Spiral of Need

“You think you know her.” Rachelle licked her bottom lip nervously. “She’s just fooling you.”

Shaya gave her a pitiful look. “If you actually believe that, you’re just fooling yourself.”

“You don’t know her!” shouted Rachelle.

“Oh, but we do.”

Seeing how pissed Rachelle was that none of the Mercury wolves were buying her act, Ally smiled at her. “It’s a bummer when no one believes you, isn’t it?”

“Now, this is what’s about to happen, Rachelle. Roni will release you.” Ignoring Roni’s pout, Shaya continued. “Two of my enforcers will escort you to your vehicle. Matt and Zeke will be close behind you with their own escorts. Then you’ll leave here. You’ll never, ever come back. And you’ll never bother Ally again.”

Roni went nose to nose with Rachelle. “If you do, I’ll come for you. Whether Ally’s staying with our pack or not, I’ll come for you. I’m the last person you want tracking you down.”

Fear oozed from Rachelle and slithered over Ally. She couldn’t blame Rachelle for being afraid. She should be, since Roni was absolutely lethal and meant every word. Ally often sparred with the female enforcer, so she knew exactly how tough and brutal she could be. Not to mention vengeful.

Only once Rachelle had nodded as much as Roni’s grip would allow did the female enforcer release her. Instantly, Roni and Marcus escorted a panting, red-faced Rachelle outside.

As Eli and Bracken began to lead Zeke away, Derren glared at the Beta. “Same goes for you. Stay away from Ally.”

“We wanted to make things right,” swore Matt, shaking his head sadly.

“Maybe you did,” allowed Nick, who was acting as Matt’s escort. “But your Beta female didn’t. She’s made things even worse for you.” And Cain would most likely go apeshit.

“Ally, I’m truly sorry for what happened today.” Matt held up his hands when Nick growled. “All right, I’m leaving.”

Derren went to Ally’s side and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You okay, baby?”

Hearing that, Zeke’s head whipped to face them. “Is he the reason why you haven’t been answering my calls?”

Ally replied tonelessly, “I’ve been ignoring them because we have nothing at all to say to each other.”

“And you”—Shaya jabbed her finger into Zeke’s chest as she planted herself in front of him—“you’re even worse than your mate. You think it’s not obvious why you came here today? You miss Ally. You want her back in your pack because you want to keep her close to you all the time. You can’t let go of her, even though you’re mated and your feelings for Ally have dulled. When you care for someone, it’s hard to switch it off—I get that. But trying to keep her near when you’re mated to someone else is selfish and cruel.”

Zeke didn’t say anything, but his shoulders sagged slightly.

“Stop calling Ally,” Derren rumbled. “She isn’t yours anymore. Got me?”

The Collingwood Beta didn’t answer, just let Eli and Bracken take him outside. Needing to see the threats to Ally leave their territory, needing that assurance they were no longer in close proximity to her, Derren followed them and sidled up to Nick. Only once the Collingwood wolves drove over the border did Derren’s wolf settle.

Eli and the enforcers returned to the main lodge. Derren was just about to follow when Nick’s voice stopped him.

“This isn’t just fucking to you. Possessiveness is stamped all over your face whenever you look at Ally. You care about her, don’t you?”

Yeah, Derren did. It was unexpected, since he wasn’t the type to connect with people. But what was more unexpected was that he didn’t regret or fear it. She was prickly, defensive, very cautious, and had a smart mouth—all of which he found kind of cute. Making her more appealing to him, she was strong, dependable, trustworthy, dangerous, brooked no bullshit, and helped others with no strings attached. It was a complex combination that fascinated him. “I’m keeping her.”

Nick didn’t seem surprised. “Does she know this?”

“After what happened at the Collingwood Pack, she’s a little skittish.” She didn’t want to watch her partner find his true mate and leave her again. What Ally didn’t understand was that Derren couldn’t let her go, not for anyone. He’d chosen her. Marked her. She was his now. He’d need to make it clear he was serious without piling too much pressure on her. The problem was that Derren was too possessive of her to be subtle.

“So you want her to stay, be part of the pack?”

Derren arched a brow. “Is that a problem?”

“After what she did for Shaya and Roni, of course not. I owe her. Besides, I like Ally. She makes you live your own life. You’ve been my shadow for too damn long. Just because I saved your life doesn’t mean you owe me yours. Being my Beta and protecting my family is enough.”

“I didn’t protect you at the funeral.” He’d only thought of Ally.

“Because your loyalties are divided now. That’s not a bad thing, Derren. A guy’s female should always come first to him.” Nick folded his arms across his chest. “Cain isn’t going to like you being with Ally, whether he wants to claim her or not.”

“He’ll just have to fucking deal with it.” Derren’s wolf growled his agreement. Cain had an attachment to Ally and cared for her in his way, but that was all Cain was capable of feeling. Derren could give her more than Cain ever could. “The main problem won’t be him, it’ll be convincing Ally to stay. She likes to pack-trot.” She’d obviously never felt truly settled anywhere. He’d have to work on changing that.