Page 10 of Claiming Lyla

He stumbled over her, the blood raining down on her. With a choking cry, he collapsed to his knees and stared at her in shock, blood spurting from the deep gashes where she caught him. She stood over him, panting heavily, and sensed Duncan next to her. Scott tried to speak but the wounds in his throat were too deep, he was losing blood too quickly and he toppled over, the life draining from him. The last sight he saw was of his sister standing over him in victory.

When Scott had finally collapsed, eyes closed, Duncan wrapped her in his arms and pulled her close. She shook, her breath coming in shuddering pants as she reacted to the fight. She rested her head on his naked chest, needing the reassurance of his heartbeat against her skin. For several long minutes they stood there, lost in their embrace, taking comfort from each other, as they both realized what they could have lost.

Finally, she pulled back and stared up at him. “Is it over?”

“Not exactly.” A crisp voice spoke from behind them. “What part of staying out of it did you not understand?”

Chapter Seven

Duncan held Lyla close, loathe to let her leave his arms. He had almost lost her for the second time in twenty-four hours and his wolf was royally pissed off. He desperately needed to get her somewhere safe, somewhere he could protect her, where she wasn’t surrounded by enemies everywhere. But before he could do that, he had to deal with the fucking Council.

He glared over her shoulder at Simon Henry, his contact with the Council and the Alpha everyone assumed would become the next Supreme Alpha. But right about now, Duncan didn’t care how powerful the other male was. He was too close to Duncan’s mate and he was threatening her. Duncan growled low, warning off the other man, his mating fever coming back as a result of the fight, the threat to his mate, and the nearness of her.

Ryan, his jeans hastily pulled on and buttoned, stepped between them, putting his hands up to ward off Simon. He spoke softly to the other man, who never took his eyes off of Duncan but he did step back a few feet to give Duncan space. Ryan tossed Duncan his jeans and he gratefully slipped into them, feeling a bit more armed for the discussion.

“You got here quickly,” Duncan said.

“And you couldn’t wait?”

“No, they were trading the women. If we had waited even an hour, they would have been long gone. Some of the girls were barely eighteen.” Lyla spoke up, her eyes flashing fire at him.

Simon arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “You are the one who notified us about this situation?”

She folded her arms in front of her. “And you’re the one who ignored it. I’ve sent letters for months. It’s only in the past couple of months that we’ve seen actions. When Duncan and Ryan came. They did something while you all sat on your alpha asses and covered for another alpha.”

Duncan avoided Ryan’s look and stifled a laugh. Simon drew himself up indignantly and glared at her. “I beg your pardon? We had to investigate.”

“And how many women died while youinvestigated? Oh wait, they were human so it didn’t matter, did it?”

Simon narrowed his gaze then turned his attention to Duncan. “You should get control of your mate before she says something she’ll regret.”

Duncan shrugged. “She hasn’t said anything that isn’t true or that I don’t agree with. And I don’t control my mate any more than you control Martha. She’s my partner, not my slave.”

Simon flushed. “We got here as fast as we could. We hadn’t been aware that it had devolved this badly. Be assured, if we had known this, we would have censured him.”

Lyla snorted. “Big deal. A slap on the wrist. Like that would have mattered.”

Simon glanced past her at the cooling body of her brother. “And killing him was the solution?”

“How would you have handled it?”

Duncan smirked at Simon, seeing the other man uncomfortable. Yeah, he enjoyed seeing Simon taken down a few pegs. The other man was too high and mighty sometimes and needed a reminder of life outside of the Council. His own mate would agree with that, and if they ever introduced Martha and Lyla, there would be serious plotting going on.

Simon sighed. “He would have been removed as Alpha.”

Lyla smiled. “Well, I handled that for you, without the messy paperwork and need for a trial. Now, you get to figure out who can take over for him because honestly, the pack is a clusterfuck of epic proportions and I’m going home with my mate, right, Duncan?”

He smothered a laugh and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her head. “I love you, you crazy bitch.”

She turned and stared pointedly at her brother. “Just remember what I can do.”

Duncan grinned. “No reminder needed. I love you. Now, let’s go home.” He paused. “Wait, we have one stop. We have to help Ryan get his mate.”

“Will there be a fight?”

Ryan turned to them, a gleam in his eye. “Most likely.”

She grinned and pulled Duncan close. “Good. But first, I’d like some time with my mate. Alone and not in a forest please.”