“No!” Slicing a hand through the air, she cut him off. “We are so not going there. I am not a possession to be bartered, whatever the f**k I may be. Human, potential, or wolf, my life is my own. You taught me that, so how could you? No. How dare you? How dare you take me from the life I’d chosen, the man I’d chosen, and then f**king lie to me?”
Her father stiffened. If Barrett thought he’d been surprised before, he looked stunned now. “What? This is him? The human soldier—”
“Major, actually,” Barrett drawled.
“Yeah. This is him.” She searched for his hand and he slid it around her waist, presenting a united front to the werewolves in the room. “I didn’t forget him. He was in all my dreams. My wolf telling me the truth when my caring family were unable to.”
“You dreamed of him…. The nightmares?”
“Of course the nightmares.” She nodded, shifting her stance against him, her back still against his chest. He couldn’t help bending to drop a kiss on her wayward curls, glaring at tall, dark, and wolfy all the time. He didn’t like the way the guy looked at Sax, his woman. Not at all.
“What else did you think I’d have nightmares about?” she asked. “The accident I wasn’t involved in?”
The wolf caught Barrett’s glare and curled his lip in warning. Barrett curled his right back. He might not be a werewolf, but like Saxon, he’d come back from war changed. Better than he’d been before he left. Sav commented more than once that Barrett was stronger and faster than any human he’d ever fought, and he’d been hard pressed to best him at times. Add his Special Forces training and the fact that he itched to lay the smackdown on some wolves right then, and it wouldn’t take much for him to lose his temper and kick off.
“You have nightmares about…over there?” The subject appearing to cause the older wolf some distress, his voice low and tortured. “You don’t remember—”
“Being shot?” she threw back. “In my dream, yes. Barrett confirmed I dream about the attack that killed me. I dream of him trying to save me. Always trying to save me, but the nightmare is him slipping away at the end. It’s like a wrench, like my heart is being torn right out of my chest. Like he’s linked to me somehow.”
Her father shot a glance sideways, connecting with that of the wolf next to him, one of his sons. “Wolf-bon—”
“No!” The odd wolf out snarled, his face a mask of fury. “No bond. I was promised the first female wolf the Reeves pack produced. In return for the…benefits the Reeves pack has already enjoyed.” He stared at Barrett, his eyes glittering with malice, throwing the challenge down. “She’s mine, and no human will take her from me, bonded or not.”
“Come on then, pretty-boy. Bring it on,” Barrett snapped in response. For a human, it sounded almost wolf-like. Feral.
Saxon’s breath caught when Robert stepped forward, murder in his eyes. Fear flooded her veins, all the hurt, disappointment and frustration at the games her family had played on pause for the moment. More than a werewolf, Robert was wolf-born. A hereditary wolf instead of a bitten one. No way a human, even an ex-soldier, could take him on and win. Or survive. Tension escalated in the room.
“No!” She spread her arms, trying to keep Barrett behind her. She’d only just found him, she refused to lose him again. Not so quickly. Not ever. Her gaze collided with Barrett’s, and she read the utter determination and lethal intent in his blue eyes.
“I got this.”
Barrett shoved her behind him with an ease belying his non-wolf standing and advanced on Robert with violence written in every line of his body. Though nak*d from the waist up left him vulnerable to attack, Barrett oozed danger and fury from his pores, and an odd growl rose from his throat.
“I’m gonna tear you apart, and there’s nothing you can do about it, human.” Robert sneered, flicking a contempt-filled glance over Barrett. The other werewolves tensed further, warily eyeing them. “You lot stay out of it, or so help me God, I’ll destroy the Reeves pack.”
“No, no!” Sax tried to shove between them, her bare feet skittering over the plush carpet, but Barrett pushed her aside again, handing her off to her father. She screamed and railed at him, trying to get loose as the two squared up to each other in the middle of the room.
Robert threw the first punch, followed by a quick slice of his claws on Barrett’s hand. Sax stilled, sagging in her father’s arms when the claws raced toward Barrett’s exposed abdomen. A wail built in her throat, misery and pain welling up. The man she loved would be killed, murdered, right in front of her.
The claws didn’t connect. Barrett stepped to the side and hammered three punches home; head, ribs and abdomen. Almost before Robert reacted, the air leaving his lungs in a rush, Barrett twisted again. His fist crashed into the other side of the wolf’s jaw, snapping his head to the side, blood and spittle flying. The next blow caught him under his jaw, the perfect uppercut rocking his head back.
Her family gasped, their wonder palpable as Barrett took Robert apart, piece by piece, punch by punch. Her jaw dropped. She’d seen him battle in her dreams, but she couldn’t remember seeing him fight in real life.
He. Was. Amazing.
“Fuck me, how’s he doing that?” her brother muttered. “No human should be able to do that.”
It wouldn’t last long though. Already the low-level snarl building in Robert’s throat warned her of his impending shift. Once he loosed his wolf, Barrett was as good as dead.
“He’s not. I’ve seen this before. It’s rare, but it happens.” Her father swung her around. Wisdom and concern swam in the amber depths of his eyes. “Sax, it’s you. It’s the wolf bond. You’re an Alpha and he’s tapping your wolf. Open the link…wider than you ever have before, darling…it’s the only way or Culson’ll kill him. Come on, we’ve got you.”
Sax nodded and reached deep inside, her family crowding close to support her. Her wolf yipped in welcome, pleased Saxon had finally called on her. Silent communication passed between them, the two sides of her nature in total accord. Power built in her soul but instead of forcing her physical body to change, she searched for the connection that must be there, had always been there. The connection to Barrett. Their bond.
She found it, the edge catching at her mind like a stray thread and she grabbed. Hard. Holding tight, she pushed the power of her wolf through it, feeding the feral side of her nature into the bond to aid Barrett in his fight.
Robert’s roar brought all their heads around. His eyes were bright amber, fur flowing over his features as his frame shifted, changing with sharp pops and the snapping of bone. Barrett backed off, fists still high, watching warily. Shaking with great effort, she held tight to her father’s arm, and she shoved the last of what she had—all the power and knowledge of her wolf—through the link.
Barrett jerked, his spine bent into an arc, his big, powerful body defenseless while Robert advanced. Half-man, half-beast, he curled his lip back to snarl, drool dripping from razor sharp teeth. The dim light in the room glittered on the edges of his claws....
She screamed. “No! Barrett!”
Her human gasped and the spell broke. Launching into action, Barrett ducked as Robert’s claws raked the air where his throat had been. She caught her breath, the only reaction she had the ability to make. All her energy gone into the link, she slid to her knees. Barrett attacked in earnest and like before, the fact that his opponent wasn’t human didn’t seem to make any difference to him.
He whirled and danced, avoiding Robert’s claws and teeth with ease until the fight became a mockery. His fists hammered home time after time until he’d driven the wolf to his knees. Blood matted Robert’s dark fur and dripped from his muzzle. Barrett stood over him, his chest gleaming with sweat, shoulders heaving, and he considered his opponent with disgust. “Saxon. Is. Mine.” Landing the last blow, he ended the fight.
Robert keeled over, sprawling unconscious. His bones cracked, the change back to human as automatic as breathing. Ignoring him, Barrett stepped over the fallen wolf, advancing on Saxon and her family. He glared at the male wolves around her, a bright ring of amber, amber from her wolf, visible in his eyes. A challenge, pure and simple.
“I’ll take my mate now.” He held out a hand to her while his attention remained on the men. “Unless any of you wants to try and stop me?”
Her family stepped away from her, shaking their heads. He nodded, arrogance and danger wreathing his features.
He’ll do anything to claim me, keep me safe. Without hesitation she put her hand in his, love washing through her soul and filtering through the link. He returned it in full force, and her wolf, inextricably linked to them both, yipped with happiness.
Picking her up, he held her against his solid chest. “Now, little wolf. We have a night to finish. And a future to plan. You with me?”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled. “Until death don’t us part.”