The Gamma’s Second Chance (Crescent Lake #3)

36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

CASSANDRA

Clawed hands wrap around my throat, and a female body tackles me to the ground. I hit it with a thud, the air punching from my lungs on impact. But years of practice have my body and my mind prepared for attacks like this, and I catch my breath with ease.

As soon as I do, I flip us, wincing against the pain in my not-quite-healed legs as I wrap them around her to counter our positions. The blonde she-wolf beneath me yelps, but I hold firm, grappling with her hands as she fights back.

She caught me by surprise at first, but it’s clear she has minimal training. Her attempts to escape my grasp on her grow more pathetic by the second. She glares at me, her teeth bared and her dark brown eyes filled with rage as she growls and snarls, thrashing underneath me.

Nolan rushes towards us, but Mason grabs his arms, stopping him from getting closer. “What is she doing outside?” Nolan asks with a snarl.

“I was taking her to the council representative’s car!”

Kimberly’s crazed noises cover any further conversation between them. Her hands continue their frantic flailing, the only part of her I can’t maintain control of. I toss and whip my body around to stay out of her reach, but she eventually grabs my loose hair, yanking it with all her strength and ripping strands from my head in the process. I wince and hiss through the pain, but I grit my teeth, because her attack and focus on my hair gives me the opening I need.

I grab her arms and twist her wrists together, pinning them above her head with one hand, my other at her neck with claws extended, aimed directly at her artery.

“Bitch,” she spits at me. “He should be mine. He is mine.”

All I can do is laugh at her. “You’re delusional.”

My hand at her throat creeps closer, my extended claws scraping her skin. She stretches her neck and whimpers. Her eyes widen as I break the skin, a bead of blood forming and dripping down to the ground beneath her. I laugh again, leaning over her more, drawing my claw down her neck in a straight line, extending that superficial cut. “Even before you rejected him, he was never yours.”

She jerks herself away from my claw as I pierce deeper into her flesh, but I lift my knee higher, slam it down, and slide it next to her head, pushing hard against her skull so she can’t lean away to avoid the impending injury. She squeezes her eyes shut, and with a trembling body and a piercing pitch, she shrieks, “Yield! I yield!”

My lycan curls her lip, unsatisfied with her surrender, but as soon as the words leave her mouth, Nolan lifts me off her and takes me several steps away from where we fought. His hands cup my cheeks, and he scans my body frantically, his brows furrowed and his eyes filled with worry.

“Are you all right?” he asks, keeping me close to him, hovering over me and shielding me from the world, and I nod in response. “Did she hurt you?”

“No,” I say.

He exhales in relief and drops his forehead to mine, eyes closing. His fingers weave into the hair at my nape, and his other hand trails down my neck, fingertips circling my mark, as if he’s reassuring himself that it’s still there. I arch my neck higher, submitting to him and confirming his claim on me, and he swallows, aligning his hips with mine as he continues to trace my mark.

The sensual, possessive touch sends unfathomable shivers of delight skittering across my skin, shivers that extend to my very soul. Growling, I rise onto my toes and kiss him, curling my hands into his shirt.

This male is mine, and I want anyone who is watching to know it.

The kiss is passionate, but brief, Nolan tearing his lips from mine after only a few seconds. Tension builds under his skin, his muscles rippling, and he takes my hand in his.

“I need to get you away from her,” he murmurs, the concern from his eyes working its way into the timbre of his voice. “You’re not safe around her,” he adds, leading me towards the packhouse.

His long strides are difficult to keep pace with, and I have to jog to keep up with him. But we only make it five paces towards the house when he roars and whirls around, his hand flying out and catching a charging Kimberly by the throat. His momentum keeps him spinning, and he throws her to the ground, landing with his knee in her gut and both hands around her neck. Behind us, Mason crouches on the ground, hunched over and covering his groin with one hand and wiping dirt from his eyes with his other hand.

Kimberly claws at Nolan’s arms, eyes bulging, but he slams her against the ground again. “How dare you try to attack my mate after you’d already surrendered!”

Her lip trembles, and she pushes it out into a fake pout. “But I’m your mate!”

Nolan growls and tightens his grip on her neck. “You are nothing to me,” he says to her in a low voice. “And I will not hesitate to end your life like you tried to end hers.”

My lycan and I both warm at his possessive and protective claim on us, a pulse of desire running through me. But I can’t help but laugh a little as well. “She has minimal training, Nolan. There’s no way she would have done enough damage to kill me either time, even by catching me off guard.”

Instead of being reassured, he doubles down on his relentless hold on Kimberly. “I’m not talking about now. I’m talking about the bomb. The one she set in our alpha and luna’s hotel room.” Kimberly freezes, her frantic squirming beneath Nolan coming to a complete halt, her eyes widening. “That’s right. We know you set the bomb. But you made a mistake, Kimberly. That room wasn’t Cassandra’s.”

Kimberly shakes her head and starts fighting his grip again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she insists, her voice squeaking and trembling and her heart thundering with her lie.

Nolan smirks at her. “Sure you do.”

She lifts her chin in defiance. “Enlighten me.”

Nolan licks his lips and shakes his head, his knee pressing harder into her stomach and his claws extending. Each one scrapes over her flesh, leaving behind ten slices identical to the one I gave her only minutes before.

“I’m still filling in the gaps, but I think I’ve got most of it figured out,” he says. “You came to California after your alpha figured out you’ve been lying to him for seven years. You hoped to find me, expecting I’d still be hung up on Rachel and willing to take you back. But instead, you saw me with Cassandra, in love and happier than I’ve ever been in my life. You tracked her scent to a hotel room and placed a bomb inside, then waited to show up here and make it all seem like a coincidence.”

My jaw drops open and my heart races in my chest as Nolan relays his theories to her, my hands shaking as I curl them into fists at my side. “How’d she know we were at the ball, though?” I ask. “And how’d she get the bomb and get into Haven and Wesley’s room?”

Nolan’s brow furrows, but his attention doesn’t leave Kimberly, ensuring she stays where he has her, even though there is no way out of his hold on her. “Those are the missing pieces I can’t fill in either.”

“And you’ll never be able to,” Kimberly says, giving us a pompous grin. “You can’t force me to confess.”

“He can’t. But I can.”

Haven strolls up beside me, her steps slow and casual but her eyes icy and harsh as she approaches Kimberly and glares down at her, Wesley right behind her with his hand resting on her lower back. Her aura flows out of her. The silvery starlight sparkles and swirls in the air, dancing around Wesley, Mason, Nolan, and me as it heads towards Kimberly. It hovers above her, coalescing and waiting for Haven to let it loose on her.

“Luna!” Kimberly exclaims, staring at her with pleading, pain-filled eyes. “Thank Selene you are here. Tell your gamma to unhand me!” she demands, seemingly oblivious to Haven’s words and the aura flowing from her.

Haven arches a brow at her. “Just moments ago, you attacked Cassandra and claimed he was your mate. Now you don’t even want him to touch you. Which is it?”

“I do want him. He is mine,” she says, backpedaling. “But he’s hurting me. You’re hurting me, Nolan,” she repeats, switching her focus to him. “How can you hurt your mate?” she asks him in a small, desperate voice as she reaches for his face.

He growls at her, baring his teeth and his fangs, his claws digging into the flesh of her neck, and she flinches in fear, her entire body shivering. “You’re not my mate!”

“Please, Luna,” Kimberly begs, whimpering, a large, crocodile tear leaking from her eye. “Please help me.”

Haven smiles serenely, her hands folded in front of her. The starlight continues to swirl from her, lighting her up from within. My instincts tell me to absorb it, to hide it from the world, but Wesley catches my eye and shakes his head. Just once, but it’s enough for me to detect and rein in my instinct to guard Haven from those we don’t trust.

“Nolan,” Haven intones, her face grave but her eyes giving a brief glint of amusement. “Please keep our guest pinned to the ground until I subdue her.”

Nolan smirks. “Yes, Luna.”

Kimberly sputters and thrashes against Nolan’s tightening grip and the press of his weight over her. “Subdue me?” she screeches, finally catching on to Haven’s phrasing. “How will you subdue me? You’re just a—”

“Hold still and stay on the ground,” Haven says, lifting her chin, looking every inch the regal luna she is, with or without Selene’s blood, releasing the full power of her aura and pressing it down on Kimberly. Kimberly immediately freezes. Her eyes widen and she gapes at Haven.

“You messed with the wrong pack.” Nolan’s nostrils flaring as he rises to his feet and towers over Kimberly. “You have no idea who you’ve pissed off.”

He backs away from her and gestures to me to join him at his side, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Kimberly. I rush over to him and throw my arms around him, burying my face in his torso. His cardamom scent creeps into my nose and fills my lungs, soothing my worries and my soul. He snakes his arms around me, bringing me to his side and keeping me there with all his strength, all the while keeping his eyes on Kimberly, his guard still up.

Turning so my entire body faces him, I slide my hand up his chest and toss my hair over my shoulder so my neck is exposed. My ring sparkles in the sunlight, and my mark is on full display. Nolan covers my hand with his, lifting it and kissing my knuckles, even with his wary, protective gaze on Kimberly. She growls, but I don’t care. I continue to gaze at Nolan, letting my triumph and my love for him shine through my eyes.

“You will answer their questions,” Haven orders Kimberly. “And you will not lie.”

“Why did you come to California?” I ask.

Kimberly strains and shakes her head, her body trembling as she fights against Haven’s orders, but even the strongest lycan in our world wouldn’t be powerful enough to fight off Haven’s command. “I needed a mate. Someone with a higher rank who could take care of me and protect me.”

I growl at her response. “Do you hear yourself? It’s all about power for you. You don’t even care about Nolan or anyone except for yourself.”

“He is mine!”

I laugh. “You may have had a mate bond with him, but he was never yours. You wouldn’t have rejected him if he was.”

His fingers flex on my hip, and he angles me closer to him, pride radiating from him. “How did you know we were at the mating ball?” he asks.

She tries once more to resist, clamping her lips shut, but the aura compelling her to do as Haven says is too strong for her, and her mouth pops open with a gasp as she answers. “When I arrived in California, I looked Crescent Lake up on social media. Your pack members were posting about the ball, thanking Alpha Wesley and Luna Haven for finally taking the pack to one after so many years of not attending any. I knew if the luna was attending the ball, then the gamma would be there too, so I changed my course and headed to the hotel first instead of the pack.”

“And the bomb?” Nolan asks, and Wesley’s lip curls, his muscles tensing and his hold on Haven tightening. His arm slides around her waist and his hands rest over hers on her belly, protecting their unborn pup. “Where did you get it, and how did you get into the hotel room?”

“I saw you with her ,” she spits, glaring at me. “When I entered the hotel, you were all over her on the beautiful stairs in the lobby, tarnishing them with your vile display. After you went into the ball, I followed her scent to that room. I used the black web to find a group of rogues selling bombs nearby, and I bribed one of the poorly paid hotel employees to let me into the hotel room. I told her it was a friend’s room, and I wanted to set up a surprise for their birthday.”

“And you didn’t think about the bomb hurting Nolan when or if he went back to the room with me?” I shake my head, and her face falls as my words hit her and she realizes the major flaw in her plan. “You really are delusional.”

“Thank you, Luna Haven,” a male says from behind us. “I recorded the entire confession. I’m sending it to King Malachi now.”

We all glance at an older male with salt and pepper hair, who pockets his phone as he walks towards us. There is a royal council badge pinned to his sharp suit, and he unclips a pouch from his belt and pulls on a pair of gloves.

“Of course, Frederick.” Haven nods at him with a smile.

“I’ll take it from here,” he adds, producing silver cuffs from the pouch as he approaches Kimberly, where she lies prone on the ground.

None of us say another word. We all turn and head towards the packhouse, Wesley keeping Haven close and Nolan keeping me close. My lips twitch in a small, silent laugh, but it’s interrupted by a flash of blonde hair filling my vision and a growl filling my ears. I blink and both are gone, but with this being the third time it’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, I know it’s not a coincidence.

Not one second later, a growl echoes on the grounds for real. I whip my head around, and for a third time, Kimberly charges towards us. I can’t tell who she’s aiming for—Nolan, Haven, or me—but it doesn’t matter. I act before I have time to think about what I’m doing, grabbing her outstretched arm, wrenching it up and around behind her, and wrapping her in a chokehold until she passes out.

Everyone stares at her crumpled, unmoving body as it falls to the ground. My shoulders heave, and my hands tremble. Nolan wraps himself around me in a heartbeat, one arm across my middle and one across my shoulders, his face in my neck as my shaky hands grab his forearm, and I let out an unsteady breath.

“I didn’t know who she was going after,” I explain, even though no one asks me or seems perturbed by what I did. “I just reacted.”

“I’m so sorry, Frederick,” Haven says, feigning innocence, her hand resting on her chest just above her heart. “I thought you’d cuffed her already when I lifted my aura off her.”

Nolan laughs into my neck and Wesley ducks his head to her ear, whispering something to her that only she can hear. Her cheeks turn pink as Frederick shrugs and lifts Kimberly over his shoulder and takes off towards the parking lot. “Makes it easier for me to get her to the airport.”

Relief and exhaustion fill me in equal parts as we watch them leave. I lean back into Nolan’s warmth, letting him support me and keep me upright. With everything that’s happened since my birthday began, I am emotionally drained. The whirlwind of a day whipped me up, down, and sideways. But the warm press of Nolan’s chest on my back reminds me that no matter what, through it all, I’ll always have him.