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Artem

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When I broke through the trees at the edge of the clearing I roared a second time. My fury was boiling over now. I didn’t slow myself down either. I just carefully aimed my trajectory, I was going to smash right into him. He would not be pinning her down for much longer.

With the force of a missile I smashed into him. We toppled over a few times, rolling into the dirt, but I managed to land at the advantage. I was now pinning him to the ground, though I was still in human form and he was in his massive wolf form.

“Don’t you dare touch her again.” I growled into his wolfish face, staring down his elongated snout at his eyes that held a sneer.

‘Get off me!’ I heard his growls and grunts, the weird chuffing sounds that passed for wolf speech.

“If I get up it will only be so I can kill your sorry ass.”

‘She belongs to us.’ He snapped at me. ‘She is ours.’

“No, she doesn’t.”

The vile piece of shit I had pinned thought he could fight dirty. He aimed a blow for my groin while simultaneously trying to bite me and swipe with his claws at the same time. At least he was worth my time to fight him.

But he was going to need to try harder than if he was going to fight me. I didn’t win my position by being weak and unskilled. I had spent the last decade and a half training my body for this type of fight.

I didn’t even hesitate. I shifted in an instant. My wolf had always been large and powerful, but since the day that I became the Alpha I had grown. I was bigger than I used to be and I would wield that added size and power to my benefit.

I reared back gathering momentum as I prepared to slam myself against his chest. I bared my teeth and set them against his throat. If he didn’t give up then it would cost him his life.

As I waited for him to yield I heard two sets of feet running at me. One was much closer than the other.

“Get off him.” The man from before, the one who had been bellowing inside the house, spoke in a deep, angry voice.

‘He will yield or die.’ I growled at him.

“Shall we discuss this then?” The man was trying to talk me down. “We can come to an agreement and we can all leave here happy.”

‘I will be leaving here with the girl, and that is final.’

“I can’t let that happen.” The man snapped at me. “She is mine. She will always be mine.”

At those words I pulled my mouth away and roared, shifting back into my human self so I could stare at the asshole who had spoken.

“She is coming with me. She is not yours.” I saw his face darken and his eyes narrow.

“The girl belongs to our family. I am the leader of this family. Therefore, she belongs to me.”

“And I am telling you that that is not how things are going to happen anymore. I am taking her with me.”

Kent broke into the clearing then, having apparently left the house much later than the man in front of me.

“You don’t seem to understand what is going on here.” I glared at him “You cannot win here.”

“I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand. I am the king around here, this is my estate and you do not belong here.”

“Do you even know who I am?” I spoke through my clenched teeth, my anger flaring.

“I don’t care who you are.”

Kent was watching and waiting for the right moment to make his move. The girl who I was here to save was still laying on the ground, fear filling her eyes.

“I think you will care, when you find you that I’m-.” I never got to finish my sentence. That asshat that had bitten the girl was making a very big mistake.

The wolf rolled to his feet and leapt at me. His intent was clear with the look in his eyes, the set of his teeth, and the claws he had pointed right at me. He wanted to hurt me, he wanted to kill me. And that wasn’t going to happen.

I caught the wolf as he soared through the night. My hand closed around his throat with a crushing force cutting off the roaring scream that was coming from him. On instinct my hand partially shifted, bringing out my long sharp claws. My fingers tightened with one quick motion causing the lethally sharp claws to pierce straight into his jugular.

Blood sprayed out around my fingers, drenching me and dying the clearing red. An unsettling gurgling momentarily came from his throat before his body stopped twitching.

“What did you just do?” I could hear the anger in the man’s voice as he shook with rage.

“I took care of a loose end.”

“You will pay for this.” The rage pouring off the man was palpable, I could feel it, I could taste it. This man was still going to be an obstacle.

Or that was what I thought. As the wolf’s limp body dropped from my grip the man put his hands up and started to back away.

“You win, for tonight.” He didn’t stop backing away until he was in the trees, his footsteps quick and steady.

When he was gone and I was with only Kent and the girl I was finally able to calm down. I knew that Kent would keep watch and let me know if something were happening.

“Here.” Kent tossed me a rolled up piece of fabric. It was a pair of athletic shorts, that would help since I was standing here naked as could be.

When I was dressed, sort of, I walked slowly over to the girl and knelt in front of her. She was shaking and breathing heavily.

“He won’t be coming back.” I assured her. “You’re coming with me now.” Her eyes, already wide with terror, went even wider, if that were even possible.

I watched on as she slowly scrambled back, away from me. She was wincing in pain from the movement but she didn’t make a sound. She was hurt and needed help.

“Stop. Don’t move.” I spoke softly, trying to calm her but she froze like I had given her a command. While she sat there, still as could be, I looked over her. She had blood smearing from the right side of her neck and down the front of her dirty shirt. The wound, though small, was still oozing blood slowly and needed to be tended to.

Slowly, I moved closer to her, my hand reaching for her neck so I could move her long hair out of the way and assess the damage.

“My name is Artemis Cooper, but everyone calls me Artem.” I was trying to make conversation, to calm her down and get her used to me. “I am the new Alpha of this pack.” She gasped at my words, her trembling coming to an abrupt stop.

At first, I thought that was a good sign. She wasn’t shaking in fear any more. But that was only until she seemed to crumple to the ground, unconscious.

“Great, you scared your mate to death.” Kent laughed at me. “We need to go. She needs to see Doc.”

“I know.” I snapped at him as I moved to her side.

Picking her up was like picking up a rag doll. She was simply too small. Yeah, she wasn’t too short, but she was so thin, so tiny. Even without the added strength of being a supernatural I would have been able to carry her one handed. What had they done to her?