Chapter 225

Ethan

As the guards round up the few living rogues, they line up the intruders and shackle them. I stand between the remaining rogues and my mate as she lies on the ground in her wolf form, panting from the exertion of the fight.

Aaron and Maximus are at her sides, sitting and affectionately petting her light brown fur. Though, her eyes are on me, never moving, never looking away.

“Take them to the dungeon,” I order, glancing between them and my mate. She hasn’t changed back, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Yes, sir,” Laxus growls, bowing. He drags the two rogues in his hands and the rest of the guards take their quarry along, following my Head Gamma toward the palace. I’ll have to deal with them later.

Right now, my mate and our pup come first.

“You two should get your injuries checked. I’ve sent for the healers, and they should be arriving at the palace any minute,” I say, directing my words to Aaron and Maximus. They glance at each other then at my mate.

“We’ll see you soon, baby girl,” Maximus says softly, kissing the top of her furry head. Aaron follow suit, kissing her head too, and murmuring, “Glad you’re okay, sis.”

Happiness bursts into my body, and I smile. Their words and actions are making my mate happy, and because of her happiness, I’m glad we found out they are family. Fiona had been hurt when she found out that the man who raised her betrayed her.

Now, she has a real family.

Taking a seat beside my mate, I watch her family walk away before turning to her. I tried my best to make sure she wasn’t hurt during the fight, but when I look at her, I find a few scrapes and bloody spots in her fur.

Fiona stays perfectly still as I check her wounds. The fur makes it difficult to see whether she’s truly hurt or if it’s just bloody from the rogues who attacked. I find one fairly deep claw mark on her lower back, near her hind leg. Then, I find another more shallow bite mark on her front paw.

The other spots, I can’t see clearly.

The growl that tumbles from my lips has the she-wolf in front of me jerking her head up, glowing golden eyes pinning me in place. The fact that my mate, who I thought was human, is now looking at me with wolfish eyes, is almost crazy.

Her head tilts curiously at my thoughts, and I smile, making sure she knows I don’t mean crazy in a bad way.

“Can you change back?” I ask, running my fingers through her fur. Her eyes roll back, a hum of appreciation vibrating her chest before she lifts her head and shakes it. The scrunch of her nose makes me think she’s wincing, as much as a wolf can, anyway.

“Is your wolf still in charge?” If she is, I’ll have to talk her down again, which I don’t mind. Zev would really like to interact with her, but he knows our main goal right now is to make sure her injuries are taken care of.

Fiona pauses, then whines, her words finding my mind, “She won’t let me change.”

“What is your wolf saying?”

Fiona’s wolfy head tilts to the side, her right ear twitching as if she’s listening to something. It warms my chest. She’s gorgeous, more beautiful than any female wolf I’ve ever seen.

A pleasant hum filters down our bond as Fiona’s wolf stretches her neck out and licks my hand tenderly. The warm affection that wraps around our bond is followed by a wave of worry. I watch her nose snuffles its way up my arm to the half-healed bite on my bicep, and I suck in a breath as she runs her tongue over the wound.

“I’m fine,” I say softly, not wanting to agitate her. I’m not sure what state she’s in, the wolf, I mean. Interrupting her taking care of her mate’s injuries may not be a wise choice, so I lean in and allow her to clean my wounds.

She moves to my other arm where the claw marks that were raked down my forearm are, and she growls.

The sound has Zev jerking forward, pressing against the veil between us. I push him back, reminding him this isn’t about us. She may need this to calm down enough to shift.

With my free hand, I gently pet her head and wait until she’s satisfied with my care. It’s only a few minutes later that she relaxes with a sigh and lays her head on my lap, peering up at me with softening golden eyes.

“She’s ready,” Fiona tells me, her voice a welcome warmth in my mind. “How do I change back?”

“The easiest way to trigger the change is to focus on your human form. How it feels to be human,” I tell her, “I think about my fingers and my work, but you could think of anything. Your silky brown hair, pretty pink lips, the way you smile when someone compliments you, the way your skin heats up when I touch you. Think of everything that makes you human.”

I bet she’d be blushing if she were human.

Soon, Fiona’s body begins to jerk. The popping of her bones fills the air as they rearrange. Her fur recedes, her muzzle shrinks, and her wolf body melts away, replaced by the curvy, human form I love.

“There you are,” I murmur, brushing my knuckles across her cheek as she lays in my lap and looks up at me.

“I-I did it.”

“You did it.”

Fiona pushes herself up, with my help, and wraps her arms around me. She buries her face in my neck, inhaling deeply and relaxing into my arms. I can still feel the anxiety in her system, but it slowly melts away the longer I hold her.

“Let’s get you home to rest. I’ll have the healers meet you at the house,” I tell her, sliding my arms under her legs and her back. They can check her while I go see to the rogues. Though, I don’t see more than a few superficial wound on her, which means either her wolf did a better job at protecting her this time or she’s healing faster.

“Have they said anything?” I ask Laxus and the prison guard as he unlocks the cell door.

The four rogues that survived after attacking us sit chained up to each of the separate walls so they can’t touch. Two are unconscious still while the other two are awake. One thrashes against his chains, but the other, he sits quiet and still, staring directly at me.

He’s the one I want. If any of them have answers, it’s either going to be the quietest one or the one who isn’t even afraid to challenge the highest ranked Lycan in the vicinity. I’ll start with him.

“Why did you attack?” I demand, filtering as much of my Alpha bark into my voice. The thrashing rogue stills and whimpers while the defiant one struggles not to lower his head.

“You attacked in uniform, with purpose,” I growl, stopping in front of him. “What was your reason for attacking us?”

The man raises his eyes and glares at me, “No reason.”

“Rogues don’t band together the way this group did, so tell me, did someone tell you to attack us? Did you have a specific target?”

He grins, a smirk pulling at his lips as the next words out of his mouth have my blood boiling.

“Of course we had a target, but I’m not allowed to tell you that information.”