5 - MATTEO'S POV

"You cheated," Kailani cried out as she crawled out from under the broken table pieces with dust covering her blonde hair.

"I threw one punch and I tossed a man into a table," I corrected her as I stared down at her ruined dress.

"You caught them off guard because they are not used to fighting dirty rogues," Azriel argued as he tried to defend his humiliating loss.

"I am standing right here in my human form and I just beat your armed guards without even shifting into my wolf," I told him so the entire pack could hear my words.

I knew that pointing out my human form would damage Azriel's pride more than a bullet ever could.

An Alpha is supposed to have the strongest and most lethal enforcers in the region.

I just proved to the elders that a single human-form Bloodhand soldier could destroy the Crescent Moon security team with his bare hands.

"You are trying to embarrass me in my own house," Azriel growled as his hands shook with uncontrolled rage.

"You embarrassed yourself the second you took the ring from Naomi and gave it to a woman who hides under tables," I fired back at him.

"She is the true Luna," Azriel insisted even though Kailani was currently sitting on the floor covered in sawdust and crying.

"She is a joke and so are you," Naomi added from behind me as she stepped out to stand by my side.

"Get back behind me," I muttered to Naomi because I did not want Azriel to grab her again.

"I am not hiding from him anymore," Naomi replied softly but she stayed close to my arm.

"You ungrateful bitch," Azriel hissed at Naomi as he took a threatening step toward her.

I stepped forward and I kicked Azriel right in the center of his chest with my heavy combat boot.

The blow sent him staggering backward until his back hit one of the stone pillars holding up the ceiling.

"I told you to keep your fucking hands off my mate," I warned him again as I rested my hand on the grip of my gun.

"I am going to rip your throat out for that," Azriel spat as he clutched his bruised chest and glared at me.

"Are you going to try it in your human form or are you going to run away like your guards did?" I challenged him openly.

The elders murmured among themselves and a few of them actually shook their heads in disappointment as they looked at Azriel.

Azriel heard the whispers of his own people and he knew he was losing his grip on the pack.

"I will show you why I am the Alpha of this territory," Azriel roared as a deep and guttural sound ripped from his throat.

Kailani screamed and she covered her ears with her hands as the terrifying noise filled the hall.

"Azriel, stop it!" Elder Thomas yelled as he stood up and backed away from the table. "You cannot shift inside the hall!"

Azriel ignored the elder and he fell to his hands and knees on the marble floor.

His expensive tailored suit ripped at the seams as his muscles expanded and his body grew larger.

A loud popping noise echoed through the quiet room as his human spine began to crack and reshape itself.

"He is actually doing it," Naomi whispered in shock as she reached out and grabbed the back of my tactical vest.

"Let him do it," I told her as I watched the sickening process unfold right in front of us.

Azriel's jaw unhinged and elongated into a massive snout filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Thick dark fur burst from his skin and covered his arms as his hands twisted into massive paws with lethal claws.

The sound of breaking bones and tearing fabric was deafening as he let his feral wolf take over his mind.

He was breaking a massive pack law by shifting inside a crowded building but he was too angry to care about the rules.

The ordinary pack members screamed and ran toward the exits as the massive beast finished its transformation.

Azriel stood up on all four legs and he shook his massive head to clear the transition haze.

His eyes glowed with a sick yellow light and saliva dripped from his open jaws onto the pristine marble floor.

"Matteo," Naomi said in a strained voice as the massive wolf locked its yellow eyes on my face. "He is out of his mind right now."

"I know," I answered as I watched the feral beast dig its claws into the stone floor to prepare for a charge.

The wolf let out a deafening roar that shook the glass in the windows and sent a chill straight down my spine.

"So," I asked the massive beast as I finally unclipped the safety strap on my thigh holster. "Are we going to do this the hard way?"