III

7

"Blair Hardy, here for your summons, alpha," came the voice of Hendrick, Thomas's younger brother. He had taken over my alpha duties during my absence. In the hours leading up to this meeting, I had worked to reign in my temper, only to have it flare up again. I hadn't seen Lina again, which was probably for the better.

"Bring him in!" Thomas responded. He'd always known when to take matters in hands. Not that he did my job for me, it was something instinctual, he always seamed to know what I wanted and knew how to act on it.

I steeled myself against the impact I knew this 'Blair's' presence would have on me and waited for him to enter.

The whole night I'd wanted to rip this man to shreds, I knew I would hate him the minute I laid eyes on him and it had taken every ounce of strength to reign in my emotions enough to at least hear him out. However now the man, who had taken my mate and made her his, stood before me and all I could muster was a low growl and squinted eyes. I looked the man up and down. Nothing out of the ordinary. He was of average height and build, his shoulders slumped slightly and his stance was a defiant one, ready for attack but equally ready to take flight. He had no distinctive features, though I knew to a regular human he would probably fall under the category 'handsome'. From his scent I could tell he had no rank among my pack which meant he held a regular human job. Nothing special whatsoever! My anger flared up again, though I knew the reason behind this anger was ludicrous. This anger was irrational. I should feel angry about the fact that he'd claimed my mate, had taken her from me... instead my anger stemmed from his average looks? Enraged and confused by my own misguided anger I lunged toward the man who despite his defiant stance was unable to avoid the collision of our bodies.

"You dared lay hands on what's mine!" I growled out as I pummelled his face and upper body.

"She's..." he tried to speak in between hits but I didn't want to hear it.

"Shift!" I ordered. His face flushed as he tried to resist my command.

"I... I..."

"Shift NOW!" he shifted in an instant. Even through my rage I noted that his wolf form, just like his human appearance, was indistinguishable, plain... a relatively small mud-coloured wolf. I couldn't resist the urge to kick the beast before me, hard. He yelped as his wolf body crashed into the wall near the door. I'd shifted too and was on top of him again, this time doing more damage with my claws. The fight didn't last long, as the familiar scent of my mate entered the room. It made me feel nauseous and I jumped back from the now whimpering wolf under me.

Lina hastily crouched down by his side and I growled one last time before shifting back to my human form and trudging behind my desk. Sitting down, I let out a frustrated sigh.

"You didn't even give him a chance to explain?" Lina half asked, half stated with an accusatory glint in her eyes.