Chapter 70

Julian’s POV

Chase’s confidence sent my annoyance spiking through every part of me. “You don’t know her at all, if you feel she is the type that could be so easily claimed.”

Amber was her own person, with her own hopes and dreams. She was not someone to be manipulated with sweet words and fancy dinners. I was worried about Chase’s charms, but I had to believe Amber was smart enough to see through them.

Yet… the more I thought of it, the more I considered those women from my pack who had their guards all the way up and still eventually dropped them for Chase.

Chase smirked then, as if he could see my uncertainty even though I had been careful to keep it concealed behind an expressionless mask. He was arrogant, foolish young man antagonizing an Alpha like this… I hated that it was effecting me. Even that smirk of his had me on edge of a rage, my wolf pacing restlessly inside of me, itching for a fight.

“Oh, I’ll claim her all right,” Chase said. “Over and over and over again. And she’ll love every minute of it. She’ll want me so much, she’ll beg me for more and more.” He laughed. “They always do.”

He was purposefully needling me. He had to be. I didn’t want it to work, but the growl at the back of my throat grew louder, more dangerous. It was a warning more than anything, telling Chase to back all the way off before I let my wolf out to handle him.

My own claim over Amber was burning inside of me. She was my wife. My mate. Who was he to try to take her from me?

I tried to push back that voice, tried to remain calm. I was an Alpha King, not some brute who declared ownership of people. Amber would be with me because she wanted to be and for no other reason.

She would never pick Chase, especially if she heard him talking like this.

“Have you bedded her in a while, Alpha? I bet she’s aching for a good dick. I might not be Alpha, but rest assured, I have the goods she needs and the skills to give her pleasure she’s never had before. How quickly do you think I could have her screaming my name? I’m going to make her forget all about you.”

My hands curled into fists. “You will stay away from her,” my voice was part wolf now, rough and grumbling.

Chase barreled ever forward, indifferent or ignorant to the danger of taunting an Alpha wolf in this state.

“She’s got such a tight little body. It’s a shame she hides it under that doctor’s coat. I can’t wait to grab that ass, and suck marks all over those perfect breasts,” Chase said, grinning wider. There was a spark in his eyes, mischievous. He was baiting me, but for what purpose?

I had trouble seeing clearly through the rage. With my thoughts filled with images of what he was describing, I felt sick to my stomach. My skin itched, as if begging me to shift and deal with this threat to my mate, my family.

“Oh, I’ll give her a good time for a while. I’ll make it so she’s so dependent on my dick and me that she can’t imagine life without it,” Chase said. “And then you know what I’ll do?”

My growl grew louder.

“I’ll leave her. She’ll be broken without me, won’t she? But that’s what I do. I’m not a man to tie myself down. I’ll love her and leave her brokenhearted. Even her little brat won’t know what to do.”

That’s it.

I saw red. One moment, I was barely holding myself back, standing next to my rental car, and in the next instant, I was towering over Chase. He was on the ground, holding both hands to one eye.

I hadn’t even thought through the punch. I just acted. My knuckles stung from the force of it, but the ache was healing quickly.

Inside, my wolf was pleased. We’d defended what was ours. We’d returned this lesser wolf to his place.

“You will stay away from her,” I growled, my voice more wolf than man. That any of the words could be actually discerned was something of a miracle.

Chase looked up at me with his own anger, but it was somewhat diminished now, just like his cockiness.

How could he remain confident when he was on the ground after one punch, and I was unharmed?

“Julian!” Olivia called and rushed over to me. “What’s going on? Are you alright?” She must have heard the commotion. We were drawing something of a crowd, with some of the other guests looking out the window.

I didn’t think we had been speaking all that loudly, but perhaps they had felt my menace. When an Alpha felt anger as intense as mine had been, I emitted something of an aura. It was useful on the battlefield, sharing my rage with others. In more civilian settings, it could be somewhat troublesome.

Like now, drawing all this attention.

Olivia reached for my arm, but I shucked her away. Turning, I started toward the hotel itself, leaving Chase behind.

“Julian!” Olivia said again, following along behind me. “Julian, we should talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to say,” I said as I reached my door. I undid the lock, ready to storm inside. I hadn’t anticipated Olivia would snake her way in before me. When she reached the bed, she turned and gave me a serious look.

“This wasn’t like you, and I’m worried,” she said.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” I insisted, though still I stepped inside. I’d already given the other hotel guests too much of a show. This one, at least, could be held privately.

“It’s Amber,” Olivia said. “It has to be. Julian, when will you see that she’s caused you much more trouble than she’s worth?”

I stopped just inside the open door and moved to the side.

“Get out,” I said, my anger refueling.

“But Julian –”

“Out!” I snapped, with my full Alpha dominance behind the word.

She froze, startled, but then started moving, compelled to obey my harsh command.

I hated using that influence, but if she stayed, my rage would only grow. I needed to be alone to deal with myself.

When she stepped through the door, I closed it behind her, locking myself away.

Amber’s POV

After Julian canceled our dinner, I decided that I was focusing too much on him and not enough on Alice or my work.

So I worked hard in the morning, so much so that I didn’t realize it was time for Chase’s appointment until I was already five minutes late and Carla tracked me down.

“Sorry,” I said, stepping into the examination room where Chase waited. Then I looked at him. And I froze.

He had an ugly bruise at the corner of his right eye and cheekbone. The white of his right eye was mostly red.

“What happened?” I asked, coming closer. Immediately, I went to the cabinet and grabbed the supplies I would need to treat such a wound.

“Oh, this?” he laughed, until he lifted his fingers to the edge of the bruise. Touching it, he winced. “I ran into a fist.”

“Someone hurt you?” I asked. Did he shower flirtations on the wrong person? Or was this something else. I tried to think of anyone I knew in this small town who might have done something like this to him. Even on their worst days, no one I knew here was quick to anger like this.

This almost seemed like the work of a raging Alpha.

At that thought, my stomach dropped.

“Yeah,” Chase said, giving me somewhat of a sheepish smile. “Alpha Julian and I happened to meet in the parking lot of the hotel last night. He must have thought my face was too pretty, because he decided to punch me. Knocked me straight to the ground.”

I tried to imagine Julian doing such a thing. “Why would he have done that?”

“Oh, that’s simple,” Chase replied. “He saw me flirting with you yesterday.”