Chapter 95

Ethan

“Al- Mr. Montgomery, there’s an issue in the meeting room. Fiona is talking with a man, and he’s being—”

“Being what? Is she alright?”

“I think so, but he got really close and pushy—”

Before she can finish, I leave her and Ryan in my office. If someone put their hands on my mate, they’ll wish they’d chosen another place of work. I don’t care who they are.

My wolf and I have been on edge since she left us yesterday, and after a sleepless night and a morning full of worry, I hear about some man bothering her? Hell no.

The moment I round the corner into the meeting room, I see them. Fiona’s childhood friend, Chris, has her backed up to the conference table. The other employees watch with shock as he holds her hands captive and pulls her closer to his body.

They’re close enough that if someone were to walk past them and accidentally bump into them, they’d be kissing.

“Rip his fingers off,” my wolf orders, pushing for dominance. “No one touches our mate.”

The faint yet acrid scent of fear reaches my nose, and I clear my throat, using every bit of will power to keep my wolf from taking over.

Fiona’s eyes fly over the man’s shoulder, finding mine. The desperate, startled gaze turns pleading when she sees me.

“What is going on here?” I growl, the deep rumble of my voice growing raspier as my wolf pushes for control. I don’t like that she’s touching another man, especially with that look of fear on her face.

“He’s mine,” my wolf snarls, pushing forward and speaking through me.

“Take your hands off of Fiona and leave before you regret coming here,” my wolf orders, and Fiona goes still, her eyes widening at the change in my tone. The hard, dark tone of my wolf’s anger makes everyone in the room freeze, human or Lycan. The instinct to cower to a higher predator is instilled in everyone, including the man holding Fiona.

I let my wolf stay on the surface, giving him a chance to help Fiona on his own as I take the back seat as an observer.

“This meeting is cancelled. Anyone who is not Fiona needs to leave.”

My employees scramble up and out of the room, Sophie following them. But do you know who doesn’t leave? Do you know who is stupid enough to not only stay but to keep his hand on our mate’s arm?

That’s right.

Chris.

“The little human doesn’t value his life,” my wolf hums.

He stepped to the side, but his fingers are still circled around Fiona’s wrist, which my wolf doesn’t appreciate.

Fiona’s eyes move between her friend and my wolf. She looks like deer caught in headlights, but more realistically, she shouldn’t be afraid. We would never hurt her, but as I watch her, I realize she’s not afraid of us.

The reddening around her free wrist shows that she tried to get out of the man’s grip. Like now, he wouldn’t let go.

“Take your hand off of her if you’d like to keep it,” my wolf says with deadly calm. I commend him on holding back when what he really wants to do is lunge at the man.

“I don’t want to scare her,” he tells me. “She’s already startled. If she gets more scared, she may run, and I don’t think I could let her go a second time.”

I agree. Yesterday, we let her go because she needed more time. I thought she was fine, but with my father’s call and the surprise visit from Angela’s parents, I know Fiona is hurting. I want to explain that I’ll keep them from forcing Angela and I to marry. It may take time, but I won’t go through with a forced mating.

It’s not right, and they know it, but they don’t care. They’d rather have the power of connections than let their children be happy.

“Won’t happen,” my wolf tells me. “They’ll learn the meaning of rebellious. If they think taking my mate will go unpunished, they are sorely mistaken.” The bite in his tone makes even me shiver a bit.

“That won’t happen. We just need to figure out how to placate them,” I concur. If they think forcing me to marry will get them everything they want, they’re in for a rude awakening.

Chris’s eyes bounce between us and Fiona, widening with realization.

“You two? It’s not a joke?” Chris stutters, taking a step away from Fiona. This time, he drops her hand like she burned him.

“I-I told you,” Fiona murmurs. Chris steps back at her words, an angry glare pointed at her. My wolf advances, swiftly moving our body between Chris and Fiona. He won’t let Chris touch her again.

“Get out of my building, and do not bother my woman again,” my wolf orders, reaching back and wrapping a protective arm around Fiona. She squeaks as he brings her closer, and I can smell the surprise on her. I should have explained to her better that it will take time to calm our parents down, but I’ve told her I don’t want Angela.

She should know that by now.

Chris tries to look at Fiona again, but startles when my wolf growls sharply at him.

“I’ll go,” he says, raising his hands in a surrendering motion. We narrow our eyes at him, not moving until he’s disappeared from the room. I send a quick mind link to Ryan, telling him to make sure the man is escorted from the building immediately.

It takes my wolf a few minutes to calm down, breathing heavily and holding in several curses, before he can turn around and face Fiona.

She’s already looking up at us, though, her eyes searching our face.

The warm hum of our mating bond thrums in our chest, and my wolf purrs in response. Sometimes, the more I watch him, the more I wonder if he feels the bond more than I do. His reactions are always more open and less hidden. It could be instinct or merely the fact that he doesn’t care if someone sees what he feels.

It’s a bit enviable.

“What was that?” Fiona’s soft voice asks, and we look down at her. My wolf leans closer, curious about the unreadable expression on her face.

His nose brushes hers, and Fiona gasps.

“Fiona.”

She blinks up at him, at us, confused. She already owns our hearts, yet she still can’t keep another man from getting close to her? Was this because of what is happening with Angela? She’s putting distance between us, but is that what happened here?

“E-Ethan?” She whispers as my wolf brushes his nose up her neck, taking in her scent.

“Little mate,” he growls, the deep timber of his voice making her shiver as his hands circle her waist.

“Are you okay? You sound different.”

“I’m not Ethan,” he murmurs, pulling back and looking into her eyes.

The haze that comes when his eyes take over mine falls over Fiona, like a sheer yellow curtain falling over our vision. But it doesn’t hide the shock on her face or the widening of her eyes.

“Y-you’re the wolf?”