The black wolf licked her face in answer.
Sylvan sighed and rested her muzzle on top of Drake’s shoulder, tucking Drake’s head securely beneath her chin. The frenzy was gone.
She felt satisfied, content. Drake was safe, and she would keep her that way.
Niki was driven to her knees by a barrage of power that blasted from the infirmary. Then she heard Sylvan roar in agony. Sylvan was in danger. The Alpha needed her. She burst inside and raced down the hall. Elena blocked the door to Drake’s room. “You can’t—”
“Move,” Niki shouted.
“No.” Elena braced her back against the closed door.
Driven by instinct, Niki was past reason, and Elena was preventing her from getting to her Alpha. Niki grabbed Elena’s shoulders and jerked her aside. Elena cried out and blood welled beneath Niki’s hands where her claws gouged flesh. Before Niki could force her way into the sickroom, she was tackled and knocked violently to the floor.
She landed on her back, a knee driving into her stomach and an arm crushing her throat. An enraged male with canines flashing snarled in her face. Roger. Elena’s mate.
“Roger,” Elena cried. “No.”
Niki locked on Roger’s face and let her eyes go wolf. He was a beta Were, far less dominant than her. He was challenging her, preventing her from protecting the Alpha. She would kill him. She showed her canines in warning.
“Niki!” Sophia cried, dropping to her knees beside the struggling pair. She had heard the snarls and growls from across the courtyard in the barracks where she’d been waiting for word of Drake and come running. “Roger is protecting his mate. Niki, he’s protecting Elena.” Niki ignored Sophia, her gaze locked on Roger. Roger didn’t relent, holding the challenge. Niki’s eyes burned hunter green. Roger wasn’t strong enough to fight her in skin form, and he wasn’t dominant enough to shift quickly. But Niki didn’t need to shift—she could snap his neck with her bare hands. She gathered herself to throw him off, to kill him and restore order.
Panicked, Elena wrapped her arms around Roger’s shoulders from behind and pressed her cheek to the top of his head. Her voice quavered.
“Roger, darling. Release the imperator. Please, darling. Let her go.”
“Niki, it’s the mate bond,” Sophia whispered, her mouth close to Niki’s ear, her breath soft and warm. She slipped her arm between Roger and Niki and rubbed Niki’s chest and belly. “He’s not challenging you.”
Niki growled. “Let me go.”
“No,” Sophia murmured. She licked Niki’s neck. Niki tasted wild and hot, her aggression so high Sophia wanted to roll onto her back and give Niki her belly. She wanted Niki to climb onto her and take her. She tried to keep her focus on calming Niki and saving Roger’s life. “I know you want to fight, but you don’t need to. You absorbed the Alpha’s call, Niki—that’s what’s making you wild. You don’t need to fight Roger.”
Niki shuddered, Sophia’s caresses dulling the pain she’d been carrying since Sylvan locked herself in with Drake, putting herself in danger and refusing Niki’s protection.
“Tell Roger that Elena will be safe,” Sophia urged, rubbing her cheek on Niki’s. She pressed her breasts gently against Niki’s arm, and when Niki shuddered again, stroked her fingertips down the indentation dividing Niki’s rigid abs, tracing the feathery line of pelt that disappeared inside her waistband. “You don’t want to hurt him.” Sophia’s lips were soft against Niki’s face. So soft. Sophia’s touch soothed her raging wolf. Niki sought Sophia’s eyes. They were tender.
Strong. “Sophia?”
Sophia smiled as Niki’s eyes shifted back to forest green. “Hey. You scared Roger. Tell him it’s all right.”
“The Alpha—”
“I know.” Sophia brushed the corner of Niki’s mouth with hers.
“Take care of the others first. That’s what the Alpha would want.” Niki closed her eyes and turned her face into Sophia’s palm, breathing her scent. Sunshine and saplings. Fresh and pure. Then she caught Roger’s gaze.
“Stand down, wolf. Your mate will come to no harm.” Niki’s throat ached from the weight of Roger’s arm. She felt Sophia’s mouth on her neck, just the flick of her tongue, and the pain lessened.
Roger released the pressure on Niki’s neck and slid off, kneeling beside her, his head bowed. Elena pulled him back and slowly edged between him and Niki, watching Niki carefully. She would protect her mate with as much ferocity as he had protected her.
Sophia lingered by Niki’s side, overwhelmed by a powerful need to comfort her. Niki had almost been driven feral with the strain of absorbing the Alpha’s furious call. Niki was suffering and Sophia couldn’t bring herself to stop touching her. Her fingertips were suddenly damp and she realized Niki’s skin was sex-sheened. She was caressing a dominant Were and Niki was responding to her unintended invitation.
Sophia hastily removed her hand from Niki’s belly and jumped to her feet. Niki rose as Sophia retreated. She throbbed with endorphins and adrenaline, pulsing with sex frenzy, but she had other duties before she could find a female for a tangle. She turned her back to Sophia and gently cupped Elena’s chin. Elena’s blouse was blood streaked on both shoulders. “Are you badly hurt?”
“No. Your claws just caught me—it’s nothing serious,” Elena said. Rumbling quietly, Roger pulled Elena into his arms, her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face in her neck.
“I’m sorry.” Niki rubbed the backs of her fingers over Elena’s cheek, careful not to linger and set Roger off again. He would be desperate to claim her, to assure himself his mate was safe. The smallest thing would incite him until he’d taken her. “I didn’t intend to hurt you. But I have to see Sylvan.”
“Niki… Imperator…the Alpha said no one was to enter.” Niki clenched her fists and glowered at the closed door, blood flowing onto the floor as her claws sliced into her palms. “Did you hear her? Something’s wrong.”
“I’m not so certain,” Sophia said, carefully keeping distance between her and Niki. “I sense…calm. I think the Alpha’s storm has passed.”
“I don’t…” Niki took a deep breath, testing the air. Beneath the lingering frenzy, she detected a scent she didn’t recognize. A wolf? She shook her head, perplexed and uneasy. She went to the door. “I need to be sure.”
Niki heard a low warning growl as soon as she opened the door.
Quickly, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, putting a protective barrier between the Weres outside in the hall and whatever danger lurked in this room. Her breath came faster as she took in the scene on the bed. A huge silver wolf crouched over a large sleeping black one, guarding her.
Teeth bared, Sylvan growled again, her eyes glinting dangerously.
Slowly, Niki knelt down, careful not to look into the Alpha’s eyes.
“Are you all right?”
Yes.
Niki licked her lips, her throat dry. “Drake?”
She will be fine.
Niki wasn’t convinced, but she knew better than to challenge Sylvan now.
“What would you have me do?”
I scent your frenzy. What of your need?
“I need to be here.”
And I need you with me. Join us.
Drake might wake up rabid and savage her, but Niki would die before she would disobey her Alpha. She shifted and padded to the bed. Carefully, she jumped up and curled around Sylvan’s hindquarters, resting her chin on Sylvan’s flank. She whined and Sylvan took her muzzle in her mouth, biting gently before letting go. Instantly, the pain of the last few hours disappeared and the frenzy eased. She was by Sylvan’s side, where she belonged. Niki was at peace. She closed her eyes, her belly warmed by the Alpha’s heat, but the burning lower in her loins reminded her of the soft caress of a white wolf with brilliant blue eyes.