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My heart felt like it was on the verge of combusting in my chest as I watched Flynn's teeth descended down her neck. He was trying to get me to move, to do something he'd know I would other wise regret. The urge to run and tear Eve away from him was immense but it meant little to nothing while three other Weres stood in my way. I would never reach her in time before Flynn decided he'd take a bite. My stomach flipped with every slight movement Flynn made, he was toying with me and he was enjoying every moment of it.

The helpless gaze that Eve gave me was enough to make my chest tight.

I couldn't let them... let him take her. I couldn't. She was mine.

"Just one.. little bite and.." I cut him off hoping it would distract him enough to stop.

I couldn't help the "Don't!" that shouted out of me. It was desperate and begging.

Fuck! I'm an Alpha I shouldn't be begging but here I am begging my cousin, a rouge, that plotted along side the pack that killed my father. They were all worthless thinking that I would never step up to take my father's place.

Flynn always wanted the title but he was too narcissistic to obtain it, and too reckless to challenge for it. So taking my mate now was the next best thing for him.

Once I get my hands on him he was going to regret touching her. I was going to make him beg at my feet for mercy and just when he'd think I would give into his pleas I'd start the torture all over again. It was the least I could do for Eve and my father.

My heart twisted as I briefly recalled the bloody mess they left him in. Since that day Flynn had taken off with out a trace seeming to vanish from everyone senses, I have wanted to find him to kill him to torture him for what he did but never got close enough to get my vengeance.

Seeing Eve in his arms was driving both myself and my wolf insane. We were already fuming with anger at the recollection of what Flynn had done but now he had Eve and I was both terrified and livid.

You have to get to her, you have to protect her. My wolf was clawing at my insides to be released. Fighting the urge to shift I took a single step forward. I hadn't gotten another in as I was roughly shoved back, a growl sounded lowly in my chest, my wolf inching closer to the surface.

"Uh-Uh, one more step and I'll do it." He warned me. My chest rose and fell collecting all the oxygen I could, preparing for the right moment, hoping to catch them off guard."Relax Caleb, she'll be alive... for a little while. The fantom has more planned for her before they are ready to ruin you."

Why was the fantom, this traitor, so keen on making my life a living hell. As if protecting a human mate wasn't stressful enough. Things would be so much easier if she were a Were as well, but she wasn't, and I was happy about that. Not for a second have I thought I'd want to change that, it was only the truth that she was weaker than us, and for that my primal instinct to protect was that much more heightened.

Flynn sighed. "I intend to sit and watch that show."

There was no holding back the vicious growl that reverberated from deep within. It was that powerful I knew someone had heard it. Nani should be near by. She was showing Taylor around the boarders since she was in the transition of becoming part of this pack. I hoped they'd get here before Flynn and his crew decided to do something rash with Eve.

My Eve.

My mate.

"C-Caleb..." My mate was shaking in his arms petrified beyond imaginable. Her beautiful brown eyes were welling up in her eyes and my heart ache as I wanted nothing more than to comfort her and tell her she was safe. I couldn't and it was driving me crazy. I was failing. I was failing as an alpha. As a mate.

"So long cuz. I promise to take good care of her." Flynn smirked as he untangled his hand out of her hair and attempted to pick her up and run off with her.

My mouth literally dropped for a moment when Eve had a burst of confidence. She caught Flynn off guard as he tried to grab her, kneeing him in the balls before taking off in the opposite direction.

I took this distraction to my advantage shifting in the blink of an eye and attack the three Weres in front of me. The nearest man stood no chance as I bit down on his head crushing his human skull before he could even get a chance to shift. The other two shifted moments after I released his battered skull. Blood was dripping from my snarling lips as I pulled my ears back growling and stepping up to them.

Watching their behavior out of the two of them one looked like he was about to run with his tail between his legs while the other stood tall. The more aggressive of the two lunged in my direction. We tumbled to the ground in a tangled mess of legs and snapping jaws. We sounded like rabid mutts fighting over the last scrapes of a carcass, but that wasn't what we were fighting over. I was fighting for my mate. My sole mate and I wasn't about to have her slip through my fingers. He was doing to die, and death was what became of him.

He missed judged an open angle of my neck. Twisting away from his snapping jaws I kicked him off of me, popping up on my feet quickly I left little time for him to recuperate as I sank my teeth into his neck shaking my head side to side digging deeper into his flesh. One weak high pitch whimper and he went lip.

More crimson blood dropped from my face as the blood from me attackers coated my face and chest. The last of the three men had ran off in the commotion. He hadn't ran off in the direction of Eve so I ignored him. I was sure someone at the border would catch his scent and restrain him, for now I needed to get to Eve.

I took off after her cinnamon scent. Flynn's putrid scent was mixing with hers and it was driving me to dig my paws deeper into the ground. How far had they gotten? I was trying not to panic but how could I not feel a wave of dread.

My dread increased when I heard her piercing scream.

God damn it where are you?

There was another meek scream that sounded closer this time.

"Get off her!" It was Naní. She had found Eve, a small bit of relief washed over me as I neared them. What I came to see made my blood boil. Taylor was holding Eve in her lap as Eve winced and groaned in pain. Her shoulder had been bitten. Fuck! He had really bit her.

Fury raging inside me I looked at Naní who was fighting Flynn. They hadn't shifted but they were wrestling amongst themselves.

I felt torn between the two things I wanted most at the moment. Comforting and checking on Eve and killing Flynn for all the pain he's caused my family and pack. I didn't even care about killing him for my own reasons, I just wanted him dead. He needed to be eradicated.

Making my decision I ran towards Flynn. He had made it out of Naní's hold shoving him off of him. I was hoping to catch him off guard, but I hadn't as he noticed me just mere feet in front of him. Shifting just in time he and I collided in the air crashing to the ground in a fit of ugly snarls and growls.

He wasn't getting away this time. He was going to pay. Pay for everything he did.

Breaking apart we walked in circles trying to figure out a weak spot we both knew we didn't have. He had alpha blood and I was for sure an alpha, though it felt like I was failing recently, this was an even match.

It felt like an eternity before anything happened. What broke our concentration was Naní biting his hind leg bring him down to the ground. We were so indulged in each other that neither one of us noticed that she had shifted. Her pitch black coat glistened in the few sun rays that penetrated the canopy looking like an agile shadow.

Once he had fallen on the ground he looked up at her eyes glistening for a moment begging her not to finish. She was huge for a female wolf and one of the most skilled killers in our pack. Naní was a kind person but she was never one to be messed with, she was a force to be reckoned with. And recognition was something Flynn should have done when he decided to take on Naní just moments earlier.

For just a brief moment she hesitated. I imagined she would, Flynn had been Leo's brother. She was about to snuff the spark out of her late mate's brother. With one last snarl she lowered her head in a split second her golden eyes shined with anguish. She knew she had to do it. It was either her or me. He wasn't leaving here alive. In one swift motion she snapped his jugular, blood spewing out in spurts as she released her bite. His lax body fell lifelessly to the ground in a pool of his own blood as he slowly morphed back to his human self.

"Oh no you don't. Stay awake. You need to stay awake. You need-" Eve. My wolf hummed in my head. I looked in the direction of Taylor her jeans and t-shirt were soaked in blood. That wasn't all Eve's. Please tell me this wasn't all Eve's. Taylor was trying to stop the bleeding but as tears pricked at her brown eyes I knew it was doing no good enough. "Fuck! Naní she's bleeding out!"

Shifting back I rushed over to Taylor moving Eve to the ground to get a better look at her gaping wound. She felt hot and her neck and face was coated in sweat. She was burning up. I tore the shirt off her revealing the severity of her bite. Her skin was turning mucus green and cream colored puss was already oozing out of the wound. The fucking bastard had bitten her, her body was rejecting the bite. She didn't have much time if any.

Eve screamed again in pain but this time she looked exhausted. She was fading away and barely conscious.

Her eyes seemed to roll into the back of her head once I applied more pressure.

"Shit!" I hissed panic flooding my thoughts and weighting my movements down. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't watch her die. She can't die on me! Eve you can't leave me.

"I'll get Margot." Naní announced as I heard her shift and take off in the direction of the pack house.

Our pack doctor wasn't going to get here in time and if she did there wasn't anything that she could do for Eve. She was human... she was as good as dead. There was no reversing anything or fixing or healing.

"Caleb... is she..." I couldn't look over at Taylor she was a mess as well, barely keeping it together by a thin thread. She was watching her best friend go too.

"I don't know." Eve had lost consciousness a couple minutes ago and as the time continued to tick down I was terrified that she was going to slip away. Through our bond I could tell she was still very much there but like a thin piece of paper it was minuscule. It was fading every second and my heart felt like it was about to tear in two.

We couldn't just wait here. We had to get her back to the pack house. There was nothing Margot could do out here, even if she was able to do anything at all.

Picking up Eve's tiny frame I started off towards the estate I could here Taylor's light footsteps running just a few feet behind me.

"Taylor go up ahead tell them we are coming and to have everything ready. I'll be bring king her to my bed room." If it weren't for the fact that she took off past me I wouldn't have even known she had heard me. There was urgency in her strides and I knew she would do anything if it meant helping Eve overcome this. She and I both new the clock was running and time was of the essence.

Cradling Eve in my arms her head was laying back showing me her pained face. Damn it I wish I could do something, anything!

Nearing the pack house I saw Naní standing out back holding the door. Her black hair swaying in the wind as she looked worried taking in Eve's weak and helpless form. Naní was never this distraught.

The moment I entered the house Alex was bombarding me with a million questions.

"What the fuck happened? Where's she hurt? Who the fuck did this?" The last question had Alex's hazel eyes glowing green with controlled rage. I new he cared about Eve greatly he'd been the one spending the most time with her. I wasn't surprised he felt the way he did, hell I was beyond anger I was infuriated but above all I was scared.

Scared I was losing my soul mate. Scared I was losing the love of my life. Scared my other half was going to perish before my eyes.

She didn't even know she meant the world to me and I knew I had been doing a piss poor job of showing her. I should have been trying harder, I should have been more persistent, I should have loved her harder.

"Caleb!" Alex screamed at me wanting answers. He wanted to go after the person that did this to her, but it was already handled. With a single threatening growl he backed off his fists clenching them he tried to keep himself from losing control. Naní grabbed his arm to hold him back from releasing his wolf. He shrugged her off however and darted off somewhere in the house. She followed close behind him.

"In here Alpha." Margot's voice came from the stair case. Rushing up the stairs she hurried into the room pulling the bed covers back so I could lay Eve down. Loz was in my bedroom already and he tossed me a pair of sweatpants as Margot started inspecting Eve.

"What happened?" Loz asked his voice was low just barely over a whispered. Once my pants were on he tossed my a towel to wipe my face and body of the blood that coated my skin.

I didn't look at him when I answered. "Flynn found her. He bit her."

I didn't have to look at Loz to know he was shocked. "How- I haven't- we haven't seen him in years. Not after Leo. Why would he-"

"He was working for the fantom. He was trying to take her." I watched as Margot started charting Eve's vitals and was quickly pulling out her equipment. I moved to kneel on the other side of the bed. I wanted to be close to her. I was hoping that the bond between us would help ease her pain. She was human though... the bond may not even work like that.

"Are you serious? Like he hadn't done enough damage to this pack. How the hell did he get this close to the estate?" I shook my head. Even I was trying to wrap my head around that. I couldn't focus on that right now though, Loz would have to find that out. I most definitely wouldn't be leaving Eve anytime soon.

"I need you to look into that now. He mention it was the rat." An incontrollable growl sounded as I explained who had assisted in him getting this close to the border.

'Alpha Caleb, Beta Lawrence, we've captured a rogue near the border.' One of our border patrols linked. He showed us the same guy that ran off when I killed the other two rogues. His dark brown hair clung to his forehead damp with sweat and he was kneeling on the ground, his head hung low.

I looked to Loz. "Go handle that. I want answers." With a short nod he took off out of the room giving Taylor a kiss on the lips as he walked out of the room. She was standing just outside the room watching intently as Margot worked to figure out how to help Eve survive.

"Is she going to be okay?" Taylor asked her eyes watery. She bit her lip not looking away from a Eve as she asked. I want sure if she was asking Margot or I, but I didn't think anyone really knew what the status was at the moment. It just didn't look good.

Margot was grinded herbs in a dish swiftly dropping the contents in a hot mug. "Give her this." She handed me the mug as she drew blood from Eve's arm.

"What is it?"

"Rosemary, Lavender, and Eucalyptus, it'll help her with the pain." She explained concentrating on the dark vile of Eve's blood.

I sat on the edge of the bed curling my arm under her neck to sit her up as I leaned the mug against her lips. "She's unconscious she won't be able to drink."

Margot said nothing as she poured a clear liquid on a gauze and pushed it under Eve's nose. With in seconds Eve's eyes snapped open, she was awake and gasping for air. I looked to Margot for answers.

"Its safe Alpha. Its ammonia, it woke her up."

Eve groaned and leaned against my body finding comfort in the tingles that danced against her skin.

I leaned the mug to her lips and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I don't want that." She groaned leaning her head away from the mug. She was going to drink this whether she wanted to or not. She hissed in pain and tears fell from her eyes when the pain started to form again. She needed this remedy.

"Eve, please drink it." I pleaded putting the mug back up to her mouth.

"But I-"

"Drink it." I ordered tipping the mug to her mouth forcing her to open and drink it. Her face scrunched up in disgust but she drank it all.

Laying her back down I watched as Margot looked at a vile of her blood that she had taken. Margot furrowed her eyebrows as she looked between Eve and the vile. She had dipped a strip of paper in the blood and when the color of the strip changed her eyes grew wider.

Rolling her lips in her mouth perplexed with whatever she had discovered she looked to me. "Alpha may I speak to you outside?"

"Will she be okay?" I asked disregarding her question.

Margot looked at Eve who was laying down with her eyes. She was exhausted but at least she wasn't in a ton of pain anymore. Her skin was still discolored around the wound but as I looked at it now, the first time since the forest, it looked less green and irritated. There was no puss. Her skin wasn't as hot anymore either the color in her complexion was returning.

"She'll be okay. May I speak with you privately? Please."

I looked between Margot and Eve. I didn't want to leave her side. My wolf didn't like the idea and neither did I. Though it looked like she wasn't rejecting the bite anymore I was nervous that if I walked away she would make a turn for the worst.

"Make it quick." Margot nodded and exited the room. I kissed Eve's forehead and her eyes fluttered open. "I'll be right back. Taylor will stay with you."