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Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 32
Suddenly, my eyes flew open. I was safe and sound in my bed in the alpha cabin. I sat up, my heart galloping.“You awake?” Night asked. He was pulling a shirt over his head. His hair was damp, and the mirrors in the bathroom were still steamy from his shower. All I saw, however, was his blood spurting from the wound in his shoulder. I jumped out of bed as quickly as I could.“You’ve been talking in your sleep—hey there.” He caught me as I barreled into him. I didn’t feel he was real until I felt his strong arms close around me. “Bryn, what’s wrong?”“I had a nightmare,” I muttered into his chest. But after a moment, I added, “No, I don’t think it was just a nightmare. I think my birth mother was reaching out to me.”“Blossom?” He pushed me back just enough to look into my eyes. His jade-green eyes were bright with worry.“She showed me a battle between us and Troy. I saw you get killed.”“Me?” He touched my cheek and pushed away a stray tear. “But clearly, I’m fine. Why would she show
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 33
The stiffness in his shoulders slowly eased. “I’m sorry, too. I know in the past, I haven’t made it easy for you to be open with me. I can’t really blame you for being so quick to react.”From the moment we met, Night and I were both quick to argue, but it had been months. We’d both made strides to be more open with each other.“Still…I can’t react like you’re the person you used to be,” I said. “How can we move forward in our relationship if I’m holding on to that baggage?” I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pressing my cheek to his back. “I don’t want to stay in one place. I want to make the same sort of progress that we’re making with the packs. I love you, Night, and I don’t ever want you to think that I don’t.”He turned in my arms and hugged me properly. “I know you do, baby. I love you, too.”I let out a small, contented sigh and let him go. “I’m glad we’ve reached the point where we can be honest with each other about our feelings,” I said. “I know we’re not perfect, bu
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 34
At his side was a man around his age, only his hair was gray, wavy, and gathered over his shoulder in several braids. His beard was an even darker shade of gray and reached his chest. He was Birchen, Oakley’s beta.“It’s a pleasure to see you, Alpha Shepherd,” Oakley said, bowing his head slightly. “I wish we were receiving you under better circumstances.”Night nodded. “Tell us what’s happened, Alpha.”Oakley and Birchen glanced at me, Tavi, and a few of the other women we’d brought along. Neither of them answered for a few seconds, as if they were waiting for us to do something. What the hell was up with that?“We were attacked by ferals,” Oakley said finally. “They came for us while we slept and nearly destroyed our buildings.”“Is this all your injured?” I asked, gesturing toward the groups of people huddled together.Neither Oakley nor Birchen looked at me. They shifted from foot to foot. That was when I understood their hesitance. The Camas Pack was traditional to a fault. They
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 35
It yelped as it bounced off the trunks. My wolf didn’t let up—she bore down on it, going for the throat, wanting to end this quickly. But the feral hopped to its paws just in time. It was much bigger than I’d thought, towering over my wolf form. It might have been as big as Night’s wolf or even larger. Teeth coated in saliva and flashing white in the sun went for my flank. I tried to hop away, but it was too fast, too desperate. It got hold of fur and muscle and bit down, ripping out a chunk of fur.I felt my wolf’s rage as powerfully as I felt my own. She rushed again, tackling it. It gnashed its jaws, blood and saliva splattering across my fur. My wolf kept it on its back and avoided those teeth, and when there was an opening, she dived down with deadly intent. Taking hold of the feral’s throat, I bit hard at its windpipe.The feral held out for a little while, kicking at me, but the fight quickly drained from it as the air left its lungs. In seconds, it lay still. I was more in con
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 36
“You catch a whiff of that, Night?” Dom asked.“Of course I do.” My response was little more than a growl. If there had been any doubt in my mind that this was Troy’s doing, his scent all over this nursery banished it.I stepped inside the nursery and tried to find the source. Blood covered the walls and floor. Bits of fur and hair, claw marks, ripped drawings and homework, demolished furniture…it was clear there had been a huge struggle.“Either the son of a bitch came to do this himself,” I said, “or he had his army leave his fur here.”“Either way, he wanted us to know he was behind this. Sick fuck,” Dom said.We walked through the nursery and out the back exit. Bodies covered in white sheets lay on the ground. Undoubtedly, these were the women who had defended the nursery. It was a miracle no pups had died or been taken. Neither of us wanted to go through the carnage that was the inside of the nursery again, so we walked around the outside of the cabin to get to the front. Birchen
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 37
A few more tense moments passed, and then Oakley let out a tight breath. “My daughter is in prison.”“What?” I demanded. “Why?”He raised his chin. “Because in defending this nursery, she defied our most sacred rules.”“What the hell are you saying? Didn’t she keep the children safe? Didn’t she help—”“At the cost of many young women’s lives,” Oakley snapped. “Some had pups, others were unwed. Losing some of our men is one thing, but our women?” He shook his head. “It is against our way to risk such a valuable resource.”My eyes narrowed at him.“A valuable resource?” Dom repeated, incredulous. Even he couldn’t let something like that slide. “Every life is valuable.”“We treasure our women,” Birchen snapped. “We’re not so eager to put them on the frontlines as you lot.”“So they should have abandoned the pups?” I demanded. “What other options did they have?”“Of course not!” Oakley snapped. “They should have tried to escape with them.”“Escape?” I could hardly believe what I was heari
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 38
I rushed my mate to the infirmary. I hardly noticed that we were moving, that’s how focused I was on listening to every breath Bryn breathed, every beat of her heart. I could even hear our pup’s heartbeat. It had started to keep pace with Bryn’s, as if our pup was worried about her mother.In the infirmary, I laid her on the bed and stuck close to her. “She fought the feral,” Lance explained. He was sweating and staring at Bryn with wide, worried eyes. Her blood was on his shirt. It was on mine, too. “She killed it, but it injured her like this.”My beautiful, brave mate. I touched her soft cheek, splattered with red. She’d protected the women while they escaped, but look at what had happened to her.Seconds later, the Camas doctor arrived. When he laid eyes on her, determination gave way to uncertainty in an instant.“Oh. I wasn’t aware that she was…with child.”“What does that matter?” I growled. “Help her. Now.”“I-I’m sorry. I don’t handle pregnant women. That is for the midwives
Ruling The Pack (Mated To The Night Book 3) 39
“You seem nervous,” I said. Thanks to the water, my throat was less scratchy.He forced a laugh. “Ah, maybe a little. Night will probably kill me if he finds out you’re awake and I didn’t tell him immediately.”“That’s funny.”He blinked. “It is?”“Yeah. You should be worried about the threat sitting right next to you.” I leveled a glare at him, and he had the decency to duck his head. “I’ll probably kill you both the minute I can get up from this bed. You lied to me.” I sighed and leaned back against my pillow. “And so did Night. But what else is new?”“Hold on.” He leaned toward me. “You shouldn’t blame Night. He was innocent in this.”I raised a brow. Lance defending my mate was the last thing I’d expected, given their history. “How exactly is he innocent? He helped you keep the secret, didn’t he?”He paused, but only for about a second. “Okay—yes, he did. But he did that because I made him. He asked me multiple times to tell you the truth, but I refused because I was sure it would
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