Page 41 of Renegade Kings

I waited, lying in the cool grass and when I realised minutes had passed and no one had come to see if I was all right, I knew something was wrong.

The wolf slowly climbed to its paws, stumbling to the side as a wave of exhaustion rolled over him. He slowly shook his head, the heightened sensation rushing towards me all at once.

It was strange not to be in control of my body, but then, this wasn’t exactly my body. This was one hundred percent wolf and a part of me felt guilty for the amount of time it had been locked in the back of my mind. That warm sensation flowed through me again and pushed the guilt aside. Maybe it wasn’t so bad having someone else share your body after all.

When my wolf took a staggering step forward, he lifted his head, and I saw the disaster unfolding in front of me.

Maddox’s lion was still laying in the grass, watching the others in interest. I couldn’t tell if he was getting ready to jump in and help or if he genuinely wanted the bloodshed to start. Whichever it was, he licked his lips and stared intently at the scene playing out before us.

Tank was still where he’d been, standing at the edge of the clearing. He had his hands in his pockets, looking far too casual for a guy who was facing down a huge grey wolf. And Dean’s wolf looked pissed. His top lip raised in a snarl, but instead of lunging for Tank, he backed up a step. He wasn’t conceding through. He’d placed himself between Tank and Alyssa and was slowly making his way back to her.

This was a problem.

Dean’s wolf needed to learn that he had to share. Alyssa would never be only his. After all, Tank was practically her mate already. He should be grateful that the guy didn’t have a problem with the rest of us joining their bond.

But he already knew this, and I was pretty sure the wolf had been on board with the whole thing as well. So, what had changed?

“Pack needs alpha,” a voice whispered in my mind, and if I’d been in charge of this body, I would have leapt at least six feet into the air.

A snigger filled my mind.

“Holy fucking shit, you can talk,” I thought, not knowing any other way to communicate with the wolf.

“No. I think,” he said instead.

I guessed that kind of made sense. Then I felt him roll his eyes at me and I knew normal wolves didn’t do shit like that.

“They don’t have to listen to you,” he snarked, and I actually laughed that time.

Of course, I’d have an awesome wolf. Dean’s probably had a stick up its arse most of the time, just like him. There was definitely going to be some fun to be had with that.

As soon as the thought hit my mind, my wolf sat down with a thud. “We don’t piss off an alpha.”

He might have a point there.

Still, I bet it would be pretty funny.

Suddenly, Tank exploded into his bear, shredding his clothes and roaring at Dean’s wolf. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I’d have pissed myself a little bit if I was Dean right about now. But the wolf wasn’t having anything of it. He snarled and snapped, refusing to back down.

I could tell Alyssa was getting annoyed at the pair. Hopefully, she understood what was happening because Tank definitely hadn’t warned the rest of us. We knew they’d both been worried about Dean’s wolf playing nice at the start of this whole thing, but when Dean assured us he had the wolf under control, I’d naively thought that would be the end of it.

Clearly it wasn’t.

The pair started to circle, and I started to worry.

I got that this was going to be a fight for dominance. I’d seen enough Animal Planet to figure that out. But what was going to happen to Dean? Taking on a bear the size of Tank’s felt more like a death wish than anything else.

My wolf didn’t move. It watched the show curiously, not at all concerned with what was about to happen to our brother.

And then I felt something that I recognised because I’d already experienced the brush of magic against my skin from Alyssa.

I looked at the woman in question curiously. What was she doing?

But this was different. It didn’t have the same cold chill that had danced along my skin before. This was both ice and heat, two opposing forces, both building and twisting in the clearing around us.

My wolf's attention snapped back to Dean and Tank as he cautiously climbed to his feet. His eyes darted between Alyssa and the two males getting ready to attack each other. I could feel his concern for our mate starting to build, and even though it scared the shit out of me, there was an underlying feeling of relief. Because he definitely saw the woman who had transfixed us all from the moment we first met her as his mate. And at least that meant he wouldn’t want to stand in the way of me claiming her as my own.

“Mate is in danger,” he whispered into my mind, confirming my own feelings.