Everything That You Are (25 page)

Though they managed to take care of business and end their meeting in less than fifteen minutes, which was extremely expedient considering the amount of financial generosity the guest had just unwittingly agreed to, it seemed to
Kaden
as though hours had gone by. The manipulation of his power against his will always forced him to expend great amounts of energy and left him feeling nauseous.

By the time the meeting was concluded,
Kaden
felt so depleted that once his head fell to the side of the cushion he was resting against, he couldn’t bring himself to raise it again.

Thomas walked the guest to the door of the office where Gregory’s other two Betas were waiting to escort him out of the house. Thomas then immediately began to file away the signed paperwork, concluding the coerced deal Gregory had made, while the Alpha removed his hand from
Kaden’s
neck and walked over to his desk to pour himself a glass of brandy.

“I think that went well.” He gulped down the contents in one swallow, refilled it,
then
poured another glass to hand to Thomas. “Have you set up meetings with the other members yet?”

Thomas walked from the filing cabinet to the side of the desk after sealing the combination lock and accepted the proffered glass. “Yes. We have two scheduled for tomorrow night, then a conference with the mayor the day after.”

Gregory chuckled and downed his second shot before saying, “Excellent. We’ll hit the major figureheads first,
then
deal with the little guys. That reminds me. We’ll need to find a replacement for that idiot, Stephen.” He paused to cast a disgusted look at
Kaden
, no doubt frustrated with his lack of endurance. “Take him to my bedroom. I have a few calls to make, but I’ll up shortly.”

Kaden
closed his eyes and bit his tongue to keep from whimpering in expectation of what was to come, but suddenly, a booming crash sounded from the direction of the front door. Gregory paused in the action of pouring himself another drink to yell at Thomas to find out what was going on.

Thomas was running down the hall before he’d even finished his sentence and
Kaden
held his breath as Gregory stood still, most likely communicating with his Betas through the mind-link they shared. With a feral growl, the tall man abruptly turned and yanked
Kaden
from the couch by his arm, starting for the office door.

Kaden
was finally able to focus enough to realise that something was wrong when more crashes and the sounds of wolves snarling and howling filled the previously still air. He struggled to keep up with the Alpha but the grip on his arm was causing the gashes across his back to tear open and the pain made him stumble into a floor lamp next to the door.

The hold on him tightened, the only thing keeping him from collapsing to the floor, when the form of a massive black wolf barrelled into the room, hitting Gregory square in the chest. The force of the collision caused the man to fall back into
Kaden
who subsequently hit the lamp again, but this time with his back.

Pain exploded throughout his body but the scream that erupted from his throat was cut off when his head slammed back onto the floor now beneath him. His vision blurred and it felt as though his eardrums would bleed from the deafening thunder of roars and growls.

Kaden
wanted to run and hide, not in the least ashamed of his cowardice at that moment, but just then, the intoxicating aroma of a spring forest and musk hit his senses so hard, it seemed to clear his mind of all other thoughts. Wiping tears of pain from his eyes, he blinked rapidly until he was able to observe the scene before him.

There were two wolves fighting viciously on the other side of the room, one black, the other a russet brown. They appeared to be equally matched in height and girth but their movements were so fast that
Kaden
was having trouble distinguishing one from the other. There was no doubt in his mind, however, that the black wolf was Michael.

The pair crashed about the room, demolishing the furniture around them, but the majority of the damage to their bodies they caused themselves. Though the evidence that Michael had actually come for him this time was fighting right in front of him, he felt no elation or joy.

Dread and fear for his mate consumed his every thought and feeling as he watched the battle going on before him in horror.

They were too evenly matched.

Claws and fangs and fur all rolled into a blur until he couldn’t track one movement to another. The only proof that they were causing each other damage was sprayed across the walls and floor in large, crimson arcs and splatters.

A gasp was wrenched from his throat when one of the wolves was thrown by the scruff of his neck by the other. It hurtled through the air and into a bookcase that lined the wall behind the desk. There was a loud, sickening crack as its massive form slammed into the shelves before falling into a heap on the ground.

Only then was
Kaden
able to realise that it was his mate lying injured and vulnerable to his enemy. His mate, who didn’t get up immediately while the russet-coloured wolf cautiously stalked over to him with blood dripping from his muzzle.

An urge to protect—to kill—that was so strong it took his breath away, swelled within
Kaden
until his body was no longer his own. He felt a flush of heat race just beneath his skin, from his scalp to his
toes,
just before his heart began to beat so fast he thought he might pass out.

He tried to keep his sight fixed on the large wolf baring his fangs at his mate, but a searing, white-hot pain lanced through every inch of his body with an intensity he’d never have thought bearable by one person. Before his stomach could heave its contents as the room span out from underneath him, the pain was replaced with a pleasure that was no less intense in its ferocity.

The pleasure felt deep, abiding, and unquestionably right, as though he was being welcomed into a home that had been calling to him for his entire life. As wonderful as it felt, though, it did not diminish the rage that gripped him over the threat to his mate. Rather, it encouraged and guided him to take the strength and speed he needed to defend what was his.

Without another thought, he closed the space between himself and the menacing wolf in two large bounds and gloried in the blood that began to flow rapidly with each slash of his claws.

“Michael!”

The sharpness of the call through the mental link sent shards of pain piercing into his head, pulling a groan from his lips. He tried to blink his surroundings into focus but needed to give his eyes time to adjust.

“Michael! Get off your ass and tell your mate to calm down.”

His mate?
That got him going, but as soon as he put his weight on his left wrist to lift himself into a sitting position, the pain drove him back down. He let out a grunt and started cursing, until a wet nose pushed its way into his vision. He rolled over onto his back and was promptly assaulted by a raspy, eager tongue, fur, and whines that filled his ears.

Cradling his injured wrist, he raised the other one to swat the wolf away but it left before he got the chance. To his side, vicious snarls and low growls replaced the whines and he heard another “
Michael!”
boom through his head. When he was finally able to sit up and take in the scene before him, his confusion tripled.

A fine-boned, small white wolf, covered almost completely with blood, was crouched low to the ground in front of him, snapping at anyone in the group of his men that tried to get too close to Michael. There was a much larger brown wolf lying dead in a mass of exposed muscle and blood off to his right, which he recognised as the Alpha he’d been fighting, but he didn’t remember making the final blow that had killed him.

When he looked back at the men standing in the doorway, Sam smiled at him hesitantly and asked, “Michael, are you all right?”

Michael ran a quick internal inspection of his body while patting himself down with his good hand. He had a gash running across his stomach and a few more lining his back. There were teeth punctures on the back of his neck and his wrist was broken, but there was nothing that wouldn’t heal in a day or so.
“Yeah.
I think so. What the hell happened?”

He saw his father relax in relief before replying, “I think we can figure that out, but first, why don’t you ask your mate to back off just a bit so we can get you out of here?”

Michael furrowed his brow but recognition was almost instant. His mate was the delicate wolf standing over him, protecting him from potential harm.

The pride he felt at that knowledge was quickly dampened as he took in the state of the white were. There was so much blood on
Kaden
,
he couldn’t determine how much of it belonged to him or his mate. His fur was thin and even missing in some places—nothing like the thick pelt that should be covering his frail body to prepare him for winter.
 
 

“Baby?
I’m not in any danger. I need you to come here so I can look you over.”

The wolf immediately turned his attention back to him and whined as he slid to his belly and crawled back to Michael. He lightly skimmed his fingers over the fine hairs barely concealing the skin underneath and felt tears forming as he grazed over a multitude of scratches, welts, and teeth marks covering the majority of
Kaden’s
wolf form.

Blinking them back, he asked, “Can you shift back for me, baby?”

The young wolf merely looked him in the eyes before crawling into his lap and collapsing with a barely audible huff.

“Son,” Sam spoke up again. “I think we need to get
Kaden
back home where we can tend his injuries. Do you want me to carry him?”

“No!” he snapped, then cleared his throat and said more quietly, “I’m sorry. I can carry him, but I don’t think he can shift back yet. Is there a blanket anywhere I can wrap him in?”

Joseph strode over to a couch several feet away and pulled a thin, cotton blanket from the back of it. He laid it down over the now-sleeping form of the little wolf in Michael’s arms, then stepped back as Michael stood up and tucked the material around his mate as gently as possible.

Michael grudgingly gave
Kaden
over to his father while he dressed. He then took
Kaden
back and rode with Sam while Nick drove his truck back to his house. His father gave him the details of the fights he’d missed. Joseph had been forced to kill Thomas when the Beta had refused to back down, but Gregory’s other two Betas had given up not long after that. A few of their men had suffered minor injuries, but all in all, it seemed to have been a success.

Michael could tell that his father was avoiding the details of Gregory’s death, but didn’t bother to ask why. He knew he hadn’t actually killed the Alpha before he’d been knocked unconscious, but his only concern now was for the small being in his arms.

Katherine and Missy were sitting on the porch steps when they arrived back at Michael’s house. The other men had already taken their separate ways home, planning on reconvening in the morning to discuss their next course of action. Sam parked the car and Michael thought he saw one of
Kaden’s
ears twitch but he made no other move. Michael shifted the slight weight in his arms and got out as Sam opened the door for him.

Missy ran towards them with worry written all over her face. “Where’s
Kaden
? Is he okay? You said you would bring him back to me. What happened?”

Sam took her shoulders in a firm grip as she raced past him, before she could plough into Michael in her eagerness to get information. “It’s okay, honey.
Kaden’s
right there in the blanket.”

Sam pointed to the limp figure in Michael’s arms. Missy hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously approaching the form and lowering her nose to the tip of the muzzle peeking out from the cover. She inhaled deeply and a look of profound relief and joy softened her features, making her look even younger and sweeter than she already was. She sent a grateful smile up to Michael,
then
stepped aside so he could proceed to the front door.

As he walked inside, he heard the girl whisper to Sam, “He’s hurt, isn’t he? Will he be all right?”

“Yeah.
Nothing that some sleep and a few good meals can’t fix.
Your brother’s one tough wolf,” Sam replied.

Michael let their voices drift away as he took the stairs as fast as he dared. Once in his bedroom, he closed the door and turned on the bedside lamp, then went straight to the bathroom. Sitting on the edge of the tub, he turned on the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot before setting about the task of unravelling his mate from the blanket surrounding him.

The cloth pulled at some of the wounds where dried blood had fused them together but
Kaden
remained mercifully unconscious. Michael laid
Kaden
down on the bathroom rug and had divested himself of his clothes by the time the bath was ready.

Slowly, he lowered them both into the soothing water, keeping
Kaden’s
wolf form securely against his chest, and laid back with a sigh.