He kept his arms crossed, watching his wolves die, or at least go down, without doing a fucking thing about it.There was no way the asshole would have ever had a chance leading a territory like Fire and Fluorite. Even if Elena hadn’t shown up.One Bear bit my tail and scratched down my side, but it was only a surface hit that hardly made me flinch before I raked my paw across his face, taking out an eye.The whimper and moan that sounded from him grew quieter as he limped away, something I soon noticed the rest of the wolves were doing as well, except for the three who still flanked their leader.“Mark,” Ethan said first. “You’re trespassing in a House that banished you.”Mark shifted back to his human form, and I noticed that Amy had never transformed into her unicorn. So much for her no longer hiding.“I was banished by an Alpha Supreme who no longer lives, not by this House,” Mark replied confidently. “Unless you’re here to tell me you’ve successfully filled the Alpha Supreme posi
The moment Ethan realized what I’d done, he turned even more feral. Saliva dripped from his jowls, and his chest heaved with unnecessary force. He lowered himself, then leapt for me with canines and claws extended.Instead of moving out of the way like I easily could have done, I decided to quit playing with him. This bear couldn’t beat me. I knew that the moment he’d lost control of his emotions.This was my House, and he wasn’t going to take it from me.I let his claws scrape down the length of my spine the worst injury I’d yet to receive and when he landed on the other side of me, giving me his back, I used my larger bear size to jump on top of him.My right front paw tore out one of his eyes while the other cut clean through his throat just before my jaws locked around the back of his neck, keeping him somewhat still.The bubbling gurgle that sounded soon after made my stomach churn, but I didn’t release the hold I had on the stubborn bastard. This was the fate he’d chosen, and I
Atlas’s lowered voice sounded in my ear. “I’m not saying you can’t handle looking for Jacob, but you’ve made a very loud statement here today. Do you want to risk searching for Jacob, finding another few supernaturals to fight, and possibly coming back here beat to shit?”Fuck.He made a good point. Mark was hurt. I was…not one hundred percent.Unless I was going to rely on Tuck and his team, which I didn’t want to do, then Atlas was right.It wasn’t that I didn’t trust jack’s people, but just as I’d said before, I wanted to prove a point.I’d shown up here with a rejected House member, a supernatural who was supposed to be extinct, and a mate with powers most bear shifters had no access to.We had something to prove as a whole, just as much as I did as the future Alpha Supreme to Fire and Fluorite.There wouldn’t be a point, at any time, that we could appear weak. Even after multiple fights.“Fine, but we leave again first thing in the morning.” I took a step closer to Mark. “Are you
I couldn’t see one and, honestly, didn’t want to. Not any longer.He was trailing kisses over my chest when I’d come to that realization, and his slow, tender movements suddenly weren’t enough for me.My heart raced and hands shook with the need I was consumed with. The need to touch him…to claim him…to make him mine. Officially.Hell, even my Atlas seemed to be in agreement.I grabbed onto his face and kissed him with ferocity. My legs wrapped around his thighs, and I held him to me while our mouths became a tangle of tongues and teeth.When he pulled back, there were slits in his dark eyes and only a faint appearance of the flames I so often saw there.“Elena.” He spoke the word as a warning, but a warning wasn’t necessary.“I want you, Atlas,” I said confidently. “All of you.”He appraised my face, sweeping his eyes over every inch, then his chest rumbled. “Fucking finally.”His hand wrapped around my neck, tilting my head back as he kissed me again. His tongue owned my mouth while
I was officially done with the slow and careful movements. I couldn’t wait any longer for him to be mine in every way.Thankfully, he seemed to be on the same page and thrusted forward, gently holding my head with one hand while the other gripped my hip.His stare seared my soul, and we never once broke eye contact while he began moving more fluidly above me.My inner walls burned from being stretched, but that ache was easily overshadowed by the bond between us growing like a bright light within my chest.Energy swirled inside me, pounding against my ribs and begging to detonate, branding myself to Atlas.Even his normally dark-brown eyes were briefly turning a light, tan color while he peppered light kisses all over my face.As euphoric tensions rose, sending shivers from my chest all the way to the tips of my toes, I held tightly to Atlas and moved my hips in time with his. Every thrust came easier and more passionately than the one before.Tremors shook Atlas’s arms where I held h
No, it didn’t. Fire and Fluorite was known for its brutality, but that didn’t mean they were all idiots like Ethan had been. I wasn’t even sure how he’d become a leader of a faction, given he hadn’t known when to walk away, but that didn’t matter now.What did matter was that his bears would have already gone back to tell the others what had happened and we needed to know what was being said.“We’ll go see Jack,” I said as I turned off the water and reached for my towel on the hook.Even if he didn’t tell us what I hoped, it didn’t make much of a difference. I just needed him to confirm what I already suspected: The third faction, led by Dylan, would be coming for us.It would also be helpful if jack could fill in other details, but no matter what, once Elena was healed, there wasn’t a fight I didn’t think she could win.Even if it enraged me to see her hurt, I’d known soon after meeting her that there was a superior wolf lying in wait inside her.Soon, all of Fire and Fluorite would
Elena squeezed his little hands. “I’m sure they won’t.”I stood back up, helping Elena at the same time, when Jack approached. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. Tuck told me what happened.”“Have you heard anything else since?” Elena asked as Sammy went back to his father’s side.Jack shook his head. “But I expect by tonight, we will. If you’re hoping to get back to No Man’s Land with little issue, I’d recommend driving this time and going soon.”Amy shook her head. “He’s right. Night time won’t be our friend for a few days.”I wasn’t sure what the unicorn meant by that, but nobody else seemed to question her statement, so I let it go.“Will Tuck and his crew still follow spread out behind in case we run into more trouble?” I asked, glancing around and not seeing the man in question.“They’re already in place by the border,” Jack answered. “Go north on Tenth Street and you’ll drive right past them. They’ll follow behind.”Elena glanced over at Mark. “Are you sure you want to come?”
The name seemed even more fitting after that little display.The guy who’d just been thrown out finally got up. He was grumbling about something, but when I revved the engine, he at least had the decency to move the fuck out of my way.“That was Myra,” Mark said as we got going again. “The mermaid shifter Tuck mentioned before. Her bite is known to be more severe than her bark.”“Why is she working in No Man’s Land?” Elena glanced back at her half-brother.He shrugged. “Not my business to know.”Elena started looking around now that we were surrounded by more buildings. “Isn’t the circus over here?”Amy pushed forward in her seat and pointed over Elena’s shoulder. “It’s that way. Just before those taller pines. We took the long way into Fire and Fluorite, so we didn’t pass most of these buildings before.”Remembering the instructions Mark had given me previously, I knew that we were getting closer to the warehouse, so I parked in front of the least rundown building of the block.“We’r