Nearing the gate, they caught sight of several vehicles parked by the security shack while a large number of shifters stood tall beside them. A normally composed Reynald was scowling with rage, flexing his fists at his sides.
"Oh good Lord," she said, snorting at the sheer ridiculousness of the number of wolves he had brought with him. Forty against seven? Yeah, very brave. It was a clear attempt at intimidation but Angelina knew it hadn't had the desired effect. Why Reynald had thought that Jasson – someone who was practically the personification of intimidation – would be rattled was anyone's guess.
When Jasson came to a halt twelve feet away from the intruders, Ryan came to join the wall that the Cerberus wolves had made. Reynald's gaze settled on her and anger flashed across his face, most likely in response to Jasson's marks.
"Never had you down as someone who played games, Angelina. As you can see, game's over. Get in the SUV while I have a talk with Alex."
Angelina almost laughed. "You sound as though you honestly believe I will."
"Come now and we can avoid all this."
"I'd rather lie under an elephant suffering from diarrhoea with my mouth open wide."
"You know what will happen if you persist with this. People are going to get hurt, namely Alex. Do you really want that on your conscience?"
"Oh no, you don't get to turn this on me. If anyone gets hurt today it's because you refuse to let go of something that was never yours to begin with." She would bet money that if she had been within reach, Reynald would have slapped her for that.
"Don't be looking at Angelina, look at me." Jasson's tone demanded attention. "I'm the one you should be worried about."
"You must have a death wish, Alex," said Reynald. "It's the only reason I can think of that would explain why you would kidnap my mate."
"Kidnap your mate," repeated Jasson with a smile. "I think you'll find that Angelina's mine."
"She wears my mark."
"Not a mark, a wound – one that I very nicely covered with a mark of my own."
"She's mine," snarled Reynald.
Growls of disagreement rumbled out of the throats of the seven males around her. Angelina couldn't help but notice that, by contrast, although Reynald had a large crew, they didn't appear to be standing with him. There was no one flanking him or eyeing up the rest of Jasson's pack, picking an opponent they wanted for if it turned into an out-and-out fight. They were simply just…there.
"Here's how it is, Reynald. Angelina is my mate, I've claimed her, and I will kill anyone who tries to take her from me. If you can accept that, you can live and you can leave here peacefully. If you can't, well, you must want to die."
"Then it looks like we battle it out."
Angelina gaped. "You have got to be kidding me. Why would you bother? You can't tell me you're that obsessed with the idea of breaking my spirit until I'm some kind of slave."
"That's what he had planned?" Jasson's wolf leapt for control, wanting to gut him.
Reynald shrugged. "What male wouldn't want to be able to turn a dominant female like Angelina into a gorgeously submissive slave?"
"Well they would be the sane males," said Angelina.
"Stand back, baby," ordered Jasson as he removed his t-shirt and then tackled the fly of his jeans. "You heard him. He wants to battle it out."
She might have tried to calm the atmosphere if she hadn't known from experience that when two dominant male wolves agreed to battle, it meant the situation was passed help. She had the strange urge to kiss Jasson, but knew he didn't need to look weak right now.
"To the death," Jasson said to Reynald in a calm but icy tone. "We battle to the death." Having heard what Reynald intended for Angelina, Jasson's wolf wasn't going to be happy until he'd tore out his throat. There was no way Jasson would stop him from going feral.
Reynald, now naked, nodded. "To the death." Suddenly bones were popping and his body was altering and then, mere seconds later, he was a large sandy snarling wolf.
But Jasson was larger, Angelina soon found out as she watched him shift into a seven foot long and approximately thirty-two inch high gorgeous silvery grey wolf. He looked just as intimidating and overawing in wolf form with his powerful build, his heavily muscled neck, and his robust limbs. His hackles were raised, his angry eyes were drilling into Reynald, his ears were upright, and his lips were curled back, exposing fangs and gums. The growl emitting from him sounded more like a boat motor.
Abruptly the sandy wolf sprang from his crouched position and rushed forward at the grey wolf, coming up short just to snap his teeth together. The grey wolf didn't move a muscle, just stood looking large and fearsome, making a clear point that he was the more dominant animal in this situation. The sandy wolf reversed slowly only to once again rush forward aggressively and snap at the other.
Apparently the grey wolf had then decided that the other had had his chance to back down and he wasn't going to stand still any longer. Growling, he began circling the sandy wolf, who then copied the move so that they were circling each other. Maybe because he was stupid or maybe because he was just suicidal, the sandy wolf growled at Angelina. That was when her mate went feral.
The grey wolf lunged at the other wolf and they came together in a clash of claws and teeth. As shifters had superior speed and strength, it was like watching a recording in fast-forward motion. There was growling, there was body slamming, there was scratching, there was biting, and there were side swipes as each wolf fought to pin the other to the ground.
Angelina winced when the grey wolf bit down hard on the other's hind leg, making him yelp loudly. The yelping faded to whimpering until the grey wolf yanked hard with his powerful jaws, snapping the sandy wolf's leg. Damn, that had to hurt. When the injured wolf tried scooping himself off the floor, the other wolf slammed into him and knocked him onto his back. Then, in a typical wolf shifter killing move, the grey wolf slashed open his opponent's midsection with his claws and simultaneously closed his jaws around his throat. With one sharp yank, he'd torn out his challenger's throat.
As much as it had seemed like forever before it was over, it couldn't have taken more than a minute for the feral wolf to have overpowered the sandy wolf. Overpowered was a mild word. Hell, the grey wolf had the other's lifeless body by the throat, shaking it like a rag doll while growling loudly.
Several more minutes went by and the grey wolf continuing to attack the carcass, showing no signs of tiring or calming or any willingness to part with it. It was clear that he wasn't coming out of his feral state any time soon.
"One of us is going to have to do something," said Angelina.
Daniel shrugged. "When he gets like this, you just have to leave him to tire himself out."
Trick nodded. "At least he hasn't charged at any of us this time."
"But he's injured, I need to heal him and I can't while he's in wolf form." She was going to regret this, she knew she was. "Let me see if I can calm him down."
"Whoa, now hang on a minute," began Daniel, palms out to ward her off. "Angelina, you can see the state he's in, right? That's not Jasson. He's buried way down deep, very much aware of what's going on, but with no way of taking control for as long as his wolf is feral. If you go near him, he'll see you as a threat and he'll attack you just as he would anyone else."
She rolled her eyes, implying he was being dramatic. In actuality, he was dead on. "He won't hurt me. I know it's not Jasson, I know his wolf is in control, but his wolf considers me his mate just as Jasson does."
"She's got a point," said Trick, sighing. "She's the person he's least likely to hurt. He usually shows signs of calming by now."
"His mate was threatened. That's why he's like this." Michael gestured at him, as anxious and fidgety as the others. Whenever an Guardian was unstable it leaked out into the pack link.
"I can't just stand here." When Daniel again blocked her path she growled. "Move out of my way."
"Angelina, come on, I'm Fighter he'll kill me if something happens to you."
"And I'm temporarily Guardian female, which means I outrank you, but even if I wasn't Guardian, I'd still expect you to move the hell out of my way. So do it."
"What if he hurts you? It'll distress him to know he's harmed his mate. Have you thought about that?"
She huffed impatiently. "He won't hurt me."
"You're sure about that?"
Of course not. "Yes, I'm sure. Now move."
Finally he did, signalling for the others to give her some space, but without going too far. Very slowly she took a few steps toward the wolf. She knew there was no point in calling Jasson's name and appealing for him to come back. The wolf wouldn't respond to the name, wouldn't understand the words. The only way that Jasson could overcome his wolf was if his wolf came down from his feral state. And that wasn't going to happen until she got him away from that carcass. The smell of the blood would only be making him worse.
As she couldn't exactly go over there and snatch away his prize, she decided her best bet might be to distract him from it. As an idea formed in her mind, she removed her denim jacket and balled it up. Hoping like hell this worked and didn't just act like a red flag to a bull, she gently threw the jacket so that it landed to the side of the carcass. Instantly the feral wolf dived on the jacket as though it was a rabbit or a hare. Picking it up with his jaws, he shook it just like he had the carcass.