Claimed, but not by my Mate

Chapter Four

James was seething as he watched Braize lean her head up to give Ryder the kiss he had asked for. He had been outside trying to clear his head of the days happenings when he heard her scream. His heart had sped up in his chest as he raced towards the sound, hoping and praying that she wasn’t in pain.

He had been pleased for a second when he found her well before Ryder came into view and the small smile he had allowed on his lips vanished in an instant, replaced with a scowl. It became a murderous glare when he threw his arm around her and now he was having trouble controlling his wolf and if Ryder didn’t stop now he was going to shift.

His anger flew through the roof at his request and in a split second he shifted, watching as she stood there kissing him he was ready to kill him. She belonged to him and no one else. No one.

*

“Thank you.” Ryder said as he pulled away and I rolled my eyes and hugged him.

“Happy birthday Ryder.” I said and heard a loud growl behind us. In a second Ryder had me behind his back and was in a protective stance.

“Calm down James.” Ryder said and the wolf, James, growled deeply again. “Step away from me, back towards the trees.” Ryder said and I did, reaching them as Ryder shifted.

They began to circle each other, Ryder never allowing James too far.  They were growling lowly at each other and they stopped for a bit and I thought it was over. Taking a step toward Ryder James suddenly lunged at him with his jaws snapping at Ryder’s neck.

I cried out in alarm and stepped back, cowering behind the tree. They continued to snap and claw at each other. I knew Ryder was strong but James seemed even stronger. Ryder had James pinned below him and I could see just how mad he was, mad enough to kill.

“Ryder don’t.” I called and his head snapped to me, his eyes ablaze in anger. I felt my eyes go wide and stepped back again. Ryder snapped his head back to James and growled lowly before shifting back. I turned my head quickly so as not to see anything I didn’t want to.

“Come on, let’s go.” Ryder said grabbing my arm roughly and pulling me along through the trees.

“What happened back there?”

“He challenged me. Again, for you.” He said, his teeth tightly clenched

“I thought you said it was a battle to the death.”

“It is but it can have many rounds. I submitted to this one which means he has one over me but I’ll take it.” He said, his grip loosening on my arm.

We walked or a bit in silence before I spoke again.

“Thank you, for stopping.”

“Thank you for stopping me. I would have killed him had I had the chance.” He said and I shuddered at the thought. Ryder let go of my arm suddenly and I looked around in alarm, only to find he had shifted back into a wolf. He was once again in a position, signalling for me to climb on his back. We were off in a blinding speed after I had climbed on his back, and we arrived at my place seconds later.

“Are they still here?” I asked Ryder and he cocked his ears forward before shaking his head. “Is mom waiting in the living room?” Ryder nodded his head this time and I sighed, glancing at my window on the second floor.

“Sneaking in?” Ryder asked and I jumped and realized he had shifted back.

“Yeah.” I said and headed for the tree that grew against the house. I loved that mom had a thing for decorating but sometimes she wasn’t very smart with it, putting a tree right up against the house that was easily climbable wasn’t very smart.