Page 150 of UNAwere

Hannah grips Warner’s throat with her fangs and tears. Warner cries out, his scream piercing my brain.

You’ll lose your fucking alliance, Warner roars, desperate. Everything you’ve fought for. If you kill me, it all goes!

No, it doesn’t. I’ve grown to quite like Weres from Luminaire.

You’re killing your friend. You’ll be a fucking murderer.

You’ve hardly put up a fight, Hannah says, her voice almost casual. People are going to think you gave me this title.

You fucking bit—

Hannah rips her head up, blood spraying. I flinch, watching as she tears the throat out of Primrose’s former alpha. Jude sucks in a deep breath beside me, tucking his chin close. We watch as Hannah hangs her head, a breeze moving through the grove, ruffling the black hairs of her coat. I’m holding my breath, watching as she considers the body beneath her.

And then she steps back and sheds.

‘That was too fucking easy,’ Hannah says, wiping the blood from her mouth.

Jude lets out a gruff laugh by my ear, shedding. His hands enter my fur and I feel my wolf shed at his touch, until his fingers are brushing my skin and he’s pulling me closer.

‘Put some fucking clothes on. I can’t take you seriously right now,’ Jude says to his sister, keeping his arms wrapped around me.

‘Speak for yourself,’ Hannah says, waving him off and accepting the bundle of clothing Lucas throws at her.

‘You doing okay, Syb?’ she asks as she steps into a pair of jeans.

Jude’s mouth scrapes across my temple. ‘Hey,’ he murmurs.

‘What?’ I blink, realising I’m staring.

‘You okay?’

‘Y-yeah.’ I’m in a lot of pain, but my brain hasn’t caught up yet. ‘I-I’m… I’m sorry.’

‘Sweetheart, don’t you dare say those words,’ Jude murmurs. He pulls me closer, and I bury my face against the mark on his throat.

‘We need to get her patched up.’ Lucas’s voice comes from behind us.

‘I’m aware,’ Hannah tells him. ‘Feel free to take Jude’s mate from his arms, and see what happens to you.’

Lucas is silent for a second. And then he says, ‘We can wait.’

I sigh against Jude’s skin.

‘You okay, honey?’ he murmurs, his mouth in my hair.

‘Yeah.’ I’m not, but I want to be. For him. I press my eyes closed as he squeezes his arms around me, tears dribbling to my chin. ‘I love you, Jude.’

‘I love you,’ he says through a breath of relief. ‘So fucking much.’

We sit there for a moment longer, and I let his strong arms brace me. A breeze comes through the clearing, cooling the blood on my skin, and I begin to shiver.

‘I’m gonna get Sybbie back to the house,’ Jude says, his voice rumbling against me. A blanket gets thrown over my shoulders and Jude holds it tight against the blood weeping down my arm. ‘Hans, go speak to Nolan. There’s a lot to discuss.’

‘Don’t I know it,’ she says.

‘What about Warner?’ Lucas asks.

‘We’ll bury him next to his dad,’ she tells him. ‘He would’ve wanted that.’