keep Shannon safe because of Ava, and she was still in a dangerous position as an unmarked female. No matter what I’d done with the rules, lone women were still vulnerable. So, despite my threats, I needed her to be marked—if not for the relationship with, and then the way I’d unknowingly betrayed her sister, then because my brother felt something for her.
“You need to choose, Shannon. Pick a pack or be rounded up with the spare females from gen pop and end up the Mother only knows where.”
She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. “I will not be owned by anyone, not unless I get something out of the deal. And although I enjoyed your body, Connor, I will not give myself up to be used by any male who sees fit. This is mine, no one else's.” She gestured to her body.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve told you that isn’t the way it works in my pack—or Drake’s. The north and east wings are the ones you want to avoid. Their rules are not much better than gen pop’s. Especially since Santa Cruz took over.”
“So fix it.”
I bristled at her demand. “I have other, more pressing issues to deal with.” A war with the alpha males in those packs was not high on my list of things to do. Besides, Shane, the east wing alpha, was new enough to be working on his pack’s behaviour and I hoped Santa would end up neutralised in the games.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you always.”
“Stone! Come with me.” I was tired of my spat with Shannon. I was tired of Shannon, period.
Stone’s face became unreadable. I zoned in on his heart rate and his breathing, trying to pick up on any changes. I noted a slight hitch in his heart rate, but he was already breathing hard. He rolled his head on his shoulders, his bare torso gleaming with sweat and rippling with power as he jumped out of the ring, landing right next to Shannon.
She scowled at me and then him. He merely stared right back at her, holding her gaze until she looked away. I hid my smile. Stone was a force to be reckoned with, one not even Shannon could defy for long.
I strode back through the halls and up the metal stairs, not bothering to speak to Stone. I led him into my cell and rounded on him in a burst of speed he had no hope of escaping. My hand clenched around his throat. I kicked the door shut and slammed him up against it, my muscles screaming under his weight. His eyes misted into a deep shade of violet, but his fae magic couldn’t push past the wall of his more dominant side—his wolf, and that was trapped by the silver collar.
“You left Ember this morning.” It was a statement not a question. My wolf surfaced, his fury fusing with mine. I squeezed Stone’s throat, almost crushing his trachea. “You put my mate at risk after I ordered you to protect her!” I jerked him in my grasp and he flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall with enough force to crack the plaster. He crawled to his feet—and charged.
I expected no less from him. If he didn’t fight back right now, I would kill him for putting my mate at risk and leaving her vulnerable.
“She makes you weak!” he yelled, barrelling into me.
I grunted, forced back by his momentum. Calling on my wolf’s superior power, I slammed my fists into his kidneys, then pulled back and hit his rock hard abs several times.
“You call this weak, you stupid bastard!” I picked him up, slamming his bulk into the concrete floor.
Breath exploded from him. “Not physically weak—emotionally! If she suffers, then so do you! If you let yourself love her, it will ruin you when she dies. All mates are a weakness. She will destroy your soul! You’d be better off if she died now!” His chest heaved, such raw emotion in his voice it brought me up short.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I stared in horror at the pain in his eyes.
His throat bobbed over and over. “Nothing.” But his voice broke.
I stood above my third, and he just lay there not meeting my gaze at all. This was not Stone at my feet. This was a broken man, someone who was hurting so bad, so lost in his own pain, he had lost his fight with rationality.
“Who did you