Horace got up in Devin’s face as soon as the door closed behind her.
“What were you thinking? You could’ve killed her!”
Devin squeezed his eyes shut. It didn’t stop the memory from replaying. Lena falling and not getting to her in time. The fight, the rage, and the betrayal in her eyes. The scent of her fear filled his nostrils. Her pained cries echoed in his ears. And the blood…
“I wasn’t thinking. It was Edmund’s descendants who were trying to buy Molly. That knowledge pushed me to the edge, but when one of the Krisban males hurt Lena, I lost my grip on reality.” Devin opened his eyes and met the wolf shifter’s gaze. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. She got in the way.”
Horace backed up and scrubbed a hand down his face. “So you mated her to save her life?”
“Yes.”
“How far did you take it? Did you take a piece of her soul too?”
Devin’s cats stirred. Something about Horace’s tone bothered them. Devin studied the other male, looking for the reason behind their unease but seeing none. “What does it matter to you?”
“Just answer me.”
“Why?”
Horace smirked. “Because.”
There was interest in Horace’s expression. That was what had prompted the question. The wolf Royal wanted to steal her away.
Devin advanced on him until they were face-to-face. “It’s none of your business. That female”—he waved toward the bedroom Lena had retreated to—“is mine. You come between us, and I’ll rip your head off.”
“I don’t have to. Lena came to me.” A sneer spread over Horace’s face. “And when she does the next time you anger her, I’ll welcome her with open arms. It’ll take a lot more than smelling your stench on her to stop me from taking her to my bed.”
He lunged at Horace, but Kade blocked Devin from attacking the other male. “Enough, Horace. Devin is right. Stay out of this.”
A flush stained Horace’s cheeks. “Don’t call me by that awful name.”
Xander pushed off from the section of the wall he’d been leaning against. He brushed a hand over his favorite T-shirt with its advertisement for Josh’s bar. Splatters of blood dotted it. “Why? Horace Vladimir Winchester is a good, strong name. Your pappy would roll over in his grave if he heard you say that.”
Horace cringed. “It’s not good when you’re a wolf trying to fit in with humans. Lena’s stepdad gave me the nickname, Vader. It stuck. That’s what I go by now.”
“So you know Lena from working with her dad?” Devin asked.
Horace—aka Vader—gave him a scathing look as he blatantly let his disgust show. Claws sprang from the male’s hands and blood dripped from where he impaled his own palms with the sharp talons.
“Yes, Lena and I are close.”
Devin watched the other male pace, his strides quickening with each loop around the bar, and an ugly suspicion grew. “How close?”
Vader pivoted and took a threatening step forward. “It means she’s important to me, and I will not allow any male to keep her unless she’s willing. Mate or not.”
“You don’t have the right. She wears my bite. Not yours.”
“Yeah? Are you invoking mating law?” Vader grinned. “’Cause that’ll only help me. She’ll see me as her savior when I get her away from you, and reward me properly.”
Kade stepped into Devin’s line of sight before he could respond to Vader. Kade didn’t touch Devin, but his tense body suggested it took a lot not to.
“Remember your plan. After seeing what happened here, I agree it’s a good one.”
Devin nodded, then walked toward the bathroom. “Keep Vader away from my female. I’m going to get a shower.”