Chapter 343

Chapter 343

Whatever he sees on my face makes him stop talking.

“We took Scarlette away from Cooper,” I say quietly. “Imagine if she got hurt protecting me. Imagine she lost a finger, or came back covered in burns like that. How would you feel if Cooper—someone you love like a brother—attacked me in blind rage?”

Drix opens his mouth to answer, but the words never come. His eyes widen slightly before he looks away, tension settling heavily across his jaw.

“I thought so.”

The irritation I've been holding onto all day rises to the surface again.

“No matter what happened, you knew Scarlette would never hurt me. You knew exactly how much she loves me, yet you still attacked her. You didn't stop to think. You didn't stop to breathe. You just lashed out.” I shake my head. “And what makes it worse is how easily you push Cooper aside whenever it comes to me.”

His shoulders stiffen.

“It makes me feel awful, Drix. Cooper is her mate. He's the father of her children. He should matter too. You know better than anyone what a mate means, yet the moment you're frightened for me, everyone else becomes secondary.”

I point towards Scarlette, who is walking ahead with Jericho.

“She is pregnant. Pregnant. If something happened to her, Cooper would feel every second of it. He'd be terrified. He'd be losing his mind wondering if his mate and babies were alive, and none of that seemed to matter when you attacked her.”

“I do know that!” he snaps, his voice rising. Frustration flashes across his face before guilt follows immediately after it. “And I'm sorry!”

“That’s not the point!” I cut in sharply, refusing to let him twist it into something else. “I’m telling you to think about Cooper when it comes to Scarlette, because I know damn well he would do the same for you if it were me. Try to remember he was there for you long before I came along. I haven’t exactly made your life easier—I’ve brought you problems, chaos, heartache. I don’t deserve this level of protection, and I’m not going to sit here and unpack that, but at least try to think about Cooper. And Brie too. All of them.”

I turn my head away on the last word.

That is when the doors of the temple finally open.

A man steps out first, followed by five women.

“Alpha Hendrix Ajax! The most blessed of them all!”

Drix moves past us immediately, but I feel it before I even look—his sadness and frustration bleeding through the mate bond like an open wound.

I bite down hard on my lower lip, using the sharp sting to keep my emotions under control. Part of me feels as though I'm overreacting, that perhaps I should let it go now that the argument is over, but I can't. Every time I look at Scarlette's injuries, I'm reminded of the day she lay dying and the choices Drix made in the name of protecting me. The pattern is always the same. When it comes to me, he throws caution aside and acts first, consequences later.

It shouldn't be like that.

He isn't just my mate.

He's an alpha.

He has a pack to lead, people to protect, family to consider. Cooper matters. Brie matters. Scarlette matters.

They all do.

“You did the right thing,” Zinnia whispers.

The quiet certainty in her voice settles the restless feeling inside me. Relief seeps through the cracks in my anger.

I sniffle as Gillian lowers me to the ground.

“Really?”

“Don't make me say it twice,” she scoffs.

Despite everything, a small smile tugs at my mouth.

The moment is short-lived.

A sharp scream cuts through the air.

Then another.

My head snaps up.

Ahead of us, the priest has somehow ended up on the ground. He scrambles backwards on his hands and feet, his face drained of colour as he points directly at me. Pure horror twists his features, as though he's looking at something monstrous.

The women beside him aren't any better.

Several stumble back. One covers her mouth. Another looks seconds away from fainting. All of them are staring at me, fear blazing in their eyes.

My smile vanishes as a chill crawls down my spine.

“What’s going on?” I murmur, clearly confuse.

“Get that thing out of here!” the priest shouts. “She doesn’t belong here! A forsaken child—get it out!”

“Get it away! Now!”

A violent force crashes into me before I can finish speaking.

The impact is brutal. One moment I'm standing still, the next I'm airborne, the ground disappearing beneath my feet as the world pitches violently sideways. The force hurls me backwards with enough power to send pain shooting through my body, but before I can hit anything, Zinnia surges forward and takes control. She twists smoothly in mid-air and lands on her feet, her balance never faltering despite the distance we are thrown.

A furious growl rips from Drix's chest.

I look up just in time to see his eyes flash yellow as his wolf pushes against the surface. Rage pours off him in suffocating waves. Nearby, Scarlette is already off Jericho's back, her expression darkening as she takes a step forward. The fury rolling off her is no less dangerous.

Before either of them can move, I raise my voice.

"Stop!"

The word cracks through the tension and echoes off the large walls.

Both of them hesitate.

"You can't touch him," I say quickly, forcing myself to remain calm despite the lingering shock. "If you attack him, this turns into a bloodbath and we'll learn nothing. I'll stay in the forest with Scarlette. You go inside and get the information."

For a second, I think Drix might actually listen.

Then he storms forward.

The priest barely has time to react before Drix seizes him by the collar and hauls him clean off the ground. The man's feet leave the earth as though he weighs nothing. Terror floods his face.

"This man—"

"Please, Drix."

My voice comes out firmer than before, carrying enough pleading to make him pause.

"Do it for me."

The muscles in his arm bunch visibly beneath his sleeve. His grip tightens until the priest lets out a strangled sound, then loosens again. His jaw clenches. Unclenches. Clenches once more. Every breath he takes is sharp and uneven, barely restrained fury radiating from him in heavy waves. For a long moment he simply stands there, glaring at the priest as though debating whether throwing him through a wall would be worth the consequences.

I genuinely don't know if he's going to stop.

Scarlette is already calmer. She steps towards me instead of the chaos, grounding herself beside me.

Eventually, Drix throws the priest back down with enough force to make the man choke.

Without another word, he storms into the temple.

Gillian bows once—quick, respectful—then follows after him at a run.

Jericho watches the scene with faint amusement before shaking his head.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t break anything. Including faces,” he says.

“Thank you,” I murmur, exhausted more than anything else.

He nods, hands sliding into his pockets, and strolls after them.

I turn my body gently, walking away from the entrance and back towards the staircase. I’m still trying to process what just happened. No one has ever reacted to me like that before. Not like I’m something to be removed.

It hurts more than I expected.

Scarlette notices immediately.

“Don’t be sad,” she says lightly. “I’ll kill him after we get what we need.”

Under different circumstances, I might have laughed.

Instead, I stop at the top of the staircase and stare down at the endless descent.

“…Great,” I mutter.