Page 36 of Brick
“From what Cinder said, the protection wards are strongest here at the house and that witch messed with them to get close to us to spy. So they’re essentially useless right now, which is how he got through.”
“Damn it,” Jade said.
“Unbelievable,” Adam said. He let out a growling sigh. “Lorene is coming with the other Corners to redo the wards. They will take Maris with them and punish her according to coven rules, which is fine with me. Who’s watching her?”
“Carver and Dove,” he said.
“Good.”
“Send me Jade or suffer!” Malrick’s voice came from the front yard.
Jade shivered next to Brick and he snarled. What a fucking day it turned out to be.
“Stay back until I call for you,” Brick said. He and Adam walked out onto the porch. Malrick was in the center of several males that Brick recognized from their encounter at the drive-in. He opened his mouth to tell him just what he thought about his actions when Adam cut in.
“You have a lot of nerve coming into my territory uninvited,” Adam said.
“I’ve come for the female promised to me. I will not be leaving without her.”
“She’s my mate,” Brick said. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”
“I have every right to take her with me. Holloway is her alpha and he arranged for her to be mated to me. I don’t recognize your authority, Beaumont, or this male who claims her as his mate. She is mine and I’ll take her, or my people will rain down hell on you all.”
Brick motioned for Jade and she walked out, her eyes wide and her hands cold with fear as she gripped his arm. “Just reiterate what you said at the drive-in.”
Inhaling shakily, she straightened her shoulders and said with a loud voice, “I have left the Ironwood Pack and Alpha Holloway no longer has authority over me. I chose exile before he arranged a mating, and I’ve chosen sanctuary with the Thorn Hollow Pack and my mate, Brick. You can shove your arranged mating crap where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Adam growled and took a step forward, his claws springing from his fingertips and his fangs showing in his mouth. “You will leave my territory, one way or another, without Jade. She is under my protection and I will defend her right to choose her future to the death.”
Brick pushed her gently behind him and stepped up next to his alpha.
“You’re interfering in the politics and laws of two other packs,” Malrick shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
He took a menacing step forward and Brick reached his boiling point. There was no way he was going to let this male think he could just waltz into the pack’s territory and threaten his mate. They had bigger things to deal with, namely Foley and H. A. S.
Letting out a growl from deep in his soul, he leaped from the porch. As he hit the ground, he raced forward, aware that his friends and fellow pack members had his back and had joined him.
Malrick’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t step back as Brick invaded his space, getting close enough to pick up the scent of his wolf. Brick stood firm, his muscles taut and ready for anything, his wolf brimming under the surface.
Malrick snarled, his eyes flashing amber, but it was clear it was a show of bravado because he hadn’t expected so many people to have Brick’s back. Pack members formed a loose semi-circle behind Brick, their postures tense and ready for anything.
Adam remained on the porch because this was really Brick’s fight, but he was the alpha. “You have a choice to make here, Malrick. Leave under your own power or in the trunk of one of those vehicles you drove into my town.”
Malrick’s lip curled, and he leveled a defiant look at Brick. “You can’t hide behind your pack forever.”
Brick growled low in his throat and took a step closer. “She’s not yours, and she never will be. Get out of our territory. Now.”
The male seemed to hesitate, but Brick could see that the males with him were uneasy with the show of force from the pack.
“This isn’t over,” Malrick said. He backed away with his chin tilted up, then turned and strode to the vehicles they’d parked on the street. As the engines roared to life, they left in a trail of dust and flying debris.
Brick watched until they were out of sight, and then he turned and looked at Jade. She was standing next to Adam, her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyes filled with worry.
He jogged to her and leaped up the stairs, bringing her close in a hug. She shuddered in his arms.
“It’ll be okay,” he said.
“Brick,” she said thickly. “I just…want to not have to look over our shoulders forever.”
