Chapter 105
Elowen's POV
My face heated. I looked away, suddenly very aware of how I must look. Dusty. Disheveled. My clothes still bore the stains from earlier—blood and dirt and God knew what else.
"The injured," I said quickly. "They need to go to the medical wing. Some of them are hurt badly. My friend's mate, Ethan—he's not healing. None of the wounded are healing properly. There's something wrong with—"
"YOU have no right!"
My mother's voice cracked through the hallway like a whip. Pack members stopped mid-stride, turning to stare.
"You have no right to address visiting Alphas!" She strode toward me, her face twisted with rage. "You don't speak for this pack! You don't make demands! You—"
"I'm trying to save lives!" I shot back. "Ethan is dying up there! The pack is under attack! And you're worried about—about what? Protocol?"
"You think you can just—just waltz in here and pretend to be Luna?" Her voice rose, shrill and ugly. "You think spreading your legs for two brothers gives you authority? You're nothing! You've always been nothing!"
The words hit me like a physical blow. My face burned.
"Let me out," Juno snarled in my head. "Let me rip her fucking throat out."
I gritted my teeth. Held back. Barely.
"At least I chose them," I said slowly. My voice was cold. Steady. "At least they see me as more than a bargaining chip. You sold me to Drake like I was property. Like I was worth nothing more than clearing your debts and whatever sick deal you made with that—that thing in the storage room."
Drake flinched. Made a sound between a groan and a protest. When I glanced at him, his eyes were wide. Haunted. He looked between me and my mother like he was trying to piece together a puzzle, and the picture it was forming terrified him.
"You don't know what you're talking about," my mother hissed. But there was something in her eyes now. Panic. "You stupid girl, you don't understand—"
"Then explain it to me!" I took a step toward her. "Explain what that man meant about Alpha Austin's death! Explain why you're so desperate to shut me up! Explain—"
Her hand flew up.
I didn't move. Didn't back down.
But I didn't need to.
Everything happened fast.
Alaric moved with inhuman speed. One second he was beside Kade. The next he was in front of me, his arm raised to block my mother's hand before it could reach my face.
At the same time, Ronan grabbed my waist and hauled me backward. Away from her. Against his chest.
The crack of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the hallway.
My mother's head snapped to the side.
Ronan's fist had caught her square on the jaw.
She stumbled backward, her hand flying to her face. Blood dripped from her split lip, ran down her chin in a thin red stream. Something small and white fell to the floor.
A tooth. One of her back molars.
It bounced twice. Rolled across the hardwood.
The hallway went silent.
Even the running pack members stopped. Stared.
My mother looked at Ronan. Her eyes were wide. Shocked. Disbelieving. "You..." she breathed. "You hit me."
"Damn right I did." Ronan's voice was cold. Flat. He wiped his knuckles on his pants, leaving a red smear. "Next time you raise a hand to her, I'll do worse."
Drake made a choking sound. His back hit the wall and he slid down it slightly, his legs seeming unable to hold him. He stared at my mother like he was seeing a monster wearing her face.
Alaric turned to me, his pale eyes concerned. Gentle. "I'm sorry I grabbed you," he said softly. "I shouldn't have done that without permission. But I—"
"He doesn't like seeing women get hit," Kade interrupted. His voice was low. Matter-of-fact. "Makes him... twitchy."
"And Ronan just likes fighting," Kade added, though there was warmth in his amber eyes. Almost affection.
"Not true." Ronan crossed his arms. His biceps bulged against the fabric of his suit jacket. "I like fighting when there's a good reason. And that—" He jerked his chin at my mother. "That was a good reason."
He looked down at me. His green eyes softened. "I'm not gonna be the one to tell Casper and Cassian that we stood by and did nothing when their mate's own mother tried to hit her."
My heart squeezed.
Their mate.
These Alphas—powerful, dangerous men who barely knew me—they recognized my bond with the twins. Respected it. Protected it.
Even when my own mother didn't.
"Thank you," I whispered.
Ronan's expression gentled further. He nodded once. Then released me, though he stayed close. Like he expected my mother to try again.