Seven
1661 Words
HAYES
The glass in my hand shattered. Red wine and sharp pieces of crystal dripped from my fist onto the floor. I didn't care about the cuts.
Kyle was roaring inside my head.
“Kill him. Tear his throat out right now. Nobody touches what belongs to us!”
I walked across the room. The pack members moved out of my way quickly. The young Alpha from the northern territory froze. His hand dropped from the wall beside Ciara. He looked at me, and his face went completely white.
Ciara looked up at me. Her brown eyes were wide and she was shaking in her red dress. She looked terrified. She thought I was going to hurt her. I hated that she was scared of me, but I was focused on the i***t standing in front of her.
"Alpha Hayes," the boy stammered, stepping back. "I—I was just welcoming your breeder. No disrespect intended. I didn't mean anything by it."
"She is my wife," I growled.
The sound came from deep in my chest. It was an Alpha command. Half the lower-ranking wolves in the room lowered their heads immediately.
I moved in before he could breathe. I grabbed his throat with my clean hand and lifted him off his feet. The crowd gasped, but nobody tried to stop me. They knew better than to come close when Kyle was this angry.
"Touch her again, speak to her again, or even look in her direction, and I will wipe your entire pack off the map," I whispered. "Do you understand me, Alpha?"
He nodded quickly. His hands clawed at my wrist as he gasped for air. His feet dangled off the ground. I held him there for a few seconds so he knew I was serious, then I threw him to the floor like trash.
"Get him out of my sight," I ordered.
Killan came out of the crowd. His relaxed energy was gone. He didn't say anything as he grabbed the boy by his collar and dragged him out of the banquet hall.
I turned back to Ciara. Kyle wanted me to touch her to make sure she was okay. I didn't care about the guests watching us. I didn't care about Selena staring at us from the corner. I reached out and grabbed Ciara's jaw, forcing her to look up at me.
"Look at me," I said softly.
I pulled her against my chest and kissed her. It wasn't gentle. It was possessive. I wanted everyone in the room to see that she belonged to me. Anyone who touched her would end up dead. She trembled against me, but Kyle finally quieted down because her sweet scent filled my nose.
I pulled away. Her lips were red and she was breathing hard.
"We are leaving," I muttered.
I gripped her hand tightly and pulled her out of the hall.
We walked back to the private rooms in total silence. I didn't let go of her small hand. She was so quiet and fragile. She didn't try to pull away from me this time. I kept thinking about what happened. That Alpha cornering her, and Selena calling her a weak breeder. They didn't know anything. Ciara was the only woman who mattered to me.
We reached her bedroom door. I pushed it open, let her walk inside, and slammed it shut behind us.
"Are you hurt?" I asked.
I looked her up and down, checking for any marks or bruises.
"No," she whispered. She held her hands against her chest to stop them from shaking. "I'm fine. You... you didn't have to do that, Alpha Hayes. He wasn't going to do anything to me."
"I told you to call me Hayes," I snapped, taking a step toward her. "And yes, I had to do it. He touched you, Ciara. I told you at the wedding. Nobody touches you without my permission. Why were you standing there alone with him anyway?"
"I wasn't trying to be alone with him," she said, looking down at the floor. "He just came up to me out of nowhere. I didn't even know who he was until he started talking to me. I wanted to leave, but he blocked my way."
"Then you should have called for me," I said. My voice was still rough from anger. "Or called for Killan. You don't just stand there and let another man speak to you like that."
"Because I'm your property?" she asked. Her voice sounded bitter. She looked up at me, and I saw tears in her eyes. "Because I'm just the breeder you bought from my father to give you pups? Is that why you got so mad?"
I froze. Kyle growled in my head. I hated hearing her call herself a breeder. It sounded like the contract her father forced her to sign.
"You think I care about a piece of paper?" I asked. My voice went low as I stepped closer to her. Her scent was making it hard for me to keep my distance. "You think this is just about an heir?"
"Isn't it?" she challenged. Her voice shook, but she kept her eyes on mine. "Your brother calls me a breeder. The maids look at me with pity. Selena told me that marking someone as weak as me could kill me. She said I can't even shift properly. I know exactly what I am to this pack, Hayes. I'm a charity case who can't even hear her own wolf. So why do you pretend like it's something else?"
"Selena doesn't know anything about you," I said coldly.
I reached out and wrapped my fingers into her dark brown hair to hold her still.
"And you need to stop listening to what people say in this house. They don't rule this pack. I do."
"Then tell me the truth," she pleaded. A tear ran down her cheek. "Why me? There are so many strong she-wolves who want to be your wife. Why did you choose the weakest one from Riverstone pack? Why did you pay my father so much money for someone who is completely useless to you?"
My chest felt tight. I wanted to tell her the truth. I wanted to tell her that I had been watching her for months in her old pack. I knew about the abuse. I wanted to tell her that Kyle chose her because she was our true mate, not because of some deal with her father.
But she was too terrified right now. She couldn't even feel the bond. If I forced it on her, it would break her completely.
"You don't need to know everything right now," I told her. My voice softened a bit, and I used my thumb to wipe the tear from her face. "You just need to know that you are safe here. Nobody in this pack house is going to touch you or hurt you again. Not Selena, and definitely not some random Alpha."
"I don't feel safe," she whispered. Her voice was so quiet. "I feel like I'm just waiting for the moment you get tired of me and throw me away like everyone else did."
"That is never going to happen," I said. I looked straight into her eyes so she knew I wasn't lying. "You sleep here tonight. You don't leave this room, and you don't think about running away again. We have things to do tomorrow."
"What happens tomorrow?" she asked.
"Tomorrow, things change," I murmured.
I looked at her lips one last time, then I turned around and walked out of the room. I shut the door and locked it from the outside. I stood in the hallway for a minute, leaning my head against the wall. I could hear her soft breathing from the other side. She was changing everything inside me, and I didn't know how much longer I could wait to claim her.
Killan’s heavy footsteps came down the hall. He looked tired. His messy hair was falling into his eyes.
"The northern Alpha is gone," Killan said, leaning against the wall. "But his pack isn't going to be happy about tonight, Hayes. You humiliated him in front of everyone. His elders are talking about a meeting with the council."
"Let them talk," I growled. I didn't move away from Ciara's door. "If any of them complain, tell them to come to me. I don't tolerate anyone disrespecting my wife. If the council has a problem, they can try to take my throne."
Killan smirked a little. "Your wife? Or your breeder? Because you’re acting a lot more like a protective mate than a guy who just wanted an heir. I've never seen you shatter a glass over a woman before."
"Watch your mouth, Killan," I warned him. "I don't want to hear that word from you again."
"I'm just saying," Killan shrugged. "You've never acted like this with any of the others. Just be careful, big brother. Selena is furious. She's already trying to get the pack members on her side. If Ciara really is as weak as everyone says, she won't survive the games in this house. She doesn't have the strength to fight Selena."
"I will protect her," I said. The words came out fast. It was a promise to myself. "She doesn't need to fight anyone. That's my job."
Killan nodded slowly. "Good. Because she looks like she's already been through hell. Her father really did a number on her. I saw the way she flinched when you grabbed that guy."
"I know," I muttered. "Go get some rest, Killan. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."
He turned and walked away. I looked at the locked door again. I spent my whole life avoiding feelings, focusing only on making the Blackthorn pack strong. But everything changed tonight. Ciara Norman was
mine, and I would kill anyone who tried to hurt her.
- Writer
