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“Ride or die, right?” I reply with a weak smile, my rage quickly draining as it’s replaced with concern on what this could mean for Connor. Smashing the next in line for alpha through a wall and knocking him unconscious is likely not going to do pack harmony any favors, especially with another pack to stand witness.
A crowd quickly forms in the hallway, mumbling in surprise. There’s wariness in their eyes as their focus shifts between Mei, me, and the barely breathing Bayne. I push Mei behind me, stand as tall as my five-foot-three frame allows, and meet their gazes. If anyone decides to retaliate, I want them to go for me.
Daveth, Bayne’s twin brother, is the first to approach, carefully pushing his way through the crowd. My muscles tighten as my magic builds in preparation for his inevitable need for revenge. Will he attack me here or challenge me in the ring? Will I be allowed to use my magic to defend myself? Not that I’m really sure I have that kind of control. An angry wolf leaping at me to rip my face off? Yeah, my magic is unlikely to just let that happen. Assuming Connor even lets me into the ring and doesn’t insist on taking my place. As the alpha, I would have no recourse to stop him without forcing my will as a spirit witch.
My mind is so caught up in what could happen that I’m dumbfounded when Daveth cautiously exposes his neck. “Mate of the alpha, I apologize for however my brother has offended you, and I humbly beg for his life.”
I blink stupidly at him, confused as much by his formal language as his request. “Come again?”
He’s careful not to meet my gaze as he repeats himself, waiting for my verdict. His Adam’s apple bobs heavily in his throat, and his body quakes. In contrast, the crowd is silent and still. Tension builds in the air like a vibrating hum.
Mei pokes me in the back when I stare way too long and hisses, “Say something.”
“Right, uh, yeah. His life is spared,” I stammer, still not quite grasping what the hell is going on. On the best of days, Bayne is an asshole and Daveth is an idiot sidekick. I expected more claws and fangs than what feels like a formal trial in the middle of a demolition.
“My mate has shown mercy,” Connor announces from down the hall, making me jump because I didn’t realize he was here at all. The crowd splits for him, slamming their bodies against the wall. When he reaches our little circle, he adds in a low growl, “But if he upsets my mate again, I may not be as merciful.”
Daveth makes a jerky nod of his head. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Get him out of our sight,” Connor orders, and Daveth immediately scurries into the bathroom via the door.
Bayne groans, slowly regaining consciousness, as he’s hoisted over his brother’s shoulder in a fireman’s hold. When they enter the hall, the crowd on my left divides like the brothers have a heavily contagious illness, and Daveth carries his twin into the next room without assistance.
The crowd of shifters breaks into noisy discussions, and I can’t tell if they are upset or relieved that I let him live. As much as I dislike Connor’s brothers, the idea of taking another life makes me sick. I’m still haunted by the last one.
Mei eyeballs the crowd with her hands fisted on her hips. “What you all saw is only a sliver of what Callie can do. As great as your alpha is” —her gaze flicks to Connor, who appears amused by her speech, then back at the crowd— “she doesn’t need a man to fight her battles. Don’t mistake her kindness as weakness. She’s a grade A badass witch who will fuck you up in ways you can’t even imagine.”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but how about we don’t challenge the pack to prove they can outmatch a witch?” I whisper out of the side of my mouth. “I want them to like me.”
“Respect is far more important than likability,” Mei argues, flipping her ponytail off her shoulder. “Besides, where is the lie?”
“That’s not the point,” I mutter, squeezing the bridge of my nose.
While Connor seems pleased to hear Mei sing my praises, an amber-eyed shifter who appears to be in his early twenties glares at her like she burned down his home. “We wouldn’t dare harm our alpha’s mate,” he declares, and many others in the crowd nod fiercely in agreement. “She’s the heart of our pack.”
“I’m what now?” I murmur as all the blood drains from my face.
While I’m having a mini meltdown, Sam claps her hands together and shouts, “Alright, everyone, back to work. We still have a lot to do, and unless you want to be assembling walls in the dark, get a move on.”
“What the hell just happened?” I mutter, as I watch everyone get moving far away from this hallway. “What do they mean I’m the heart of the pack?”
Connor runs a soothing hand down my hair while he appears to choose his words carefully. “You’re my mate… my heart. I’m the alpha of the pack, which makes you the heart of the pack. Your will is my will. Only I can challenge your decisions.”
“I think I understand,” I murmur, my brows furrowing as I try to contemplate what this will mean going forward.
I’ve always been so concerned about what being mates meant for Connor, me, and the rest of the guys that I never stopped to consider what my role meant to the pack. I was the outsider, the interloper, so it’s always been about me trying to earn the pack’s favor, not the idea that they had to earn mine.
Fighting against the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream, Rand breaches our circle and races straight for Mei. I sidestep closer to Connor in order not to be run over by the anxious wolf. He grips her shoulders, and his eyes comb her body for signs of injuries. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she grumbles, appearing annoyed by his overzealous concern, but her subtle blush gives away her more tender feelings. “Bayne was getting all handsy with Callie, so I threatened to turn him into mulch. He didn’t appreciate that and got growly with the claws, so Callie bitch-slapped his ass, Supergirl style, literally into the next room. Watch the floor,” she warns as she pushes against Rand’s chest to get him to back up. “The structural integrity isn’t what it used to be.”
I whirl around to face her. “Speaking of, what’s with magicking the floor? I was standing on that too.”
Mei flaps her hand dismissively. “I would have made sure the tree caught you before you fell through.”
Relieved to hear that my self-appointed bestie wouldn’t have let me fall to my doom, I focus on the splintered floorboards. “How did you do that?”
“There’s a weight bearing branch beneath us,” she explains, stepping away from Rand so she can roughly indicate where it is. “I had it grow a perpendicular branch upward that broke through the foundation and into the floorboards. Had you not body-slammed him, that branch would have shot through the floor, grabbed him, and dragged him away.”
