Chapter 6: Chapter 6

HARLAN

~Kill him,~ my wolf demanded.

The look he gave Everlee, the smug smirk on his face, it tilted me over into an actual uncontrollable rage. If entitlement had a face, it would be Rage Hunt, ~the alpha king’s son~.

I’d seen him around campus, never interacting with him, but knowing how smug he was from a few other students. But this—this was one fight he wasn’t going to win.

I didn’t care what he thought about Everlee being his mate, or even if he was her other mate, he couldn’t have her.

She was mine, and I would burn down cities to keep her.

With Everlee’s chin lifted up in defiance, I shoved her back behind me. “I suggest you back the hell up, before this turns ugly at your little frat party.”

Rage chuckled, sliding his palms into his jeans; he tilted his head to one side. “I think I’ve heard of you. Aren’t you the lycan king’s son?”

A soft whisper traveled over the room forming goosebumps against my skin. It wasn’t as if I’d hid it, but it wasn’t something I flaunted everywhere with my dad’s reputation. “What about it?” I asked. “You scared of the lycan king?”

“That would make it too easy on you. I’m not scared of anyone. Now, I suggest you let me talk to my mate alone, before you start something you can’t finish.”

~He doesn’t get it,~ my wolf said. ~Show him you’re not scared.~

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said carefully, fully aware of every set of eyes turned toward us at the moment. The silence in the room weighed heavily on me, the only competition was the pounding of Everlee’s heart. “Everlee is my mate, she turned eighteen on Friday, and I’m not ~handing~ her over to you. We can deal with it outside, or you can back up, either way, you’re not going anywhere alone with her.”

Rage’s calm demeanor shifted, his eyes burned a bright purple color, and he cracked his neck to one side. “Then let’s take it outside.”

He turned on his heel, disappearing in the crowd, which left a path for me to follow. I stalked toward him, but Everlee grabbed my wrist. “~No~, Harlan,” she said, her eyes wide in fear. “Don’t do it, ~please~. We can just leave and go to your apartment.”

Placing my palms on her shoulders, I shook my head. “No, Everlee. You don’t get it. He isn’t going to let us go anywhere near my apartment together. Okay? I have to fight him. Stay here with Bryiar.”

“No,” she pleaded, pulling on my wrist. “I don’t want him. Let’s just go.”

“I can’t,” I snapped. “I can’t just go. We can’t go anywhere because he isn’t going to let us. I have to fight him. I can’t back down or he’ll never drop this, he’ll always come after you.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she stormed out of the room, leaving the alpha house with Bryiar chasing after her. It wasn’t as if I wanted to fight him, but I wouldn’t let some asshole take Everlee from me.

All the wolves watched in horror as I walked outside to the humid autumn air. He stood in the middle of the yard, his shirt long gone, with a smile that rubbed me the wrong way.

Everything about him pissed me off, and my wolf begged me to shift. The night air blew against my skin as I ripped my T-shirt from my body and tore down the steps.

“Harlan!” someone said, grabbing my arm to stall me.

~Can I get a break? Does no one have any faith in me?~

Kellan gripped me tight. “Dude, that’s the alpha king’s son. You need to chill.”

I slid my arm from him. “I can’t ~chill~. He’s mated to Everlee.”

Kellan’s eyes rounded. “What the—I didn’t even know that was a thing. She has two mates?”

I shoved my T-shirt at him. “Can you go check on her? Make sure she’s okay?”

“Bryiar went after her. I think I need to stay and make sure you’re okay. Dude is crazy. I’ve heard about him.”

I’d heard about him, too, but I wasn’t scared. I slid from Kellan’s grip, walking over to face him, the moonlight cast ghostly shadows over his face, making him look scarier than I knew him to be.

I hated to admit it, but he was strong and an object of a lot of she-wolves’ fantasies around campus. It was an honor to mate with an alpha king, and he was next in line.

However, I was the lycan king’s son, and though we were known to be vicious and ruthless, I wasn’t. I wasn’t mean like my father. However, now might be a good time to try.

Rage cracked his knuckles slowly and tilted his neck to one side and then the other. “You sure you don’t want to avoid this? Hand over my mate, and be done with it? It’ll be humiliating to fight me and lose.”

It would be more humiliating to not fight at all. Alpha Allaire didn’t raise a coward. For Everlee, for the kingdom, I had to fight Rage no matter my chances of winning.

“I’m not handing over anyone, and I’m not losing.”

Rage shrugged. “Have it your way.”

In a blur, he shifted into his wolf form, landing a few yards away from me. He was larger than an average wolf, his fur a deep chocolate brown, and his eyes flamed purple.

Silence enveloped around us when I shifted, and a few she-wolves gasped in the distance. Rage howled into the night, lunged at me, but I sidestepped him. An advantage of being a lycan was standing on two legs, but Rage was quicker than an average wolf, and stronger.

He jumped onto my back, knocking me down, his teeth sharp against the pulse of my neck. I elbowed him, knocking him over, which seemed to piss him off. I stumbled to my feet, facing him and the sharp canines barred beneath his lip.

I reached out and slapped my claw across his face, blood slung against the dew-coated grass, and Rage snarled vengefully. A commotion started from the opposite side of the yard, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Rage.

I knew he would strike me, and knock me off my feet, which was the last place I wanted to be. A low growl snarled from my left, and I sensed Everlee.

~Why is she here?~ my wolf asked exasperatedly.

Which was exactly how I felt. She crouched beside me, though as big as Rage, she was obviously stronger. Being lycan and wolf made her different. It made her a blended mixture of the good and bad of both.

Her strength came from lycan and alpha blood.

Her white fur glistened in the moonlight; her honey-colored eyes shimmered in the light from the lamps of the street. Rage’s fury diminished quickly when he realized it was her, and he shifted back to his human form, making himself vulnerable to her.

As if, I weren’t there.

Everlee gave me a sharp look before she shifted. My wolf grew pissed at her being naked and vulnerable in front of him, so I shifted and stepped in front of her. “What ~in the hell~ are you doing here?”

She pressed her index finger into my chest. “Stopping you both from tearing each other’s heads off, Harlan. This can’t happen. We can’t let this happen. School hasn’t even officially started yet.”

“What’s going on?” someone shouted.

I glanced over my shoulder at Professor Blakely, who happened to be the football coach on campus, also. He looked pissed. He was in one of the school’s golf carts, with a baseball hat on backward, slippers, and a pair of dark pajama pants. His shirt was an undershirt, stained with what looked like liquor. “Everyone back to their dorms! Now!”

The crowd groaned, clearly pissed the party had been broken up. I grabbed Everlee’s wrist, and tried to take her toward my apartment, which earned a growl from Rage.

“No! Not the three of you. You are coming with me to the chancellor’s office. Now.”

~You’ve got to be kidding me.~

***

The chancellor was a retired alpha from a pack in northern Louisiana. I’d only met him during my freshman year at orientation, and I’d made it my promise not to ever land in his chair.

~We almost made it~, my wolf said with a chuckle.

~I don’t see what’s funny?~ I said.

Everlee sighed beside me, crossing her legs and burying her face into her palms. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a shirt that swallowed her tiny body from the lost and found, which was better than the shorts I had to choose that hit my mid-thigh.

I reached over and put my palm on her knee. “It’s okay, Everlee.”

Rage growled from the other side of the room, and I chuckled despite the seriousness in his tone. “Really? You’re gonna go there?” I asked. “I’m not scared of you,” I said, meeting his icy stare.

“You’re gonna be,” he said, his gaze shifted toward Everlee, who looked too scared to look at him. “You don’t have to be scared of me,” he said softly. “I’d never hurt my luna.”

I stood quickly, ready to rip his throat out when the office door opened.

The chancellor swooped in with Alpha Allaire, Savannah, and who I assumed was the alpha king behind them. Everlee sat up in her seat, her gaze moved over to Alpha Allaire’s, and I saw the pain resting there.

This was painful for her.

No matter how much she cared about me, he was mated to her, too.

Savannah walked over and sat down between the two of us, while Alpha Allaire turned toward the alpha king. He looked like an older version of Rage. Salt-and-pepper hair, icy blue eyes, and a huge frame.

When he glanced down at me, I held his stare, daring him to belittle me in any way.

He didn’t.

He nodded his head, walked over toward Rage, and sat down. “Where do we begin?” he asked.