5. Orion

Rafe paced before the fireplace, the bright blue of his inner wolf's eyes fixed on me. "The men who went after the girl, you're sure they're hunters?"

I clenched my jaw, hating the flash of memory that dumped me back at Cassidy's. The sound of Brielle's car peeling out of the driveway echoed in my ears. My wolf howled in frustration, clawing at my insides to chase after her. To bring our mate back where she belonged—with us.

But I'd held myself back, knowing it would only push her further away. Brielle needed time to process the truth, and I'd needed time to break the news to my pack.

"Her name is Brielle," I snapped. A low growl rumbled in my chest, and I forced my wolf back into submission. Best not to outright challenge the alpha. "Unless someone else happens to sprinkle themselves with witchy dust to hide their scents, pretty fucking sure they're up to no good."

Tara, standing near the door, stiffened and dropped her eyes. Corbin, Crescent Hollow's second, joined our new healer in studying the structural integrity of Rafe's office. Only Elise watched on with open hostility.

"But why her?" Rafe asked. "What's her connection?"

"She's Barrett Simmons' daughter." I clenched my jaw and tried to find calm, hating to give voice to the truth I'd been avoiding. "They think she knows where to find him."

A heavy silence fell over the room. Even Corbin, usually so level-headed, couldn't hide his surprise.

"Barrett Simmons?" Elise's delicate features twisted in disgust. "The one who?—"

"Killed Fiona. Yeah." The words tasted like ash on my tongue.

Tara gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Rafe stopped pacing, his eyes boring into me with an intensity that would've made a lesser wolf cower.

"You're telling me the daughter of Fiona's murderer is here? In Crescent Hollow?" His deep voice was laced with a dangerous edge.

I met his stare, refusing to back down. "She had no idea about any of it. Still doesn't know the full story."

Didn't stick around long enough to hear it. I squeezed my eyes closed against the wave of fury and need rising in my wolf.

"Well, she knows now." Elise snarled. Her wolf flooded her eyes and she bared her teeth. "Thanks to you."

A muscle ticked in my jaw. I wanted to rage at her, to demand she back off. But I knew her anger came from a place of pain—the same place that had kept me hunting for Fiona's killers all this time.

Only, she knew exactly who killed her bastard of a father. We all had a hand in overthrowing the fucker when he manufactured a war against the Hollow wolves, but her fangs were the ones to rip out his throat.

"I didn't have a choice," I bit out. "Those hunters came after her?—"

"So, we should use her to find them," Elise spoke over me. "Two birds, one stone. Let's be done with this threat."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I snarled, fangs descending and control slipping. "She's innocent in all this. We're not murderers."

"She's a liability." Elise met me glare for glare. "She knows about us. How long until she runs back to daddy? I won't have her used as leverage against us."

My fists clenched as fury burned through me. I took a step towards the late alpha's daughter, eyes blazing. "You lay a finger on her?—"

"It will be child's play compared to what they'll do to us," Elise hissed. "What they have already done to us! Pack comes first, not getting your dick wet!"

A bone-rattling growl cut through the room. Rafe stalked between us, hackles raised. "Enough!"

Power whipped through the room on his word. Even Corbin sat up a little straighter, and poor Tara tried to shrink into the wall.

I reined in my wolf, nostrils flaring as I fought for control. Not that I had a choice. The order force-fed obedience down my wolf's throat.

Jaw clenched, I held his stare for a beat before giving a short nod. He turned his furious gaze on Elise.

"We're not murdering humans for convenience," he bit out. "Marcus might've gone eye for an eye, but that's not us. We're better than that."

Elise opened her mouth, defiance in her eyes, but Rafe shut her down with another growl. His focus returned to me.

"As for you..." He shook his head, disappointment etched into his weathered features. "I can't have my enforcers compromised. Not over this. You're benched until we neutralize the hunter threat."

My heart plummeted at the order. "What? Rafe, c'mon?—"

"It's about the pack," he said, voice hard. "That's your priority here."

"My priority is keeping my mate alive!" I roared.

The weight of my words slammed into the room like a sledgehammer. And fuck it, they were the truth. I'd already condemned myself by admitting to revealing shifters to a human. Might as well put all my cards on the table.

Elise's eyes went wide for a split second before narrowing into cruel slits.

"Your mate?" she sneered. "You've got to be kidding. The pity fuck from the girl whose daddy butchered our healer must have rotted your brains and balls."

White-hot fury exploded through me. A growl ripped from my chest as I surged forward, vision hazed crimson. She'd pay. For the insults, for the threats. My wolf would put her in her damn place?—

I barely registered Rafe's bulk slamming into me, didn't feel the air leaving my lungs in a harsh exhale. Rage thundered through my veins, blocking out everything but the blinding need to rip Elise's throat out.

"Enough!" Rafe roared. "Both of you, stand down!"

The command sliced through the haze, but it was already too late. I shoved Rafe aside with a snarl, fangs descended as I locked onto my target. "You're as bloodthirsty as your fuckface of a father!"

Elise's fangs dropped with her snarl. Rafe's fist connected with my jaw in a vicious haymaker.

Pain blossomed across my face, but it did nothing to dull the blistering fury. I rounded on him with a feral roar, returning the blow with brutal force. We collided in a flurry of snapping jaws and slashing claws, all semblance of control shredded.

Distantly, I heard Tara's frightened cry and Corbin bellowing orders. But it all faded into white noise as my wolf clawed for dominance. I met each of Rafe's strikes with equal ferocity, ducking and weaving with a lethal grace honed over decades.

The office exploded into chaos. Furniture shattered beneath our onslaught. Elise's voice joined the fray, screeching insults that only stoked the flames. I caught a glimpse of Corbin trying to restrain her, her petite frame thrashing against his bulk as he shoved her out the door.

A lucky shot from Rafe snapped my head back with a burst of hot copper across my tongue. I blinked through the haze of pain and bloodlust, and launched myself at him again with a guttural roar. The stench of exertion and fury clogged the air, mixing with the tang of blood in an intoxicating cocktail.

A powerful grip clamped down on my shoulder, yanking me back. I whirled with a feral growl, fangs bared to rend flesh. Corbin met my gaze unflinchingly, his bulk immovable as a mountain. Tara hovered nearby, eyes wide with terror.

"Stand down, Orion." The command lashed through me, forcing a shudder down my spine.

My wolf bucked against the order, hackles raised as I held Corbin's stare. He wasn't my alpha. He wasn't my second. The fucker could crawl back to Crescent Hollow in pieces. I tensed to lunge?—

"Enough!"

The roar rattled my bones, an undeniable weight of alpha power crashing over me. I staggered, blinking against the onslaught as the crimson haze flickered. Rafe stood between me and Elise in the open doorway, fury etched into his face. The sheer force of his dominance was staggering, a palpable pressure that crushed my defiance into submission.

Corbin's grip tightened in warning. Swallowing hard, I gave a short nod. Elise glared daggers, but remained mercifully silent. For now.

Rafe studied us both, cold blue eyes cutting to the core. The silence stretched taut, the tension near suffocating. Finally, he turned on Elise with a look that would've curdled milk.

"You'll do well to remember you are not alpha," he growled, each word dripping with quiet menace. "This is my pack. My territory. And that human is under my protection until she proves herself a threat."

Elise opened her mouth, doubtless to spit more poison. One look from Rafe snapped it closed with an audible click. She subsided with ill grace, jaw clenched and eyes blazing mutiny.

The weight of Rafe's stare swung to me, and I fought not to shrink under its intensity.

"And you..." His voice was little more than a rumble, but it reverberated through the room with unmistakable power. "Get your wolf under control. Your judgment is compromised, and I can't have my enforcer jeopardizing this pack. Not with these hunters skulking around."

A muscle ticked in my jaw, the protest burning on my tongue. My wolf railed against the accusation, desperate to defend our mate's honor. To prove we could handle any threat.

But the truth sliced deeper than any blade. I'd nearly torn apart my own alpha over a few choice words, all control shredded.

My chest tightened at the thought. I gave Rafe a curt nod, swallowing hard against the bitter taste of failure.

His stare lingered a moment longer before he shifted his focus to the others. The pressure in the room eased, but the tension remained a living, breathing thing. "I want updates on those hunters. Frequent check-ins until we neutralize this threat. Find where they're bedding down, how they're here without anyone saying a damn word."

His gaze cut to me, loaded with a warning I didn't need spelled out.

Corbin inclined his head. "I'll update Declan."

With a final sweeping glance, Rafe strode from the office. Elise shot me a look of pure venom before following, shoulders squared in defiant arrogance.

I exhaled a shuddering breath, struggling to leash the fury still burning through my veins. My wolf raged at the insults, at the implication that we couldn't keep our mate safe. The need to chase after Brielle clawed at my insides with maddening urgency.

But Rafe was right. I was too tangled in a mess of instincts and emotion. If I wanted any chance of regaining Brielle's trust—of keeping her safe—I needed to get a handle on myself. To find my control.

She didn't know my world. Hell, she'd been dumped in the deep end with murder schemes and broken laws. She didn't know there was nothing that would keep me from seeing her safe and happy.

Pushing off from the wall, I stalked from the ruined office without a backwards glance. My path was clear, despite the minefield of complications.

I'd prove myself worthy of her, whatever it took. And anyone stupid enough to threaten my mate would face the full, ruthless force of my wolf's fury.

Inside my pack, or out.