Chapter One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Three

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Thirty-Three
Ryder

Corrine screamed her rage shrilly while she tore down the wall with her magic, no longer caring about propriety any more than I did.

I felt Holly and Max reinforce her automatically, and just because they had to do that, it testified to just how impressive Judo’s repertoire was.

When the last barrier was torn away, I was up on my feet and running. Marcus and Holly charged behind me in a thunder of stomping and piercing cries of victory.

Corrine was just ahead of me and launched at Judo. His fangs snapped, but then he saw who it was. He seemed hesitant to hurt her. Had her sister said not to hurt her? That seemed unrealistic.

Corrine restrained Judo’s grip on her niece. She effectively froze him with a spell and pried his fingers away one at a time.

I tore Cat away from him the moment she was free, and she cried out from the jarring of her battered arms. An echo of regret went through my mind, barely noticed due to the paralyzing anger.

Deep bruises in the shape of clenched fingers branded her. They were so dark against the creamy smoothness of her fragile flesh. I stared at them for a long moment, growling insanely as the sound expanded until I was sure I affected the sound barrier.

I pushed Cat towards her Aunt, who held her protectively to her body and turned Catalym’s head away.

“Cat!” Judo screamed. He tried to sidestep the wall of flesh we had created between him and my woman.

“Did you honestly think you were going to get her back?” I asked in a low tone.

“I will have her.”

“Not as long as I live.” When he moved, I stepped to the right, and he roared his frustration.

His cold black eyes met mine with unbridled fury, “That is easily fixed.”

“Not as easily as you would like.”

My fist connected with every ounce of power I possessed. The bloodlust clouded over me.

Marcus yanked Judo’s hair to bare his neck to the side before he struck forcefully. It was too quick for Judo to follow. The sound of tearing flesh tore my ears, and Judo screamed. Marcus was rarely friendly about anything, and this time was no exception.

Blood bonds were not only suitable for being closer friends or lovers. Judo now wouldn’t get within a mile of us without Marcus knowing exactly where he was, no matter his age or power.

“Don’t kill him,” Max called resignedly when Holly jumped in and forced Judo’s arm back at a tricky angle. I heard something within a snap.

“Why not?” Sara grumbled rudely. “That fucker deserves it.”

“Now, Sara, you know the rules. If we kill him now, we declare war.

The Council was the only people to sanction a hunt. To do so otherwise was certain torture. Perhaps, even death.

“Conciliate Law declares that any misdeed will also be done to the Leaders, then the weakest and strongest members, Max explained. He always tried to be the voice of reason. Until he wasn’t. “At least for now.”

He shot a meaningful look at Milindya, who sat against the wall and cradled her ravaged arm. Her sleeve served as a bandage as she tried to sop up the blood pouring from her nose.

“You are the ones breaking the rules,” she muttered, much more subdued now. Something vital was missing from her; the mania was a distant memory.

“Tracking and harming someone under my protection is a most grave insult to our family. Catalym is my wife’s blood; if she wants to join my Coven, she is welcome. All it takes is a verbal agreement, and then everybody is happy,” Max explained to the broken doll that shone with childish challenge. He thoroughly enjoyed that.

“You can’t do that!” Milindya snapped back in a nasal tone.

“Watch me, child. Catalym?” She turned to Max’s voice fearfully. “Will you accept the invitation to join our family?”

“Yes,” she answered, despite her Aunt’s death grip.

“You will be protected,” Corrine assured her. “You will be like my own daughter. I don’t have one, but I always wanted one.”

Corrine looked down at Cat lovingly, pushing the hair from her eyes and healing her bruised lip.

I was only partially aware of the change, but it did register. The surge of fascination made the sight of Judo being so helpless that much better.

Ripping into Judo’s shoulder, I growled at the taste of his powerful blood. It pumped into my mouth faster than I could swallow. He fought us for what little good it did him. He couldn’t withstand the will of so many determined numbers, whose sole purpose was now focused on him alone.

Gene leaped forward at my urging. He accepted a wrist and bit into it viciously, the little revenge he was allotted for his girlfriend. The more, the better, and the further we could stretch our advantage over him when protecting what was mine.

“What are they doing?” Catalym asked her Aunt and Uncle with little concern for our victim’s welfare. However, she was terrified on our behalf.

“We can’t kill him, so they’re doing the next best thing. We will now be able to know his every movement in our city and find him sometimes at will,” Max soothed her.

“What will my parents do about this?” she inquired worriedly.

“We will deal with it.”

I couldn’t blame her for this, even though my blood-soaked brain. We weren’t the most calming beings with our ripping snarls and savage snapping at each other.

We were no more than animals, and we would protect our meal. Group feeding has always been a risky business.