C6

Lanka Monroe POV

"Your heart beats so hard it shakes my ribs, Andrew, but your chest feels like ice," I say, my inner wolf curling tight against the heat of his naked skin as he pins my waist against the furs of our nesting bed.

"The nightmare left your scent sour and terrified, Lanka. Tell me what your wolf saw in the dark," Andrew whispers, his heavy jaw rubbing against my damp hair as his large, calloused palms spread over my lower abdomen.

"I don't want to talk about my dreams," I mutter, turning my face into the pillow to block the intoxicating cedar pheromones rolling off his chest. "When did you crawl back into this room? Is the pack mess dealt with?"

"The enforcers dragged Elaine Brooks to the boundary line, and my mother is locked behind iron gates with six Alphas guarding her scent," Andrew growls, his grip on my hip tightening until the raw friction of his thighs against mine makes my breath hitch. "You won't have to look at them again."

"You put Maren Cole under armed pack surveillance?" I ask, my voice cracking as I twist to look at him. "She is the high matron of the Wolfe lineage, Andrew. Forcing her into isolation is a declaration of war against the council elders."

"She threatened my pup and violated my true mate," Andrew snaps, his amber eyes flashing with a lethal, dominant light that demands my submission. "I don't care if the council roars."

"And what about Serena Wolfe?" I challenge, my fingers digging into his thick bicep as the sour taste of jealousy floods my tongue. "You stripped your mother of her rank, but you haven't said a damn word about the pregnant omega carrying the Hawthorne bloodline."

"The Hawthorne territory contracts are dead, Lanka. I pulled every hunting right and border alliance today," Andrew says coldly, his face hardening into an expressionless mask. "By winter, their pack will starve."

"You are destroying their land, but you won't touch her directly," I laugh bitterly, shoving his chest away as the heat between us turns suffocating. "Because Serena carries the late Alpha's pup, she gets to walk free while my child nearly gets butchered on a stone table. Does her unborn child matter more to your wolf than our own?"

"Why do you turn every word into a dagger, Lanka?" Andrew roars, his large hand snapping out to lock around my wrist with enough raw alpha strength to make the bones pop.

"Ah! Let go, you are breaking my skin!" I shriek, my claws extending instinctively as tears of pain hit my eyelashes.

"Look at me when I speak to you!" Andrew commands, his chest heaving as he slightly loosens his grip but refuses to let my arm go.

"I said thank you for hunting the traitors, Alpha! Is my gratitude not submissive enough for you?" I spit, ripping my hand out of his hold the second his fingers slacken. "If my tongue offends your high rank, go crawl into Serena's nest or run back to Vanessa Monroe's fake smiles!"

"Enough! We are discussing your recovery, not the ghosts of other packs!" Andrew snaps, his fangs baring as his aura flares so violently the wooden beams of the bedroom creak under the pressure.

"There is nothing left to discuss," I whisper, turning my back to him and pulling the heavy furs over my exposed shoulders. "The moment my womb heals, this forced mating bond is over. We are severing the link."

"Fine! Do whatever your stubborn wolf pleases!" Andrew growls, his massive frame launching off the mattress so hard the frame rattles. He storms out of the chamber, slamming the heavy oak door until the stone walls vibration vibrates through my skull.

Andrew Wolfe POV

"The scent of burnt silver and ash is suffocating down here, Alpha," Daniel Cho says, stepping into the main den where I stand alone by the stone hearth, crushing three dried moon-leaves between my bleeding palms to drown out my own raging pheromones.

"Is the new omega caretaker secured for the upper nest?" I demand, not turning around as the embers reflect in my eyes.

"Judith Lane is upstairs now, Sir. Her scent is neutral and safe," Daniel reports, bowing his head. "She is preparing the raw stag meat for the omega's recovery."

"Go see if he will accept the offering," I mutter, rubbing the bridge of my nose as my wolf whines inside my head, desperate to crawl back upstairs and knot my mate until he forgets the word escape.

"Alpha," Judith says, hurrying down the stone steps a few minutes later with an empty tray. "The young master Monroe accepted the meal. He said his wolf is starving."

"Did he say anything else?" I ask, my chest tightening.

"He was weeping while he ate, Alpha. His eyes are raw and red," she whispers before disappearing into the lower kitchen.

"Damn it," I growl, my claws ripping through my own palm as I race up the stairs, throwing the bedroom door open just in time to see Lanka’s weak legs buckle as he tries to climb out of the high nesting bed.

"I've got you," I gasp, lunging across the stone floor to catch his soft waist before his stomach impacts the ground, pulling his small, trembling body flush against my hard torso.

"Thank you," Lanka whispers, his pale face resting against my throat as his breathing hitches.

"Why are you out of the nest?" I growl down at him, my lips brushing his burning forehead. "Can your mouth utter anything to your Alpha besides formal insults?"