Heart of Stone (Part III)

III. Chapter 27 | Part 2 - Stone

Jackson took the punch like an alpha.

He staggered back, blood gushing from between his fingers as he clutched his nose in both hands, groaning as Stone shook the pain from his knuckles.

A cacophony of noise struck Stone as the anger-induced haze dissipated some, enough for him to gather his bearings.

The werewolves were howling and shouting, pounding against the doors in a futile attempt to break it down.

Yanking on his arm, Aubree was yelling, pleading with him to stop. Her attempts to hold him were pitiful at best, but he let her pull him a few steps back before getting into position again. Feet spread apart, hunched forward, one fist taut before him, the other reaching back to protect and keep Aubree safely behind him in case Jackson lunged.

The werewolf hissed under his breath, cursing repeatedly as blood continued to seep from his nose. With a grunt, Jackson snapped his nose back into place before another stream of curses tumbled from his lips.

The noise from outside the sound-proof walls lessened to inaudible murmurs.

Aubree swore up a storm at him. "I can't believe you just did that! How could you do that, Stone? Apologize right now!"

A growl erupted from his throat. Apologize? He had it coming.

"No, Aubree—Luna—I should be apologizing to you and your mate," Jackson said between his fingers as he continued to clutch his nose, waiting for the blood to stop with his slow healing capabilities.

She huffed. "What? No! That was completely unnecessary!"

"I deserved it and he needed to release his rage. See? He's much calmer now, right, Alpha?"

Another growl rumbled, but Stone nodded. "A bit."

He was calmer, but he didn't have to let Jackson know that.

"Still," Aubree argued, "it wasn't necessary! If you had just left the room and given us some space, I could've calmed him down."

Jackson loosened the black tie around his neck before slipping out of the jacket of his business suit and setting it down on the table. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I deserved it for what I did to you."

"Oh, for the love of..." Aubree groaned, before stepping around Stone with her hands on her hips. "It happened a long time ago. I moved on from it. Heck, it was mostly my fault to begin with!"

Stone grabbed her arm to pull her back behind him, but she swatted him away.

"You're over-reacting!" she snapped at him, which earned her a growl in response.

Jackson wiped the blood on his face with the sleeve of his white button-up shirt. "I touched you when you were off-limits."

She rolled her eyes. "And how was any of us supposed to know that I was Stone's mate, huh?"

He shook his head slowly. "Even then, you were off-limits as Brooke's friend." He reached up to cradle his face, grimacing. "Shit, that smarts."

"Stone, apologize," Aubree ordered.

Jackson raised a hand. "Luna, it's fine. He held back."

"What do you mean, 'he held back?' He broke your freaking nose!"

"If a lycan used his full strength, he would have killed me. Crushed my skull with one blow, right, Alpha?"

Stone nodded. Truth was, Aubree was the one who held him back. He lost control of his rage. The strength of her soul held the strength of his body back.