but I didn’t bother looking down at it. Their Beta chatted in muted tones with the small group that had accompanied Bane.

“Get him out of here.” I signaled to their Beta. “And after that, the rest of you can get the hell out, as well. I don’t ever want to see any of you near our pack. Aila never belonged to you, and she never will. She’s not yours to execute nor do anything else to. Get the fuck out, and never return, or you will face your deaths.”

I squeezed Aila’s hand but kept my eyes trained on the members who had stayed to cheer Bane on. Cheer him on to his death. I couldn’t believe the audacity of that man to try to come and take her away. Or maybe it was plain stupidity.

As my Beta and enforcers took care of gathering their former leader and leading the intruders out, I curled my arm around her slender waist to lead her back to my office. The light of the moon cast down on her oval face, and her strands of chestnut hair. Relief had left her face. Worry stole away her momentary peace replaced by her rubbing her upper thigh and a frown marring her forehead under the bridge of her glasses.

She glanced up over my shoulder at something high above us. A white orb that illuminated her innocent beauty. “Kaden, I have something to tell you, but first, the moon is almost full, isn’t it?”

I cupped her soft cheek in mine, caressing her with my thumb. “Yes, my Wolfling. The Full Moon Winter Solstice is tomorrow night.”

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