Protective Instincts Novels & Stories

Elena sat across from her at the long table and opened the notebook she had brought with her. Then she began. She told us what she had held back. Not out of deception. Out of caution. Nadia had called it the inheritance. The protection response Elena had already mentioned was only the first layer. The Ashmoon bloodline had always been more complicated than that. “The protection response is the most immediate manifestation,” Elena said. “It activates when the bond or the pack is under genuine threat. It’s instinctive, territorial, operating on a frequency that bypasses physical strength entirely. It’s what you felt with the rogues, Ava –the preemptive awareness, the immediate reaction before

"The bonded wolf experiences an involuntary drive to position itself between its mate and any perceived threat. This is not a choice. It is a physiological response rooted in—" I stopped listening to the words. I heard them, but I stopped letting them land. They were landing anyway. Instinctive protection. How many times had I stepped between Val and something that wanted to hurt her before I'd made the conscious decision to move. Scent fixation. The way I always knew where she was in a room before I looked. The way her scent, even wolfsbane-suppressed, even buried under twelve other smell, registered in my brain like a frequency nothing else was on.

I say jokingly and she laughed unexpectedly. Her lips part slightly, as if she wants to say something, but no words come. "I never wanted to bring it up," I admit. "But when I'm with you, when I know you're in danger, something inside me switches. The urge to protect you, to stay ahead of every possible threat—is instinctive. That's why I plan five steps ahead. That's why I'm always prepared. Not because I'm working with anyone, but because I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

“Mommy is so proud of you.” Adrian knelt down beside his son, his eyes misty. “That was beautiful, buddy. You’re protecting her already.” The joyful moment, however, was short-lived. Aurelia suddenly let out a loud, piercing cry. Her tiny face scrunched up as she wailed, her little fists waving in distress. The sound triggered something deep inside Adrian. His protective instincts — sharpened by past fears and the recent stress — kicked in strongly.

One minute she was trying to reason with the man and the next she was kicking his ass. “Momma instincts.” Derek confessed. She looked over at him like he had grown three heads. “You think of Alaska as your baby, and like a mother when she was hurt you became protective. It’s how all women are, they protect their young. Men protect their family. That’s why they say never bother a child or bear the brunt of an angry mother. Annoy the wife and receive a blow from the husband.”

And she turned away, prioritizing her own agenda over the urge to intervene. But as she heard the dude's desperate cry for help, she halted in her tracks. Suddenly, her mind did that weird thing, where it reminded her that any person in danger, who looked about her brother's age, could be someone's sibling, someone's loved one, and the protective instincts she reserved for her family kicked in. It was a mental connection she couldn't shake off or ignore.

“But look at me, I’m still standing. I’m stronger than you think!” Ruth wasn’t fooled by that smile. She could see right through it. “Do you… really have to keep this baby? When even her own father doesn’t want her?” Emily went quiet. She wasn’t sure if it was just hormones making her this protective, but despite how much she hated Aaron, she couldn’t help but shield this child with everything she had. She’d read that pregnancy hormones can override self-preservation instincts, pushing a mother to take extreme risks just to protect her unborn baby.

And a fierce, protective instinct, primal and unexpected, surged within me. My heart almost went with her as she turned and fled, a desperate, panicked flight that left a hollow ache in my chest. I took an instinctive step forward, wanting to follow, to go after her, to shield her from whatever unseen threat was causing her such distress. To protect her. To do something to ease the raw terror in her eyes. But I stopped, my foot hovering mid-step.

In this moment, I want nothing more than to hunt down every member of her former pack and tear them limb from limb. The rational part of my mind, buried deep beneath layers of rage and protective instinct, knows that this reaction is... extreme. Unprecedented. I've never felt this way before, never lost control like this over someone else's pain. But I can't bring myself to care. All I can focus on is the need to protect her, to keep her safe. To destroy anyone who would dare to harm her.

My brother lowered his head and gripped my hand tightly. "Everything has happened. It wasn't your fault." I shook my head. It was my fault because I couldn't fight them and became a coward. My wolf reprimanded me and asked me to throw all those thoughts away. She satirized me because I don't blame anyone else except myself. "I promise I will always protect you." Gregory looked at me deeply, and his face showed seriousness. "That incident will not be repeated." "That's right. Daddy will make sure you are always safe from all sorts of dangers. Daddy won't even let an ant bite you." Dad hit the ants walking on the wall.