by Dena Christy
A growl rumbled in Rafe’s chest and he took a step forward. How dare this asshole come here and try to take Honor away when he knew that she didn’t want him?
“Rafe.” The command in Logan’s voice was clear, and he could do nothing except obey. Logan was going to keep his word and do nothing to stop them from taking Honor. Rafe understood why since a war was not in the best interest of Cold Bay and Logan would do what was best for the pack no matter what. Still, he wished for a moment that his alpha’s devotion to the pack wasn’t so strong.
“It’s okay, Rafe.” Honor spoke softly as she stepped around him, so softly that he was sure he was the only one who could hear her. She put her hand on his arm and looked up at him. He could see the fear lurking in her eyes despite the determined look on her face. “We knew this was a possibility. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me since Quinn died.”
This wasn’t right. Barrett couldn’t be allowed to win, and Rafe’s muscles stiffened as he watched Honor turn away from him. Her spine was straight, her head held high as she walked toward the man who was determined to have her no matter the cost to her. Rafe had never been more proud of anyone in his life, and something snapped inside him when he saw Barrett Todd curl his hand around the top of her arm. He had to stop this from happening and so he said the only thing he knew that would do that.
“Get your fucking hands off my mate.”
5
Honor froze in place, standing in front of Barrett with his hand wrapped around her arm. She hadn’t really heard Rafe declare that she was his mate, had she? A glance back at Rafe told her that he was just as shocked as she was. Barrett’s hand squeezed her arm so hard that pain shot through her and she winced. Rafe’s response to the pained look on her face was immediate.
He was at her side in an instant, and the snarl on his face promised retaliation if Barrett didn’t let her go.
“I told you to get your hands off my mate.” Rafe towered over Barrett and Honor saw fear in the other wolf’s eyes as he looked up at Rafe. His hold loosened and Honor pulled her arm free. She resisted the urge to rub it despite the ache that Barrett’s grip caused. This situation would turn to violence quickly if they weren’t careful to diffuse it.
Barrett seemed to recover from his shock, and an ugly looked crossed his face.
“I’m calling bullshit on this. She’s not your mate, and you can’t stop me from taking her back home where she belongs.” His hand shot out to grab her again, and Rafe moved with the swiftness of a striking viper. His fist flew forward and connected with Barrett’s jaw. The other wolf staggered back, falling into an Eden Creek wolf who stood behind him. He straightened quickly and tugged on his rumpled shirt. “Are you challenging me?”
“No one is challenging anyone.” The anger in Logan’s voice was unmistakable as he strode over to them. He stepped in between Rafe and Barrett. “Stand down, Rafe.”
Rafe didn’t move quickly enough to suit his alpha, and a snarl came over Logan’s face as he shoved him back. Honor went over to his side and took his hand. He looked at her and she could see the barely suppressed violence in his eyes. Thank God Logan had intervened, because she could see that Rafe wouldn’t have backed down until Barrett was reduced to a bloody mess on the floor. She wondered if Barrett realized how lucky he was that Logan had such a firm command on his enforcer.
“I demand that you release her to me. She belongs with her pack and I didn’t sanction this union.”
Honor closed her eyes for a second. Barrett didn’t know when to quit while he was ahead. Logan towered over him by a good few inches and the Cold Bay wolves out numbered his wolves three to one. If a fight was what Barrett wanted, he would get it and there was no way he could win. The Eden Creek wolves shifted uncomfortably behind him, and it was evident that they could see the situation for what it was. They would back their alpha because they had to, but even they knew fighting the Cold Bay wolves would be a losing proposition.
“It wasn’t up to you to sanction this union, because it happened while Eden Creek was without an alpha.” The lie came smoothly out of Logan’s mouth, and Honor sagged against Rafe and clutched his hand as relief poured through her. “She is mated to a member of the Cold Bay pack and that makes her membership here automatic. You are familiar with our laws, and you know that a mating union trumps everything. She is a part of my pack now, and she is under my protection.”
“I have friends on the council, and we’ll see what they have to say about that.”
“The council will have nothing to say about it. She’s mated and not going anywhere. Now I suggest that you turn around and get your ass out of here. You are in my territory and neither you nor your wolves are welcome here.” The silence thickened around them as the members of the Cold Bay pack moved to stand behind their alpha in a show of force. Honor watched Barrett, and for a moment it seemed he wasn’t going to heed the warning being given to him. And it was apparent that Logan could see it too. “Unless you want to challenge me. I can promise you that you won’t win.”
Barrett’s face paled, and Honor knew that he would back down. Even he knew that there was no way he could win a fight against Logan, and he would lose everything. He looked at Honor and she shivered when she saw the promise of revenge in his eyes. He didn’t believe that she and Rafe were really mated, and the look on his face promised that she had not heard the last of Barrett Todd.
The tension went out of the occupants in the room with a whoosh when Barrett turned on his heel and strode out the door. The Eden Creek wolves followed their alpha, and Honor wondered for a moment how long Barrett was going to be able to hold on to his power. He’d only been alpha for an hour or two and had already shown himself to be weak.
As soon as he was gone, she let go of Rafe’s hand. Now that the confrontation was over it dawned on her what he had done. He’d declared that he was her mate in a room full of witnesses and according to werewolf law it was as effective as a binding ceremony.
“Okay folks, show’s over.” Logan turned and looked at Rafe while the crowd went back to their drinks and the music came on again. She didn’t know Cold Bay’s alpha very well, but it was clear by the look on his face that he was pissed and all his anger was directed at his enforcer. “In my office, both of you, now.”
Logan brushed by them and strode back to his office and walked inside. Dread curled up in Honor’s stomach as she looked at Rafe. He looked a little shell-shocked, as if he was waking up from a dream. It was then that it hit her that he hadn’t planned this, that he’d acted on impulse. She felt foolish for a moment, because a deep part of her thought he had declared himself her mate because it was something that he wanted. She realized now that he’d only done it in the heat of the moment, that he would have done anything to keep her from being taken away. She appreciated the sentiment but there was no way she was going to hold him to the pledge he’d made to her in front of everyone.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “Don’t worry, it’s me he’s pissed with.”
She kept silent as they walked toward Logan’s office and went inside. Once in the room, Logan looked up at them from his desk.
“Shut the door.”
Rafe closed the door and Honor went over to a chair in front of Logan’s desk and waited for what she knew had to be coming.
“Alpha…”
It was all Rafe could get out before Logan exploded.
“I told you that I wouldn’t interfere with Eden Creek’s business, and yet you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. What the fuck were you thinking?”
Honor glanced up at Rafe where he stood beside her and his entire focus was on his alpha. His eyes shifted away in a show of submission.
“I wasn’t thinking. I saw him put his hands on her and I just reacted.”
“And hitting him, was that just a reaction too?”
“He wouldn’t take his hands off her. Declaring she was my mate means I was well within my rights to protect her. You would have
done the same thing if it was Faith.”
A funny feeling bloomed in Honor’s stomach to hear Rafe refer to her as his mate.
“But it’s not the same thing though, is it? I’m an alpha and if I hit another alpha, there would be no repercussions from that. You are not an alpha and you made him look weak in front of his pack.”
“He is weak.” There was a thread of anger in Rafe’s voice and Honor winced to hear it. She knew what Logan was getting at, even if Rafe didn’t. Rafe had been away from Eden Creek for a long time, so maybe he’d forgotten how things were with their old pack. That pack’s default was chaos unless they had a leader who was strong enough to keep them under control. By showing the wolves from Eden Creek that a lower member of another pack could strike him with impunity, it had undermined Barrett’s authority.
“We may know that he is weak, but the pack shouldn’t have seen it so soon after choosing him.” For the first time since coming into the room, Honor spoke. She did her best to keep her voice neutral. She hated Barrett Todd, but the wolves in the Eden Creek pack needed to think that they’d picked a strong alpha. Rafe had taken that away from them. “I don’t know how he managed to become alpha so quickly, unless there wasn’t anyone to challenge him. If he can’t hold on to his power, it’s going to create a vacuum and it will force the council to step in.”
“I thought he had friends on the council.” Rafe came over to sit in the vacant seat beside her.
“It may not be enough. The last thing the council will want is a weak alpha leading a pack in prime territory. Eden Creek’s territory is almost as big as Cold Bay and East Brook combined. Perhaps the council may have left him alone if he’d proven he could keep the pack under control. I’m sure a few members on the council wanted to have him as their puppet, but not if he is too ineffective to lead.” Logan scrubbed his hand over his lower jaw. The anger seemed to drain out of him, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Rafe look down at his hands.
“What will happen if the council won’t let him continue as alpha?” Rafe’s voice was quiet.
“If we are lucky, the pack will find another alpha to lead them. If we aren’t, it’s a very real possibility that they will be absorbed by Batesburg.” Rafe’s head shot up as he looked at Logan. Honor hoped it wouldn’t come to that, and she closed her eyes for a second as she prayed that someone would step forward to lead her pack, someone as strong as her brother Quinn had been. “You know as well as I how hard I fought to keep them out of the area. They’ve been hungry for territory and God help Eden Creek if they get their hands on theirs.”
“This isn’t all Rafe’s fault. If I hadn’t come here in the first place, none of this would have happened. And if Barrett had let me go when Rafe declared me as his mate, he wouldn’t have shown just how weak he is.” Honor looked directly into Logan’s eyes, and she saw a spark of surprise there. “There is nothing we can do about it. He may have shown how weak he is in another way, but we’ll never know at this point. The question is, what do we do now?”
“Now, you and Rafe go home and move forward with your life, together.” Logan directed his focus to Rafe, who sat up straight in his chair.
“Together?”
“Yes, together. She’s your mate now. Or did you think that you could declare yourself in front of two wolf packs and then let her go on her way?”
The sheepish look that crossed Rafe’s face told Honor that was exactly what he’d been thinking. In Rafe’s mind, announcing that he was her mate was his way of buying her time to leave the area. Although she knew that they weren’t truly mated, it still hurt that he could let her go on her way so easily.
“I’ll pack my things when we get out to Rafe’s house, and I’ll be out of your territory before daybreak.” Honor stood and gathered her purse as she made that promise to Logan.
“Sit down, Honor.” The command in Logan’s voice was unmistakable. She obeyed him instantly and sank back down in the chair. “You are going to do no such thing. I backed up Rafe’s assertion that you are his mate and neither of you are going to make a liar out of me. You’ve already made one alpha look weak. You aren’t going to make me lose credibility with the pack. You two are mated now, and that is the way you are going to stay for the foreseeable future. I don’t expect you to stay mated forever if that is something that neither of you want. But Rafe made a declaration, and you did nothing to contradict him. So both of you need to get used to the idea that you are mated, because until things settle down, you are.”
Rafe reached out and took Honor’s hand, giving it a squeeze. She looked over at him and he squared his shoulders as he looked at Logan.
“Yes, alpha.”
Honor’s shoulders sagged as Rafe pulled her to her feet. Being Rafe’s mate had been the subject of all her teenage dreams, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. She wanted him to want her because he couldn’t live without her but he had claimed her as his mate even though he was planning to let her walk away. She wanted to yank her hand free, to tell both of them to forget it, but she knew she couldn’t.
The dream she had of mating for love shattered around her and there was nothing she could do about it.
Rafe shut off the engine of his truck and sat staring at his house as silence descended in the cab. He’d fucked up, royally. While he wasn’t sorry that Barrett had been sent packing, he did regret that it had to happen in such a way that caused problems with his alpha. Time would tell how much trouble would be caused by his taking a swing at Barrett. Even now, remembering the way the other wolf had made a grab for Honor had him tightening his hands on the steering wheel. Knowing what he did now, he was certain he would have done exactly the same thing. There was no way he could explain it, but when it came to Honor he was prepared to do anything to protect her.
He looked over at her and her face was impassive as she stared straight ahead at the house. She hadn’t said a word the entire ride home, and he’d kept silent as they’d made the trip from the bar to his house. But they couldn’t keep this up forever.
“Well, that could have gone better.” He’d meant to insert some levity into the situation, but she quickly turned her head toward him and he could tell by the look on her face that she was pissed.
“You’re unbelievable.” She yanked open the door of the truck and got out. It slammed shut behind her and she marched toward the house. He yanked his keys out of the ignition and got out of the truck.
What the hell did she have to be pissed about? If he hadn’t intervened, she’d be back in Eden Creek right now. She’d either be mated to Barrett Todd or declared a lone wolf. He’d saved her from that, surely she saw that he’d done it to protect her. Did she think that he liked the situation they’d gotten themselves into any better than she did? He’d done his best for the past ten years to keep himself free of entanglements, but now he found himself mated. The irony that he’d done it to himself was not lost on him.
The gravel crunched under his boots as he stomped up the driveway. He could feel himself building up a good head of steam as he followed her. She stood by the front door and she moved out of the way so he could unlock it.
She walked into the house and threw her purse down on the table beside the sofa. Her high-heeled shoes clicked rapidly on the wooden floor as she made her way to the stairs that led up to the second floor. She was just going to walk away without speaking to him?
“What is your problem?” He was just as pissed as she was over this situation, although admittedly most of his anger was directed at himself. Some of it was at her though, because he’d saved her from a bad situation and the least she could do was show him some gratitude. “You could say thank you, you know.”
She turned around and put both her fists on her hips. There was a fire in her eyes that he’d never seen before, and he had to push down the sudden attraction to her that it caused. He’d gotten himself into enough trouble by acting on the feelings she stirred in him without him inviting more right now.
“You
want me to thank you? I find myself in the same situation I was close to being in when I left Eden Creek. Mated to someone who gave me no choice about it. And you want me to thank you?”
“Are you saying that I’m as bad as Barrett Todd?” She didn’t really think that, did she? Hurt mixed in with the anger that flashed through him. He wasn’t anything like the other wolf. Eden Creek’s alpha wanted to mate with her for his own selfish reasons. The situation between the two of them was nothing like that. “If I was anything like him, I’d probably be taking you upstairs and forcibly consummating this union. Is that the kind of man you think I am?”
Honor closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath. It was evident that this conversation was going to get out of control unless cooler heads prevailed, and it appeared that she realized that too. “No, I don’t think you are that kind of man. You are nothing like him.”
“Then what are you saying?” He took a step toward her and longed to reach for her. But he was pretty sure giving in to the impulse to kiss her earlier at the bar had been part of what had prompted him to claim her as his. So he kept his hands firmly at his side while he looked down at her.
“I’m saying that I didn’t want it to be this way.” Her lower lip trembled for a second, and her eyes swam. He curled his hands into fists at his side when seeing the hurt in her eyes felt like a knife stabbing him in the heart. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her. He would much rather she was still pissed at him than seeing the way her shoulders sagged, as if she was defeated.
