Bond still intact

Coal's pov

We drove in silence for four hours. One hour more and we’d be there. Abruptly, Ryder called out from the back seat, “Pullover!”

My head snapped up to look at him, but I did as he requested, pulling the vehicle to the side of the road.

Ryder was intently studying the map. He looked up and to the right, pointing into the forest. “It’s just over two ridges in that direction. If we run, we’ll get there in thirty minutes.”

“Okay,” I grunted and got out of the SUV.

We took off into the forest at a sprint.

But I didn’t get more than a hundred feet when without warning, my chest felt like a building had slammed into it!

What the fuck?

I stumbled and fell, clutching at my chest. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt before like I was being ripped apart from the inside. Ryder fell to the ground next to me yelling, “Coal...what is it?! What’s wrong?!”

I could barely get the words out, gasping, “That bastard...is...is trying to break...my bond!”

My Wolf was roaring.

Another Wolf was trying to take what belonged to him. The motherfucker was trying to steal her right out from under him—his mate...our mate.

Words were not sufficient to accurately describe the pain. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt. It wasn’t physical. Instead, it was inside me...like a fissure tear in my very soul...cracking apart. Severing the marrow from my bones...threatening to leave me empty and broken.

I couldn’t lose her.

I wouldn’t lose her...not like this.

And not to the bastard Alpha who’d always hated her.

Black fury consumed me. Brinley belonged to me...she was ours!

I wouldn’t allow him to take her!

I was the stronger Wolf! I knew I was.

I fought against his illegitimate claim. I waged war against the lie he wanted to make the truth.

With everything inside of me, I fought...

Abruptly, I heard Brinley’s Wolf howling in my head! It was a cry unlike any I’d ever heard before—a heart-wrenching wail. She didn’t understand why this other Wolf was trying to hurt her. And she didn’t understand why we’d abandoned her in her time of need, why we weren’t there to protect our claim. She remembered my words—I’d told her I would always keep her safe.

Her fear wracked through my body, causing actual physical jolts of pain. I convulsed with the severity of it.

I couldn’t make my brain function enough—not while I was trying to fight off his attack—to mindlink back to Brinley, but my Wolf could.

In a language all their own, my Wolf communicated with hers. Words I would never understand, uttered passionately from his bleeding heart, across time and space.

Her Wolf’s response was tangible. There was a distinct level of calm that came over her. She’d heard him!

By no means was she no longer afraid of what was happening to them, but she trusted him. The jolts of pain, I felt as a result of her panic, eased.

I panted, my chest heaving with effort.

And then another more horrible thought occurred to me—how far had Alpha taken his liberty with her? Had he just bitten her or had he already defiled her body?

That thought caused another earth-shattering roar to erupt from the beast inside me, my Wolf so angry, his thoughts were incoherent, just a dark cloud swirling in his head with only one goal—Kill the Alpha!

Langdon and Ryder were on their knees, hovering over me while I lay prone on the ground, unable to get up. Neither spoke while I writhed and fought. My eyes were squeezed shut to help me focus on what was happening inside of my body. Sweat poured off of me.

And then, abruptly, the war ended!

My eyes shot open.

I gulped in air, my breathing ragged as relief seeped through every pore in my body.

Alpha hadn’t been able to do it.

Not only had he not been able to break our bond, but now that I was more coherent, I could sense he hadn’t been able to take her physically!

Brinley wasn’t out of danger by any means, but I was close, and our bond was still intact! Fierce pride for my mate flowed through me.

Another thought surged to the forefront of my brain. I’d won this battle which confirmed it—I was the stronger Wolf!

Fuck yes, we are! My Wolf snarled his agreement.

Rolling onto my hands and knees, I pushed myself into a standing position.

Langdon’s eyes glinted as he breathed, “He couldn’t do it, could he?”

My lips curled into a smug smirk. “Fuck no.”

“Hell to the fucking-A!” Jax interjected, “This means you’re going to hand his ass to him.”

Oh, I was going to do so much more.