Chapter 116
Kara
Tyler Kane slid into the chair across from me. Nineteen, blond hair, blue eyes, built like the baseball substitute he was. His family ran "legitimate" casinos in Anchorage—everyone knew they were fronts for money laundering.
"Well, well." His voice was all lazy contempt. "The new Luna graces us with her presence."
I didn't look up from my homework. "Tyler."
"Heard your parents were junkies. Gamblers. That true?" He leaned back, arms crossed. "That the kind of bloodline we want leading Silver Frost?"
The pen in my hand cracked.
Don't react. Don't give him what he wants.
But my wolf was snarling, clawing at my control. He insults us. Insults our bloodline. Make him submit.
"My bloodline," I said, voice flat, "is my business. Not yours."
Tyler's smile sharpened. "See, that's where you're wrong. Pack business is everyone's business. And I'm just wondering..." He leaned forward, reaching across the table. "If those marks are even real. Could be makeup. A scam to get out of debt."
His fingers stretched toward my throat.
"Don't. Touch. Me." The words came out low, dangerous.
Around us, students stopped moving. The air went thick with tension.
Tyler's hand kept coming.
And something in me snapped.
---
The scent explosion was instantaneous.
White musk and snow erupted from my skin like a blizzard, but this wasn't the soft, soothing version my mates loved. This was Luna wrath—sharp as ice shards, cold as a winter grave, carrying the full weight of three Alphas' claim.
The library went dead silent.
Every wolf in range hit their knees. Just—dropped. The Betas, the Gammas, even the lower Alphas clutched their throats, struggling to breathe under the pressure.
Tyler froze mid-reach, his face going white. His pine scent soured with fear.
But I couldn't stop it. Couldn't control it.
My wolf had taken over, furious that this male dared touch what belonged to her Alphas. Power flooded my veins, hot and wild and terrifying. My vision started to blur gold at the edges.
Too much. I'm losing control—
Then Tyler made his fatal mistake.
His hand, still extended, brushed my shoulder.
The temperature in the library plummeted. Frost crept across the windows in crystalline patterns.
And suddenly he was there.
---
Cole
I was halfway across campus when the bond screamed.
Not words. Just pure emotion—Kara's fury and fear slamming into me like a physical blow. Through our connection, I felt her wolf raging, felt her losing control, felt someone's hand on her shoulder—
My vision went red.
I didn't remember the run to the library. Didn't remember shoving through the doors. One second I was outside, the next I was standing in a room full of submitted wolves, frost on every surface, and my mate surrounded by her own Luna aura gone wild.
And Tyler fucking Kane with his hand on her.
"Get. Your hand. Off. My mate." The words came out in a voice that wasn't entirely human.
Every eye in the room turned to me. Even through her fury, Kara's scent spiked with relief-hope-need.
Tyler yanked his hand back like he'd been burned. Started to stammer something.
I crossed the distance in two strides, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and dragged.
He fought. Tried to twist away, releasing his pathetic pine scent in a dominance display that made my wolf laugh.
Devon Cross, the baseball team captain, jumped up like he might intervene. I met his eyes. Gold to brown.
He sat back down.
Smart boy.
Behind me, I heard students scrambling to follow, drawn by the scent of violence about to happen. Good. Let them watch. Let them all watch what happens when someone touches what's mine.
The back exit slammed open under my kick. Snow and ice greeted us—the baseball training field, covered in two feet of fresh powder.
Perfect.
I threw Tyler into a snowdrift. He hit hard, gasping.
"You wanted to verify her marks?" I asked, my voice gone soft and deadly. Cool mint and ozone poured off me in waves, but there was nothing soothing about it now. This was the smell of a storm about to break. "Let me verify something for you."
I grabbed his right hand—the one that had touched her.
And broke the first finger.
The snap echoed across the field like a gunshot. Tyler's scream cut through the cold air, high and sharp.
Through the bond, I felt Kara in the doorway. Felt her horror. Felt her wolf's savage satisfaction.
Good. She needs to see this. Needs to know we'll protect her.
"This is for touching her shoulder," I said, my voice empty of emotion. Methodical. Controlled.
Second finger. Snap.
Tyler was sobbing, trying to crawl away with his good hand. I planted my boot on his back, grinding him into the snow.
"This is for insulting her bloodline."
Third finger. The crunch of cartilage and bone sent a sick thrill through my wolf. Justice. Retribution. Protection.
"And this," I grabbed his fourth finger, feeling it bend wrong under my grip, "is for questioning her marks."
Crack.
His screams were music. Pathetic. Weak.
"This last one," I said, gripping his pinky, "is for making her afraid."
Snap.
I released his mangled hand. Before he could even breathe, my fist connected with his face.
Bone crunched. Nose, definitely. Maybe a cheekbone. Blood exploded across the white snow, scarlet against pristine white.
Beautiful.
I grabbed his hair, forcing his head up. Making him look at the crowd of students pressed against the windows, horror and fascination warring on their faces.
"Look at them," I commanded. "Look at everyone watching. Remember their faces. Remember this moment."
I raised my voice, projecting it across the field. Letting every wolf hear.
"Anyone who insults, touches, or even looks wrong at my Luna will end up exactly like this." I paused, let the words sink in. "Or worse."
My fist drove into his ribs. Two broke—I felt them give under my knuckles. Tyler coughed, spitting blood and a tooth into the snow.
"You thought she wasn't worthy?" I wrapped my hand around his throat, feeling his pulse hammering against my palm. "You, whose family launders money for Konstantin? Whose father runs drugs through your 'casino'? You thought you had the right to judge her?"
The color drained from his face. Not from pain. From fear.
Good. He should be terrified.
"I know about your family's operation," I continued, voice dropping to a deadly whisper only he could hear. "I know where the bodies are buried. Literally. And if I see you within a hundred yards of Kara in the next month, I won't just break bones."
I leaned closer. Let him see the gold in my eyes. Let him see the wolf barely leashed.
"I'll bury you next to them."
One final kick to his ribs for good measure. Tyler curled into a ball, whimpering like the pathetic omega he really was beneath all that false bravado.
Then I turned to her.
My Kara. Standing in the doorway, eyes wide, face pale. Shaking.
The wolf in me settled immediately. The rage vanished like smoke.
I crossed to her, painfully aware of Tyler's blood on my knuckles, of the violence I'd just shown her. My gentle girl who'd been hurt so many times.
Would she be afraid of me now?
My hand cupped her face—the clean one, not the bloodied one. Cool mint flooded the space between us, washing away the scent of violence.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," I murmured, studying her expression. Looking for rejection. For fear. "But he had to learn. They all had to learn."