Chapter Six: Protect Her at All Costs
1397 Words
James
I see red.
If anyone crosses me now they will be ripped to pieces.
“You are going too far, James. “ My wolf reminds me.
“f**k off. “ I snarl back at him. “And you know how much I hate listening to you patronizing me. “
A servant passes by and takes a huge step to the side to clear the path for me. I look that scary.
“You almost gave yourself away tonight”, he goes on with the nagging.
“So what, she will eventually discover who I am. Or what I am.”
“But it can’t be now. Things are too complicated at the moment. “
“Are you afraid she will be disgusted?” I challenge him, “That she will reject you?”
My wolf makes a deep sound that vibrates in my chest.
“Don’t be ridiculous. “ My wolf says in the end.
“Well, you are the one with the weird obsession with her. I don’t care that much what she thinks of me. And you should be thanking me. I was almost nice to her today. “
I keep walking fast. My wolf was never tame. I never wanted him to be because I am far from tame either. What drives me insane, however, is his ridiculous obsession with Emma. My wolf reacts to her every time she is near him. Near us. I clench my fist at the thought and speed up.
“Besides, “ my wolf goes on, “he has to be punished for what he did. “
And that’s exactly what I am going to do. I go into the library on the second floor. I mind link with Reid.
“Yes, Sir?” Reid calls right away.
“I want you in the library. Bring the other betas too. “
“Right on, boss. “
I break the mind link and get in the room. Reid knows perfectly what I meant by telling him to bring everyone from earlier. A few minutes later they are all in. Levi and Reid come in first, dragging Declan by the hair.
“I am so sorry, boss, “
the man falls directly to his knees. “I didn’t mean to scare her, I just acted on instinct. And…” he is covered in tears and snoots.
“Pathetic. “
My wolf grunts. Naturally, my wolf is the one who is more upset about what happened to Emma.
“You have to kill him. He disobeyed. And if you let this slide, next time it will be much worse. “ My wolf goes on.
I close my eyes briefly and rub my forehead. My wolf is too dramatic sometimes.
Me - not so much but Declan needs to be punished nevertheless. Not because he is an omega, but because he acted against my orders. And they are- don’t touch Emma, no matter what.
She has to stay out of this. On top of it, she’s human. Emma knows nothing about any of this.
“Please, please don’t kill me,”
Declan’s begging voice brings me back to reality. He is a ball, curled at my feet.
“I will take the consequences, “
Declan says, taking a knife out of his pocket. He places his palm on the floor and approaches the knife of his fingers. Then he slashes two of his fingers. Levi makes a grunting sound, while Reid looks away. Declan keeps his palm on the floor but I see the pain in the deep frown on his forehead.
“I will cut my entire hand if I have to, “Declan says with difficulty, the hurt rippling through the syllables. “I will never fail you again. “
I squat next to him.
“This is not the yakuza, Declan, “ I say and Declan bows his head lower. The blood from his finger keeps dripping on the floor.
“Because this is much worse. “
he nods.
“Yes, boss. “
“If you ever do something that will make Emma uncomfortable, let alone scared- you are dead. “
“Yes, boss. “
“Get him out of here. “
I order and Levi takes Declan out.
“He was scared shitless,” Reid says and passes me a cigarette. I light it and lean against the window frame.
I glance at my shoes and see the blood on the floor. We need to call someone to clean this, but that can wait.
“Are you sure Levi is the right person to do this?”
Reid asks as I take a drag from my cigarette. Levi is covered in tattoos. We all have scars but his are numerous. His hair is closely cut and his piercing gray eyes don’t go unnoticed. Levi is probably the only one in the clan that screams trouble at first glance. The rest are not so obvious, but Reid, Levi and I grew up together. I am used to him. We’ve managed to move unnoticed among humans for decades, posing as anything- lawyers, bankers, businessmen. Levi won’t be enough to raise suspicion.
“Declan will be fine. “ I reassure my beta. “We heal faster than humans. “
“But we can’t grow limbs.” Reid reminds me and I say casually.
“It was his choice, anyway. “
Ried’s phone beeps and he checks it.
“What is it?” I ask because Reid looks like he wants to say something.
“It’s about Emma. “
“What about her?”
I push away from the window, alarmed.
“I sent one of the omegas to keep an eye on her as you ordered. “
“And?”
“She was spotted downtown. With Michael.“
I feel my fangs growing, piercing my gums.
“I told her to never meet this shithead again. “
I want to hit something. Or someone.
“Take me there. “
I growl, already walking to the car.
“You can’t just go there, James, “ My beta is walking fast after me.
“And why not?”
My wolf is fighting inside me, trying to rip my skin and take over. Perhaps he is jealous that Emma is with Michael.
But I am pissed because this isn’t about her only. Michael is one of our clan’s sworn enemies.
“I should have killed that fucker a long time ago. “
My words come out as a roar. I feel the deep red colour spilling in my irises and I can’t control it.
I don’t want to control it.
“James, “ Reig goes on, trying to catch up with me, “You can’t just go there. According to society, you are a refined businessman and another rich heir. They can't know you are the next alpha of the mafia clan. On top of it, no one must know Michael is one of the hybrids, trying to fight you for the position. “
“I don’t care what anyone thinks. Besides, they won’t find out “
I slam the car door shut.
“But you can’t be associated with Michael in any way. What if you… I don’t know- shift and everyone sees you?”
“Then I will kill everyone at the restaurant if I have to. “
Reid runs a hand over his face but doesn’t argue.
My wolf is mad inside me too, although for all the different reasons.
We get to the restaurant when my wolf stirs inside me. Whenever he is like this I know Emma is near. He reacts to her with failure every time.
“This s**t ends tonight. “
I get off and stride in the place. People turn to look at me as I move past the tables. Then I see them.
Emma is arguing with another woman- this must be her sister Claire.
“I will kill you, you f*****g b***h!”
the woman yells. Just as she is about to grab Emma, I stand behind her and my hand closes around Claire’s wrist so hard, she squeaks.
“What is…”
Claire begins and turns to look at me. I don’t know what she sees in my eyes, but her entire expression changes. She looks terrified.
And she should. But all my senses are singled out on Emma. My wolf’s mate.
- Writer
