Page 86 of Alpha Brock

“Sam,” I say calmly, flicking a sideways glance at the doorway where I busted in. I scented Sam’s arrival about a minute ago; he must’ve followed me from the clash in the hallway. I’ve never been so glad to see the fucker.

“Get Astrid out of here,” I growl. I may not be the guy’s biggest fan, but I know for certain that I can trust him with Astrid’s life. I’m keeping my eyes focused on Xavier a few yards away, but in my peripheral vision, I see Sam’s wolf start to slink closer.

Astrid’s up on her feet now and clinging to me from behind, her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I bring each of my hands to cover her own, peeling them off of my body and giving them a gentle squeeze. “Shift, baby,” I murmur, dropping my voice low. “Go with Sam.”

I release her hands and nudge her backwards, stepping away from Astrid and toward the monster in front of me. It takes zero effort to call my own wolf forward again- he’s ready to rumble. Ready to make this fucker pay for his sins. The air shimmers around me and I drop down onto four paws, my lips tucking back as I bare my teeth to Xavier and a menacing growl tears from my chest.

As soon as I hear Sam move Astrid further away, I take a step toward Xavier in challenge.

Time to die, motherfucker.

Without hesitation, he launches himself at me, and I spring forward to meet the onslaught. The two of us crash together, limbs thrashing, jaws snapping. He’s got more inertia behind him, so I go down to my back- but I’m able to hold him off by digging my paws in and pushing against him. I manage to roll out from underneath him quickly, but before I can get back on my feet, he’s on me again.

This isn’t like sparring at the complex; not even close. Nothing could’ve adequately prepared me to take on someone like Xavier. There’s a reason that nobody has been able to kill him thus far. He’s strong. Fast. Lethal. Ruthless. The asshole kills for sport.

I feel his teeth sink into my left shoulder, tearing at my flesh. I growl, jaws snapping as I fight him off. I manage to sink my own fangs into him, but only for the briefest of moments before he shakes me off. I go flying, hitting the ground with a thud, sliding to a stop.

I push myself back up.

I focus on my rage.

I ignore the blood trickling down my leg, and I come at him again.

Harder. Faster. With everything I have. I manage to take him down, snapping at his throat. Biting down. The metallic tinge of his blood coats my tongue, and I lock my jaws, wrenching my head back. I feel his flesh tearing beneath my fangs as more blood rushes into my mouth. I don’t know how he does it, but he wriggles free, flinging me off of him again. My body flies into the wall, and I hear something crack. Pain sears through my body.

Before I can even get up again, Xavier’s coming at me. He’s got murder in his eyes, but I’ve got so much more to fight for. Astrid’s face flashes in my mind. Her smile, her laugh. That unruly curly hair of hers that always looks wild and effortlessly beautiful. Her gentle soul, her kind heart. Everything about her is so perfect and pure- there’s no rhyme or reason as to why fate would pair her with someone as fucked up as me, but she’smine; the one I’ve been waiting for all my life. I’ll fight for her, for us, with everything I have.

I use that as fuel to push on, feeling renewed energy surge through my body. I spring out of the way at the last second, and before Xavier can spin around, I leap onto his back, tearing at him with my claws, biting down with my teeth. He thrashes until I let go, then comes at me again. And again.

He takes another bite out of me, but I get some solid blows in. When I start to feel weak, I channel all of my anger into another surge of strength. I leap on top of him, teeth latching onto his neck again. He can’t shake me off as easily this time- he has to physically take me to the ground, rolling me underneath him before I’ll relinquish my grip and let go. Then he flips over, slamming his paws into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. Teeth gnashing in my face.

I have no idea how long I actually engage him, but it feels like an eternity. No matter how many hits we each take, neither of us backs down. It’s a fight to the death; him or me. The blood loss is starting to make me woozy, but I press on. I leap onto him again in an effort to take him down, but he anticipates my attack, wrenching sideways. The movement results in my body being thrown from his and I go careening into the wall. Unable to brace myself, my head snaps back, colliding with the concrete. My vision immediately starts to go fuzzy, black dots appearing and expanding.

Fuck. I feel the darkness overtaking me, and the harder I try to push it out, the faster it rushes in. The last thing I see is Xavier drawing ragged breaths, staggering toward me. Then everything goes dark.

~

Astrid

I fought like hell. As soon as I sensed that Brock was near, I shifted and fought against Xavier with everything I had. There was no way I was going to let him mark me- not with my true mate so close by. It was foolish to fight him, and he could’ve easily killed me- but I took everything that Kara told me earlier and used it as a weapon against him: his obsession with finding me, with using me to gain a tactical edge for battle and enhancing his bloodline. Since my abilities were obviously valuable to him, I didn’t think he’d kill me unless absolutely necessary. So I kept fighting. Through the pain, through the fear. Even when I felt like I physically couldn’t anymore, I fought.

I wasn’t waiting for a white knight or a handsome prince; I was waiting for my big bad wolf, my ruthless king. Vicious and scary in his own right, I knew Brock would come for me- I kept the faith even when I was sure I was done for. And when he showed up and the mate bond snapped in between us, I knew that every cut, every bite, every bruise, every break, was worth it. That we’re worth it.

In that moment I know it’s not over, though, not by a longshot. Xavier steps out of the shadows. Brock tells me to go with Sam, but there’s no way I’m leaving him. Not now, not after we’ve just found each other again. Not after the bond has snapped in between us and I feel so connected to him, like we’re two halves of the same person.

I shift and mind-link with Cole, telling him where we are and begging him to send backup. He reports back that they’re in the thick of their own fight, but they’ll get to us as soon as they can. In the meantime, we’re on our own. I stand there, helplessly, watching as Xavier and Brock start to tear each other apart. I feel my own body start to heal as I watch Brock’s suffer hit after hit.

It’s as if time slows to a crawl and I’m watching the brawl play out in slow motion. Neither of them is going down easy, and they’re both starting to look really rough. My heart is in my throat as they continue to go at one another and I keep watching the door, waiting for backup to arrive. Praying that they arrive in time.

And then I hear it. A loud crack sounds out as Brock’s body hits the wall, the back of his head smacking the concrete. My eyes go to his, and I watch the light slip from them as he loses consciousness. As soon as he does, his wolf recedes and he’s lying there in his human form, bloody and battered. Fear coils in my belly as Xavier staggers toward him to finish him off, and I panic- I spring forward, intent on getting in between them.

Someone beats me to it, though.Sam. He lunges at Xavier, catching him by surprise before he can reach Brock to deliver the killing blow. Xavier falters, but recovers quickly, flicking Sam off like a bug and sending him careening into the wall beside Brock. I cringe as his body hits with a thud, then slides down to the floor. I grit my teeth, ready to launch myself at Xavier- but just then, our backup arrives.

I hear the thunder of paws from the corridor behind me and look toward the door just in time to see Cole appear, bursting into the room as several others follow. My head snaps back in Xavier’s direction, but he’s…gone. It’s like he’s vanished into thin air. I blink a few times, my eyes darting around the room wildly, and that’s when I notice a door on the other side of the room swinging closed.

The scary shadow pack alpha ran out of here like a coward.

I point out the door to Cole through the mind-link, and he and two others run that way, intent on chasing down Xavier. As they do, I tuck my own wolf away, shifting back to my human form. I’ve still got injuries that I’m healing from after going toe to toe with Xavier, but I’m running on so much adrenaline that my own pain barely registers- I’m only concerned about Brock and Sam.