The sound of bone and pride meeting knuckles is ugly. It landed in the living room and kept echoing in the picture frames.
Jones staggered back, hand at his lip, eyes gone dark. He didn't shift, but the wolf pressed against his skin, furious at being denied. He breathed once like a man lifting a weight he'd chosen and failed to clear.
Kevin didn't blink. He put himself between us and stood like a door that had decided it was a wall. “Take your hands off her," he said again, even though Jones' hands were empty now.
“You'll regret that," Jones said, tasting the blood he didn't want to taste. “The penalty for striking an Alpha—"
“I'm not the Beta," Kevin cut in, voice cool as metal. “I'm her brother."
Sophia made a small, stunned sound from the sofa. “Please don't fight," she whispered.
