Chapter 41: Chapter 41

RAGE

They tossed the lycans that were caught into the dungeon underneath the university. The blood of the fallen wolves and lycan still burned my nose as I helped clean up the mess we left behind.

I knew Everlee was special, but I hadn’t realized her strength until she came to my rescue. I was a little emasculated, sure, but I wouldn’t be the soon-to-be alpha king without a kick-ass luna beside me.

Erick was tossed in the dungeon with the rest of them. I didn’t care what the chancellor planned to do with him. I found myself sniffing out Everlee. They’d taken Harlan, kicking and screaming back toward the kingdom.

Part of me wanted to make sure he made it there, but I knew he would.

The kingdom’s warriors had made it and would drag him there if needed. The alpha house was full of raging alphas when I made it, but I couldn’t think past Everlee’s scent. I knew Brett was hiding because he’d allowed Everlee to escape him.

I wanted that story, but not now. I needed to see her. I followed her scent toward the showers where I heard her crying. I pulled back the shower curtain, but she didn’t move. I sank into the stream of hot water and turned her to face me.

She instantly buried her face into my chest. I listened to her cry and felt her body heave while I ran my fingertips against her healing skin. “He wasn’t in there,” she whispered. “His eyes looked soulless.”

They had. I didn’t like him either way, but he’d looked lost inside of his wolf. “They’ll fix him,” I whispered.

She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against my chest. I tangled my fingers into her hair and brushed out the knots until it was smooth under my palms. “You saved me,” I whispered into the silence.

She chuckled. “You doubted me?”

When she looked up, a piece of herself stared back at me. Those hazel eyes were beautiful and strong, despite the heartache I knew she felt.

“Of course not. But I’m the soon-to-be alpha king. Stop showing me up, will ya?” I teased.

“I’ll work on it,” she said.

Silence dripped over us, and I felt Everlee lift onto her tiptoes and kiss me. The entire battle, everything that happened landed on us. The urgency of her kiss quickened, and she tangled her fingers into my hair.

The outpour of need surged in me. I lowered my palms to her upper thighs and hoisted her up to my hips. Using the shower wall as a post, I maneuvered her against it and pressed into her slowly.

Everlee’s moan echoed out against the bathroom walls.

Her tight heat swallowed me. She lifted and lowered onto my length, using me to hide the pain inside of her. She was breaking free from the bad. Letting herself get lost in the moment.

I squeezed the globe of her ass in my palm and thrust harder into her. She rested her head against the shower wall and rode me in the stall. Until she was a quivering mess, crying, unleashing all the built-up hurt inside of her.

When she came on my length, I found my release after, releasing into her, spilling my seed into my future luna. She bit my shoulder harshly, and I felt the moment arise. Her tongue slid against my skin, and the vein in my neck throbbed.

“Do it,” I whispered.

Still inside of her, I felt myself twitch, feeling overwhelmingly excited to have her sink her fangs into my neck. Finalize the mating bond. She kissed the spot softly before pressing the tips of her fangs against me and slowly sinking inward.

The pain rippled through me like a current.

I felt myself unraveling. The bond strengthened, and Everlee moaned my name. When she pulled backward, my blood dripped down her chin, and she licked it off quickly. Her eyes swirled the color of a honeycomb, and her wolf vibrated along her skin.

I watched her irises dance as she watched my mark appear. A soft smile curled at her mouth, and she touched it slowly. “Mine,” she whispered.

“Yours,” I agreed.

She kissed the mark, and electricity shot down my spine. When the bathroom door opened, I let her down, and she chuckled. “Maybe we should get out of here.”

I turned off the shower and grabbed two towels from the hanger outside. I waited while she wrapped one around her and looked up at me. “I’m going to the kingdom tonight,” she whispered. “Will you come with me?”

“Of course I will.”

We walked back to my room, and I instantly smelled my father’s scent. I wasn’t in the mood for him today, but what other choice did I have? I’d been ignoring him since we left the ceremony at the pack house.

Everlee stopped in the hallway. “Your dad?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I leaned around the hallway and saw him talking with Derek. “I’ll have him meet me downstairs so you can get dressed. I won’t be mad if you hurry.”

She smiled. “I take clues well.”

We walked around the curve in the hallway and toward my room. Dad stepped over, worry written all over his face. “Son,” he said, avoiding Everlee’s half-nakedness. “I was worried.” He pulled me in by the back of my head and hugged me.

It felt like being sucked back into my childhood before my dad’s tyrant ways of dictating my life. “Everlee,” he said, pulling back to look at her. Then he noticed our marks. “You chose…”

Everlee nodded. “I did. I need to get dressed if you don’t mind.”

He let her in without another word. “I knew you wouldn’t answer if I called. I needed to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” I stated.

Derek walked over, dirty and bruised from the fight, and offered me a handshake. “They said Harlan made it back to the kingdom. They’re extracting his wolf soon.”

“We’re going there now. Everlee wants to be there for him.”

I noticed Dad’s disapproval, but he didn’t state it. “I’m going to stay around and help the chancellor with cleanup. Be careful at the kingdom, son.”

“I always am.”

I went to leave, but he grabbed my wrist to stop me. “I’m proud of you, son. I love you.”

For the first time in years, I felt he was telling the truth. “I love you too.”

Everlee was fully dressed when I walked in. Unable to help it, I walked toward the mirror and looked at her mark on my skin. It mimicked my own, only with a shooting star crossing my neck. “Like it?” she asked behind me.

I caught her gaze in the mirror. “I love it.”

She grinned and tossed clothes at me, making me drop my towel. She lifted a brow and reached over to slap my ass. “Come on. We’ve got a drive to make.”

By the time I was dressed and out of the door, my father had left with Derek for the chancellor’s office. The smell of blood still lingered in the air, but neither of us commented on it. There wasn’t anything else to say.

We drove toward the kingdom in silence.

The closer we got, the more anxious my wolf became. Even though I knew saving Harlan was the right thing to do, he had just tried to kill me hours before.

Everlee nearly jumped out of my Jeep when I parked. There was a stir around the courtyard as if everyone knew what was happening inside.

I followed behind her, being let into the double-doors only because I was mated to Everlee. They closed swiftly behind us, and the sound echoed heavily against the walls.

Everlee led me up the stairs and down a long hallway. I picked up on her room as we passed it, and we didn’t stop until the end.

She shoved open the doors, and voices fell out into the hall.

“Everlee,” Luna Savannah said. They were embracing when I stepped into the room with them.

I only knew Luna Savannah and Alpha Allaire. There was a giant fae standing in the corner of the room. I didn’t like the look of him or the gold jewelry he wore. Something screamed off to me, but I wasn’t here to judge.

The girl standing over Harlan’s chained body was the witch doctor. Her purple stare shifted between Everlee and me.

Alpha Allaire stepped over to me and braced both palms on my shoulders. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m proud of you for today. I know you were holding back.”

I had been. I didn’t want to. I wanted to rip him to pieces, but I didn’t.

“Thank you.”

He stepped over toward Luna Savannah, who winked at me despite the situation. Harlan looked out of it. Maybe they knocked him out to keep him calm. Maybe it was the witch doctor keeping him there.

“We’re ready, Gabriela,” Alpha Allaire said.

She smiled sweetly and looked down at Harlan. I felt something work its way down her spine at the sight of him. Everlee sensed it too, because she looked back at me with lifted brows.

“This is going to hurt him,” she whispered, running her palms along his arms. “He’s going to fight it. He’s going to attempt to break the chains.”

“We’re ready for that,” the alpha said.

Gabriela closed her eyes, and a sweet smile crossed her lips. As if she was excited for him, but anxious. She whispered softly into the silence of the room, and a gentle breeze settled around us.

Everlee stepped back into me, and I wrapped my palm around her protectively. The wind grew, and Harlan lurched from the bed, the chains pinning him to the mattress like a prison.

His scream rattled my nerves. Suddenly he wasn’t the lycan trying to kill me, but the sad boy heartbroken from being rejected.

“Let. Me. Go!” he shouted. “Now. Let me out. Now.” His growling increased, but Gabriela didn’t budge. She kept her eyes closed and hands outstretched. One of Harlan’s arms broke free, and Alpha Allaire gripped his wrist and brought it down toward the bed.

“Don’t fight, son,” he whispered. “Don’t fight.”

Everlee wrapped her hand around her mouth as tears raced down Harlan’s face. His gaze shifted around the room, landing on Everlee as his chest lifted and he slammed against the bed.

Gabriela stepped back but fought to stay in her position. Her chanting increased, and Harlan jolted backward again.

This time a gust of wind left him, and his body went limp.

The silence that followed was deafening. Luna Savannah walked over and placed her hand on his heart. I was sure it was to make sure he was breathing.

“He’s fine, ma’am,” Gabriela said, touching her shoulder. “He’s sleeping. It worked.”

Everlee let out the breath she was holding and turned toward me. I watched her tear-filled eyes as they escaped down her face. “It’s over,” she whispered.

It was, for us.

But Harlan’s journey was just beginning.