Seven mates for seven brothers

52- A little concerned

The Grey brothers were standing on the other side of the clearing when they heard the commotion.

[Do these guys never learn?]  Brian asked in general as Conrad sped through the crowd so fast he practically blurred.

[It seems not.]  Ethan chuckled as they set off after Conrad, not that he needed their help.

The man dragging Grace behind him did not even notice that the crowd had grown silent and that a seriously pissed off shifter was zooming in on him.  For an instant Grace was terrified.  And then she remembered everything Lucy had told her and what she had seen of the other alpha’s behavior; the Grey clan in particular and a sudden clarity made her see that she wanted badly to be strong like the females of the Yellow Stone pack.

“No.”  She spoke so quietly that she did not hear it herself; so she repeated it.  “No!”

“What did you say?”  His fury made him seem larger to her and she shrank away from him.

“She said: No.”  Conrad spoke in a clipped tone before she could draw a breath to repeat her denial; clinging to the last bit of control he had.  He was shaking; his wolf demanding blood.

There was a small part of him that stood aside and it stunned him; no, it shocked him to his foundation that he was this furious; even at the height of battle he had never been this close to losing control.  It seemed strange to him now that he had not been forewarned in any way about the depth of this raging anger boiling inside of him.  He could easily rid this pack of their entire male population and not feel a moment’s remorse; as long as it ensured the safety of his mate.

The realization of this fact saved the idiot in front of him from losing his life.  Sobered, Conrad took a calming breath and noticed that more males had gathered around the small group of three.  There were four more males advancing and they all looked as if they were ready for anything.

One of the men circling her looked at Conrad disdainfully.  “She has no say in the matter.  It is how things are.  The males that want her will fight and the winner gets to have her.”

“Look here; I don’t know whether you have been sitting with your ears in your butt the past day; but things are not going to carry on the same way you have always done things here.  It doesn’t work that way.  She will get to be with her true mate; not just some random male that happened to be the strongest idiot around.”  Conrad moved closer to Grace trying to catch her eye so that he could reassure her; but she had her eyes on the five men moving in a circle around them that was closing in, bit by bit.

“If you want her you are going to have to fight for her; she belongs to our pack.  ‘Winner’s spoils are winner’s rights.’”  The tall mad said and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

[Ah hell!  When are these bozos going to learn that this is not how things work?]  Carter sounded irritated as he looked over the scene playing off in front of them.

[They will find out soon enough when they get to their new packs.  And there will be enough other males there to reinforce a better behavior from them.]  Brain said mildly in an attempt to soothe his brother’s feelings of irritation.  As well as Conrad’s near explosive temper.  He had not thought his jokester brother to be capable of this scale of fury.  But then, this matter did involve his mate; and he knew that even he would be this badly affected if his mate was this young and subjected to all of this.

[And if they do get out of line; there is more than enough males to get the message home.]  Alex chuckled silently and then added, [As well as some feisty females.]

[You’d better believe it!]  Tina grunted as the rest of the Grey clan females joined their men.

Stan moved closer to Alex, close enough that he could speak to him without being overheard.  “We suspected yesterday when we were ‘interviewing’ some of the fighters that had given up to us that not all of them were honest.”