Hunter is still holding onto me while Marcus is in front of us being as possessive as ever. Hunter does not allow him to get near me.

"Let her go if you want to leave here with both your arms," his face reddens in anger as Hunter makes no motion of letting me go.

"You have no right to tell me anything, mutt. You're not worthy of calling her your mate so I suggest you back off." Marcus trembles in front of us and Hunter pulls me behind him protectively.

I open my mouth to say something but the air rushing through me stops me. The auburn haired girl rushes me and I hit the ground hard. She is protecting what is hers and that is Marcus.

Let me sink my teeth into her.

Marcus shifts before Hunter but Hunter is quicker than him as he has his paws hitting the ground at the same time as Marcus.

I get off the ground quickly followed by the girl. "What the hell is your problem?" I seethe at her.

"He's mine!" She snaps her teeth at me.

"You can have him," my wolf and I say in unison.

"Bitch, you better back off." She swings aiming at my face I block her with my forearm and my fist shoots straight at her face. She takes a step back and looks at me as slow flow of blood comes down her nose.

"I'm not fighting over someone who isn't worth my time." I snap at her but she seems to be seeing red. She runs at me once again I am agile I turn to the side and as she runs pass me I crouch down and sweep my leg under her sending the girl flying. Her face crashes hard against the ground.

I turn to look at Hunter as he snaps at Marcus. Hunter is gaining ground making Marcus retreat back with his pack. I notice that Marcus is limping from his hind leg and that Hunter is bleeding from his shoulder.

"I want you off my land at once." Andrew has my back with the girl. He is watching her like a hawk. If she tries to come near me she has him to handle before she gets to me.

The girl gets up and dusts herself off and walks cautiously back to her pack members. Marcus is there still in wolf form. Hunter is by my side as well a low rumble leaving his chest. Hunter's fur brushes my side and Marcus' eyes catch the small gesture and they narrow on me.

"Go to the pack house. The pack is ready to come out and destroy them," Andrew says. I turn to run back but Hunter growls stopping me. He lowers to the ground.

He wants you to ride him.

On any other day my wolf would have cracked a joke about that but at the moment she is very numb. I look at Andrew and he shrugs. I climb over him and Hunter takes off. Running through the forest Hunter runs really fast as if the hounds of hell were after him. My fingers grip his fur tightly and if it hurts him he does not complaining.

Hunter skids to a stop in front of the way pack house. I jump off and the entire pack is out, every single one of them. The men are ready to run into the forest.

"Stop! We already handled the situation." I yell to them trying to make everyone hear me at the same time.

"We heard that your mate was amongst them. We thought it was going to be a war," a muscular young male says.

A growl rumbles in my chest at the mention of my mate. "At the moment the situation is handled, but if they come here seeking a fight that's what they are going to get with or without my mate. He is dead to me." The silence hits me like a train.

The young male and before me brings his hands up and start clapping more people follow until there is a round of applause throughout the pack.

Andrew pounces on me from behind. "You

might be a broken alpha but you get business done." I shove him off of me and he wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me into a hug

"Thanks."

"The older man said they didn't come here seeking trouble just food and the funny thing is I believe him." Andrew says as he pulls away giving some space to breathe.

"I do as well." I look at Andrew and he smiles at me.

"I'm happy you're moving on and I'm sorry for being an ass. I actually liked Marcus but after today I won't hesitate to attack him if and when I see him."

"Moved on?"

Andrew turns to look at Hunter and then looks back at me nodding, "If I was Marcus I would have reacted the same way seeing as you smell of Alpha Hunter." I can feel my cheeks heat up and he wiggles his eyebrows trying to lighten the situation. "Plus you didn't see his face when you climb on him," his head nudges towards Hunter, "that was one of pain. It even hurt me."

The pack starts going their separate ways. Andrew starts up a conversation with a girl and they go into town. I walk over to Hunter who is still in wolf form.

"Hunter," his wolf stares at me as my eyes goes to his shoulder. His fur is matted with blood and dirt. My hand slowly makes its way to it and brushes the fur out of the way. He whimpers slightly but stands completely still. "I wanted to say thank you for being there for me even though we are still strangers, in a way, and I would be glad to help you with your rogue problem."

His wolf lowers his head and gentle nudges my side. "You can shift it's not like we haven't seen each other naked already."

The branch behind me snapping makes me jump back into Hunter. Marcus is making his way towards us. He has some jeans on and that is all.

"We need to talk!" He says through tight lips.

"What the hell do you want? What happen to I don't want you to miss me," my voice full of venom as he feel my wolf lash out inside of me. "I made it perfectly clear that I wanted you and your pack off of my land, now!"

"I'm also part of this pack or did you banish me?" He smirks at me and take a deep breath.

Of course I did not banish him I wanted him to come back and I prayed for this day but he marked another and now he must go to her.

"I want to talk to you!" His eyes flicker to Hunter and then come back to me, "alone!"

The laugh that escapes me surprises me as well as Hunter as he stands behind me and mimics my every move, "you're no one to tell me what to do and you know that I didn't banish you. I'm not an awful person if your pack is having trouble with food I will talk to the older male and work out something but with you I want nothing to do with you," there is a war between my aching heart and my wolf. My wolf is fighting to break the mate connection we have.

There is only one know wolf that was able to break the mate connection but he went off on his own and we do not know what happened to him afterwards to be honest we do not know why he broke it in the first place.

"Melany I am not asking for your help," he takes a step closer.

"Good because I am not offering you my help," I seethe at him and turn away from him.

"I didn't mark her. She was marked by her mate that was killed by hunters. I was there for her and she fell for me and..." I turn on my heels and stare at him as he runs his fingers through his hair.

"You were there for her?" I cannot stop the anger rising within me as I yell at him, "you were there for her while your mate, your mate," I stride to him and press my finger on his chest, "was dying on the inside. Stayed locked up in her god damn room that now looks like a fucken insane asylum while you were out consoling that girl."

"Melany I was hurting as well," he states and the sadness in his eyes does not faze me.

"You broke me Marcus! You have no right to walk back into my life just when I am barely learning to breathe again, learning to finally be a leader to my pack, and I am finally enjoying my life without you. You have no right!" I cannot stop the tears from flowing and a sob escapes me. Marcus lifts his hand to console me but I turn away from him and cover my face with my hands as the tears keeps flowing. I feel his fur brush against the back of my hands and I look up to see that Hunter is before me and I press my face into his chest releasing a sob. A menacing growl rumbles in his chest.

"Melany I'll meet you at our spot at midnight so we can talk, I hope you can go." I can hear him walking away and a small part of my wants to run after him but a bigger part of me is unsure of what to do.

Hunter rests his head on top of mine as I let the last of my tears flow and I wipe them away with the back of my hand. Hunter consoles me as my sobs get louder.

God why is this so hard?