Reina's Mate (9 page)

I waited.

Come on.

Someone needed to try.

I waited a few more heartbeats.

When nobody stepped forward, I slid down the
tree before I could think about it too clearly.

“
Griff? What are you
doing? Fuck!”

Reina scrambled down after me and grabbed my
arm, whirling me around.

“
I'll do it.”

I pulled her back before she could take more
than one step.

“
No, I will. We both know
I have a better shot at beating him.” Reina's jaw clenched, her
face set in a mutinous expression. “Look, this is the best way to
avoid more deaths. And if you try and fail, there's nobody that
could fill your shoes. The pack needs you.”

“
It doesn't have to be
you,” she said, gripping my arms.

“
Yeah, it does. They were
right that I just abandoned the pack before. This is my chance to
make up for that.” I leaned in and kissed her hard, taking her face
in my hands. The face that I'd hopefully be waking up to for years
to come. “I love you.”

She grabbed my wrists, leaning her forehead
against mine.

“
I love you too.” She took
in a deep, shuddering breath. “Go kick his ass.”

I smirked.

“
Yes, Alpha.”

She let out a strained laugh.

I got to the edge of the crowd and people
turned to look at me as I started shouldering my way through.

A murmur went up as I broke out into the
small clearing with Manny.

He had size and strength on me, something I
wasn't usually accustomed to compensating for. It didn't even help
much that he'd just finished a fight. He wasn't winded and the last
couple days hadn't exactly been a walk in the park for me. I was
battered but there wasn't any help for it.

Life rarely stopped so you could take a
breath.

Manny glared at me, his nostrils flaring as
he took a step toward me.

“
I challenge
you.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the
silence that followed. I got the feeling our people were as shocked
as his.

“
Bring it, boy,” he
snarled.

I needed to fight smart. He was a vicious
opponent.

We circled each other. I let Manny's glare
slide off me, settling into a focused place that didn't have room
for something as trivial as fear.

I waited for him to come at me and he didn't
disappoint.

I dodged, not wanting to block unless I
absolutely had to. His blows would be as massive as he was.

After a few more tries and misses, he moved
back and circled again.

Alright, speed was on my side. I figured my
best bet was to tire him out before I went in for the kill.

And I had no illusions about the fact that I
would be going in to kill. We couldn't afford to leave him
alive.

I waited and eventually he got tired of
waiting for me to make a move.

And again, I wasn't where he needed me to be
for the blows to land.

I could see the frustrated impatience in his
face and in the way he was moving.

Good. That could only work in my favor.

We went through a few more rounds, me
conserving my energy and him getting more and more frustrated.

It would be time to make my move soon.

But I made the mistake of thinking this
would be an honorable fight.

I didn't think about the zealots Bar had
mentioned.

Something hit me hard in the back of my
right knee and I turned instinctively, off-balance.

It was a large rock. The guard that Manny
had just been dangling by the neck a few minutes ago
straightened.

That was all the distraction Manny
needed.

The blow hit me in the back of the head,
turning my whole body and leaving me too dazed to do anything as I
felt him pick me up.

The night air whizzed passed me and I hit a
tree with a meaty crunch that had me wincing before I even felt the
pain.

Fuck.

I looked up to see Manny casually walking
toward me, a smirk on his face that could only mean bad things for
me.

Chapter 7

Reina

I watched as Griff hurtled through the air,
his flight stopped by a sturdy tree that shook under the impact of
his body.

Oh, God.

I moved through the crowd toward him.

Fuck this. That was a clear cheat.

There was no way I had it in me to stand by
and watch him be taken apart.

I reached the sniveling brown-noser that had
thrown the rock.

He was smallish.

Tapping him on the shoulder, I waited for
him to turn around with a questioning look on his face.

“
Mind if I borrow
you?”

His eyes widened in recognition right before
I sunk my whole weight into the right hook.

Dazed, he was easy enough to pick up
now.

Just looking to even the odds.

Picking him up over my head, I strained as I
aimed.

And flung him hard right at Manny's
head.

I watched as he went flying in a tumble of
arms and legs.

Manny went down with a surprised yell.

Griffith

I blinked as I watched a body hurtle into
Manny.

Following the man's trajectory backwards, I
locked eyes with Reina. She shrugged.

That startled a chuckle out of me.

Which immediately made me wince as my ribs
protested.

I used the tree to force myself to my feet.
Lying there was a death sentence. Though at least Manny looked a
little worse for wear due to the human torpedo that had been
launched at him.

I knew I'd be replaying that moment over and
over again in my head.

But I'd have to make sure I survived this so
I could kiss Reina silly.

Taking shallow breaths, I put the pain aside
and focused on Manny.

Thanks to Reina, I was on my feet and moving
by the time Manny had thrown the guy off and gotten to his
feet.

If I was that idiot, I'd run for cover.
Tonight was definitely not his night.

Alright, new plan. Go in hard. I didn't have
it left in me to wait while Manny got tired out.

Claws out, I attacked.

He blocked my first few blows, but he
couldn't quite keep up with my speed and I was able to get a solid
blow in.

But I didn't stop there.

I needed to capitalize, not give him a
chance to recover.

I ignored the flashing pain in my ribs as I
aimed for his throat and groin, but took shots in between where
ever I could.

He caught my wrist in a vise-like grip and
hammered a blow into my already aching ribs.

The pain was white hot, rolling through me
in a nauseating wave.

Fighting through it, I went for the family
jewels, which he'd left wide open.

With a pained exhalation, he let go of me
and I stumbled back, cradling my injured side.

Manny was covered in his own blood, the
slices I'd gotten in bleeding him faster because of his elevated
heart rate.

This was it. I needed to end it before I
passed out from the pain.

Moving forward, I clenched his hair in my
hand, the back of his head easily accessible from his bent over
position.

I sliced through the side of his neck just
as he dug his claws into my thigh and ripped them out with a chunk
of me.

I pushed back, slapping a hand over the hole
he'd made.

Shit.

But I'd gotten him.

He straightened with a hand over his neck,
taking a few steps toward me.

His eyes looked surprised as he slowly fell
to his knees, the blood gushing out of him.

He fell to his side, his mouth opening to
take in a shallow breath even as his eyes slowly dulled.

Nobody moved as he died in front of us.

Well, nobody but Reina.

“
Move your hand,” she
barked out, a strip of cloth in her hand.

I moved my hand.

She cursed as the wound on my thigh kept
bleeding freely. He'd missed the artery or I would have already
joined him on the ground.

But I might still meet him down there for a
cuddle session judging by the way my body was starting to sway.

Reina tied the bandage tightly over my thigh
before wrapping my arm around her shoulders and guiding me through
the crowd.

“
Hey! You can't take him-
that's our new Alpha!”

Reina snarled at the speaker.

“
He's my mate first. And
he needs medical attention.”

The crowd parted quickly as a petite, older
women with a snow white short mop of hair strode forward in a
competent manner.

I let my head fall down, the effort of
keeping it up too much for me at the moment.

That's what he said.

Ha ha.

Man, I was really out of it.

“
I'm Dr. Ingram. I can
treat him.”

Reina paused, her grip on my hip almost
painful.

“
Fine. But if you try
anything, I have no problem ripping you apart. Slowly. Got it?” she
growled, the deep, menacing rumble not one I'd heard from her
before.

Reina was threatening an old lady? On my
behalf?

How sweet.

At least my head was ducked so nobody could
see the ridiculous smile I knew I had plastered on my face.

That was when my body decided
unconsciousness was the route to take.

Good call body.

Reina

I watched Dr. Ingram with a narrow eyed
stare as she worked.

Griffith had broken ribs, a concussion,
various cuts and bruises, and a chunk missing from his thigh that
was apparently only a hair away from where it would have killed
him.

My heart squeezed painfully as I thought
about that.

“
No need to growl at me,
young woman. Your mate will be just fine in a few days, thanks to
me. You're welcome.”

“
Thanks,” I said dryly,
moving in closer so I could touch Griff's hand as it lay limply on
the white bed sheet.

“
He needs to rest. I'll be
in to check on him in a short while.” She gave me a stern look. “No
shenanigans.”

Before I could reply, she shut the door
firmly behind her.

What did she think I was going to do? Molest
his unconscious body?

I pulled up a chair and sat down next to the
bed, letting my head fall down to rest on our entwined hands.

He was going to be OK.

I let that mantra sink into me as I closed
my eyes.

He was going to be OK.

Griffith

I opened my eyes.

And then immediately wished I hadn't.

Everything hurt.

Fuck,
breathing
hurt.

I switched over to shallow breaths.

Swallowing when I got the pain under
control, I looked over to my left.

Reina's hand was holding mine tightly, her
head resting on the bed. Her dark hair covered the side of her
face.

She was fast asleep.

Something inside me relaxed a fraction at
having her next to me, safe.

Manny was dead. I remembered that much
clearly.

But that also meant I was an Alpha now.

Fuck.

Reina stirred.

I must have said that out loud.

She raised her head, her bleary eyes
sharpening quickly as she saw that I was awake.

The relief in them was clear.

“
How are you feeling?” she
asked, putting her hand lightly on my chest.

Which made me realize I was completely naked
under this sheet. And that I had no idea where I was.

“
Like I got pounded on by
a psychopath. Where are we?”

“
Dr. Ingram's clinic.
She's their pack doctor.” She paused for a moment. “I guess she's
your pack doctor.”

“
Shit. I did not think
this through.”

She grinned.

“
Come on. It's great.
People never leave you alone. You're ultimately responsible for
every problem no matter how big or small. Some people will always
hate you, no matter how hard you try. Oh, and don't forget the
threat of death every time someone thinks they can take you and
want your job.”

“
Ha ha. I could just
forfeit it and let someone else have the headache.”

Sounded good to me.

She sobered a little.

“
Real deal? This is the
best scenario in terms of logistics. We can have an alliance, we
don't need the buffer zone, and we can more than double resources.
It's kind of a win win.”

“
Doesn't feel like it to
me,” I grumbled.

“
Plus, if you forfeit,
what if one of those maniacs ends up in power? We might be worse
off than when Manny was in charge.”

Fuck.

She had a point.

But how was I supposed to be an Alpha? Hell,
I hadn't even been part of a pack for years.

The only reason I had joined again was for
Reina. And I'd taken the position as Second for that same
reason.

I could handle cracking some skulls and
getting shit done for her.

But being in charge of everything?

“
I think I'm breaking out
in hives.”

“
Don't wimp out now. You
just took out the boogeyman. You can do this. I'll help
you.”

I had a thought.

“
Why don't we just merge
the packs? You can take charge.”

Ha! Brilliant plan.

“
But you're the one who
got rid of Manny. Even if some don't like you, you have a
legitimate claim. Even those who aren't thrilled about an outsider
taking over have to admit that. And no, I'm not fighting you and
letting you throw it. It would be too obvious.”