Chapter Three

Connor strode forward quickly, fully shifted, his eyes solely focused on his pregnant mate. Power, concern, and anger rolled off of the alpha in waves. His scent was swimming in them. He stopped before the altar of the victim, raising a clawed hand to cradle the bump that housed his child. His heir. His head descended to rest his forehead against his mate, breathing in her scent.

Mate. Blood. Tears. Pain.

He trained his ears, listening. He ignored the accused, the pack, and Tollerman. Two heartbeats, one louder and slightly off due to the stress. A second more quiet, rapid thumping he identified underneath his hand. Strong, healthy despite its mothers distress.

This finding relieved him somewhat, the pup wasn't harmed. Anger and concern remained, however.

Angel stirred, whining low and nuzzling back against him. He shushed her, rumbling soothingly and rubbing circles above the pup. "I'm here, mate. The pup is unharmed, you're both safe now."

She settled, slipping back under the influence of the sedative.

He leaned back once she'd been under long enough movement wouldn't disturb her rest. "Ash, Deke, take her inside. Lila, go with them and do not leave her side until I come for you."

The assigned wolves did as they were bid, carefully moving Angel so she was supported and her wound wouldn't pull. Connor turned then to Tollerman. His wolf raged, he could smell his mates blood on the town wolf. Her pain clung to the other wolf like perfume. He didn't bother to smother the snarl that rose in his throat, the rage building dangerously under his skin. He charged Tollerman, where the man knelt as the wolves in his pack did. One clawed hand seized the town wolf by the throat, hauling him to his feet and then further up until he couldn't reach the ground at all, his feet dangling helplessly.

Tollerman choked, but he didn't struggle against him past the initial instinct to grab the alphas arm. The alpha roared and slammed the man down, his newly freed claws swinging in terrifying arcs to tear into the other mans chest and side. Not anywhere vital, no, but enough to cause pain. Enough to punish.

The strangers yelled, struggling against their bonds in a futile attempt to free themselves. To save the town wolf, or themselves.

When Connor was appeased with the punishment, Tollerman coughing and wheezing through the pain, he straightened himself and turned to his pack. "Bring another pole! String him up like the others. If his wounds try to heal, break them open again! If Angel can't heal herself, neither can he! Do it as many times as you must, but keep him alive."

While Cooper and Myles rushed to do his bidding, his entire focus on the outsiders. His chest heaved with power, rage, and adrenaline. The blood lust singing in his veins.

He ignored their puny protests at their treatment, their indignation at the town wolf being bloodied and strung up along with them. Tollerman didn't pull the trigger, but he allowed them on his land and he didn't call a member of the pack to deal with them until the damage was done.

He inhaled their scents, searching for one piece of damning evidence. Gunpowder. The shorter one reeked of it.

That one injured Connors' mate, risked his pup. Unacceptable.

"YOU!" He bellowed, stalking forward. "You shot my mate. You will die."

"They. . . they don't. . . understand." John wheezed, having difficulty catching enough breath to string together a complete sentence. "They . . . didn't. . . know."

"What they know doesn't matter!" He roared, whirling on the town wolf. "This one risked my mate, my pup. He will die."

"How. . . can. . . can they. . . make the. . . right. . . choice. . . without. . . all the. . . information?" John asked haltingly, gaze piercing the alpha. "Their ignorance. . . lends. . . them. . . some . . . innocence."

"Connor?" Deke hesitantly pressed. "Angel is asking for you. She won't calm down, the sedative wore off."

In answer, the alpha forced back the shift and tamped down his rage. He didn't want to upset his Angel, make her think he was upset with her. It would only hurt her more.

"Keep eyes on the outsiders. Deke, you're in charge of their care until I come back. Cut Tollerman down when the moon rises for the night. Do not disturb me unless it is a matter of life and death." He called out the last order to the pack as a whole.

He could hear her anxious whines the closer he came to their hut. He could smell the scent of her budding tears. They stabbed him through the heart. He hated the smell of them, hated that he was so far away that she felt them necessary. He wanted to lick them all away, curl around her while she slept and healed, so she didn't feel this way again. He also wanted to rip and rend the flesh from the short outsider, show him his rib cage while his heart was still beating.

No. Angel needed him calm. He sucked in a breath and brutally thrust the anger to the back of his mind. It could keep for now.

Lila and Ash ducked outside silently, neither of them needed for the moment.

His mate writhed and thrashed as much as she physically could on their furs, whining and whimpering for him. Her beautiful hair tangling around her head where it met the pillows, her face tracked with tears and her sweaty skin shining in the lamp light. He instantly stripped his leather vest, knowing she would need the skin contact to soothe her properly. He carefully slid into their bed, even more gently stilling her writhing form and drawing her into his arms, laying her head on his left arm. She immediately nuzzled into him, her whines ceasing as she inhaled his scent and listened to the rumbling that he started out of instinct. He nuzzled her back, his nose burying itself in her hair and inhaling deep.

Vanilla, honey, sweat.

Home.

His free hand found his pup, rubbing the skin keeping him safe.

"I'm sorry." Angelina whispered, her voice hoarse from disuse.

Connor felt his eyebrows pull down in confusion. "For what, my mate?"

"I shouldn't have left the hut. I worried, so I followed you some of the way. I didn't know the outsider was there, Connor, I swear. I was shifted, I was running faster than a human is capable of. This is my fault." Her voice was clogged with tears by the end, her scent tinged with misery.

"No, mate. They meddled where they do not belong." He rumbled, trying his best to keep the rage at bay. Hearing her speak of her trauma, apologizing for it, made him angry.

"I knew there were outsiders in town. I should've been more careful. I know better. I've exposed our existence." She continued, unwilling to let her fault in the matter slide. Much to his irritation. "I knew better and I'm sorry."

He shushed her, rubbing her arms and back in stripes, his free hand cradling his pup. "Sleep, Angel. You need rest."

Her insistence that she was guilty in part to her trauma complicated matters. John Tollermans words were another nuisance, both would have to be handled. His head was beginning to pound. These outsiders were certainly more trouble than they were worth, but at least two wolves were convinced they were innocent of their crime. By law, this meant he couldn't outright kill them, no matter how strong the urge to do so.

Tomorrow. He would deal with this tomorrow.