Rejected Mate

Chapter 62

(unedited)

Rock

Hammer was dead. In the end it was so easy... he could hardly believe it was done.
He kept his eye on the Southern Alpha, but watched the corpse out of the corner of his eye expecting to see a twitch, or hear a groan, waiting for a sign that life was returning and that their nightmare was about to begin again.

"Well, that's one thing your mate is good for then, being a battery."

Rock snarled at the Alpha for speaking of his mate, the reaction primal rather than thought out, his wolf still close to the surface after the Challenge.
Battery? Was this a ploy to distract him? If so it was working because he had the nearly irresistible urge to check on Izzy. But he didn't dare take his eyes off the true threat, Rock had no illusions that the Alpha would do the honorable thing and leave him be to recover, and was braced for another attack from the Southerners.

Suddenly his muscles weakened and he swayed. His energy drained as if a switch had been turned off, and he realized what the male was talking about. 

"Izzy!"

He turned in time to see his mate crumple, but was too slow to catch her before she hit the ground.
Rock charged towards her, the guilt and remorse for using her making his chest hurt as he gathered her limp form up into his arms. He realized he must have been pulling through the revived mate bond in order to withstand Hammers dominance. He hadn't consciously chosen to siphon the spirit of his mate, but that was no excuse. If anything, it made him even more dangerous to her.

"While I'm happy Hammer is dead, it doesn't really change anything." The Southern Alpha piped up. "My vow remains, I'll annihilate this Pack. These are dead wolves walking."

Rock had nothing to say to the male, and instead felt for his mates pulse as he searched her face. Her heartbeat was barely there, just a light tap beneath the skin, and she was damp with cooling sweat, her face unusually pale. She was weak but here, and he felt some of the tension ease out of his shoulders. She wasn't safe, there was the Southern Alpha wanting to cull her (and the rest of them when they found out), but at least she was still alive to protect.
He kept his senses open, alert to any hint of approach, and stroked her cheek as he waited for her to regain consciousness. He wanted to take her away from there, hide her in the human world where the wolves wouldn't dare harm her, but he was too weak and dizzy even to take even a single step with her in his arms. 

"Hammer was a monster, and you are no better than him." Rock accused, his tight throat making his rough voice so raspy he was almost intelligible. "You can call it utu if you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you will be killing women, juveniles and halfbreeds to get your revenge. Only monsters and cowards take pleasure in hurting those who are weaker than them, and can't defend themselves."

"It's a mercy killing," the Alpha snarled, "this pack has had a mad alpha for so long that you've all become infected by his sickness."

"Even the females you came here to save?" Izzy's voice was weak, but Rock felt a surge of relief just to know she was conscious again. "Are you going to cull your kin too?"

The Alpha glared at her, his lips tight, and Rock felt a growl rumble through him in response to the threat.

"The females can go, all except your mate. But the males stay here and die."

"My mother needs to go to the healers," Rock growled, "my mate is the only one who can drive her there."

The Southern Alpha stared at him skeptically. "You're shitting me." He said flatly. "You're not seriously telling me that none of the women can drive a car?"