Chapter 4 CHAPTER FOUR

JULIET

Oh, he was furious.

Zane glared down at me, his intense crimson eyes demanding an explanation amidst the surrounding chaos. The brief moment of eye contact barely lasted before I looked away, unable to withstand the overwhelming dominance emanating from his wolf.

In the next second, his hand shot up to my chin, forcing me to face him again. He growled in a low voice, "Don't turn away from me again."

I barely held back the retort bubbling in my throat, wishing I could tell him that if he truly wanted to talk, he should suppress his wolf's dominance. It was a well-known fact among our kind that most healers possessed submissive wolves, and common sense dictated that one should show restraint when interacting with them.

But Zane didn't care. His fingers tightened around my chin as he stared down at me, clearly waiting for an answer.

I swallowed hard. 

There was no way I could reveal the truth in this moment, especially with the lurking darkness evident in his eyes. This man was very dangerous, and my instincts warned me that he was on edge. One wrong answer, and I had no idea what he might do.

Before I could speak, a hand suddenly yanked me away from Zane's embrace. The loss of his warmth bothered my wolf, but I ignored her and focused on the man holding me.

"Juliet is my wife," Frank declared, glaring at Zane as he wrapped his arms around my waist possessively. "You have no right to touch her."

The air turned deathly still after his declaration.

Zane didn't move, staring at us as if he expected one of us to say it was a lie. Then his gaze dropped to the wedding ring on my finger.

Something terrifying flashed across his face, a mixture of disbelief and rage.

"What?" he rasped, his voice trembling with the weight of his incredulity. 

My heart raced at the sound of his voice. "Zane, I—"

Before I could finish, Frank's grip on me tightened, cutting me off mid-sentence. "I thought I banished you, Zane," he spat through clenched teeth, his anger barely contained. "What the hell are you doing in my territory?"

A burly man stepped forward, a jagged claw scar etched into the left side of his face. Dark tattoos similar to Zane's covered his thick neck, chest, and arms before disappearing down into his black pants. He looked Frank up and down with open contempt.

"Do you honestly think we wanted to travel thousands of miles from the North for the sake of a weak pack like yours?" he said, his voice laced with disdain. "Count yourself lucky that our Alpha chose to respond to your distress call. Your pack should be thanking him for his mercy, because none of you deserve our help."

My eyes widened as his words sank in. No... it couldn't be.

A wave of shock washed over Frank, his face paling as he turned to Zane. 

"You're... the Alpha of the Kaelvor Pack?" 

Zane’s gaze was fierce, his eyes blazing with barely contained fury as he loomed over us, arms crossed.

"I am," Zane confirmed, his crimson eyes never leaving mine.

I stared at him, trying to piece my thoughts together in stunned silence. 

H-How was this possible? 

After that incident that happened two years ago, my wolf suffered in agony after the mating bond between us faded, causing me to believe that he was dead. But instead, it seemed that fate had dealt a cruel hand to us, bringing back my mate as the strongest Alpha in the Northern region of the Werewolf Realm.

Frank's voice cut through my thoughts as he spoke to Zane. "Well, we have everything under control, so you can leave now. You and your men are not welcome here."

I whipped my head to him, staring at him in disbelief. "Frank, what the hell are you saying?" I hissed, urgency flooding my voice. "Of course we need them."

Frank's eyes hardened. "No, we do not."

I glared at Frank, hoping he would come to his senses, but he ignored me completely. Instead, he held Zane's gaze, neither Alpha willing to back down. The air between them grew unbearably heavy as their wolves pushed against each other's dominance, each barely restrained from erupting into a bloody fight.

Zane took a menacing step towards Franklin with fresh blood dripping from his claws.

"You want to start something, Franklin?" he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Because I'll paint the streets of Nykaris with your blood if you provoke me."

Frank's face darkened. He moved as if he was about to take another step, but I gripped his arm to stop him.

"Enough," I said to them, lowering my gaze. "We just suffered an attack this evening. We should be tending to the wounded, not fighting each other."

Frank's nostrils flared as he silently weighed my words. After a long moment, he finally spoke to Zane. "Leave my pack. Now."

Zane let out a low, derisive snort. "With all pleasure."

My fingers tightened on Frank's arm when I saw him turn away. 

"Wait!"

Zane's steps immediately came to a halt. 

He turned around with a deep scowl on his face. "What?" he snapped.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Frank staring at me, anger and confusion written all over his face. Deep down, I wanted to convince myself that I was doing this because we needed him, but it was a lie.My wolf simply couldn't bear to watch her mate walk away again, and she was pushing me to do the most reckless thing I had ever done.

"The Nykaris Pack is not an ungrateful pack," I said, my voice loud and clear. "Frank and I will shelter you and your men for the night. And then, you can leave at dawn."

Zane narrowed his eyes in displeasure at my proposition. But we both knew his men needed rest and time to heal from the battle. He shared a look with the man by his side before nodding.

"Fine," he agreed. "But I and my men will camp at the Nykaris pack boundary, near the Forbidden Forest. Then we are leaving."

After speaking, he walked away in brisk steps, leaving me staring after him, my heart heavy with an ache I couldn't explain.

Oh, dear moon goddess. How was I going to survive tonight?