Andrei
“Donnie!” I snap at him as instinct takes over.
The need to mate makes him feral as he locks onto her scent. My chest rattles and I try to suppress the savage noises leaving me.
Jonah clearly is petrified.
I reach for Sage and feel my canines slip out. Turning away from him, fighting Donnie for control, primal instincts kick in as he sees our son as a threat.
“Jonah, get in the car,” I grit out as fur covers my arms.
Jonah looks at me, horrified, but I don’t know how to explain without scaring him more. Donnie is wildly trying to take control when I don’t mate her instantly.
“Dad?” Jonah cries, grabbing my arm and making my head snap in his direction. He pulls his hand away. “Dad, you’re scaring me,” Jonah sobs, and I shake my head, or Donnie does at his words.
“Our son,” I spit at Donnie, needing him to see Jonah, not an enemy.
He seems to calm slightly, letting me have control back, and Jonah swallows, and my canines and claws retract. I let out a breath. “Come here, buddy, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I tell him, reaching for him.
Sage groans, turning quickly and throwing up again, barely missing my feet.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jonah asks as I brush her hair back, sticking to her face from sweat.
“Andrei?” Sage mumbles, and I set Jonah on his feet at my side.
“Right here, love,” I tell her.
“I feel funny,” she mutters.
“I know. Let’s get you home,” I tell her, scooping her up. Her skin is clammy despite it being rather chilly today. The wind has a harsh bite, and Jonah’s teeth chatter as the sun slips behind the mountains.
Donnie is pressing beneath my skin, wanting control as I walk toward the car.
“Get the door Jonah,” I tell him, and he opens the back door, and I lay Sage down in the backseat.
Jonah climbs in beside her, and my hands grip the door frame as I struggle against my wolf.
“It’s Jonah. You fucking hurt him, Donnie. I will drink wolfsbane. Now settle down!” I tell him as I fight him to shut the door and not rip our son from the car.
“Jonah, Jonah, our son,” he chants in my head, and I finally shut the door, climbing into the driver’s side.
Mind-linking Zane, I continue driving for a few minutes, pulling up to the front. Zane is waiting out the front of the packhouse, glancing around nervously.
“Jonah, go with uncle Zane, please. You need to stay with him tonight,” I tell Jonah.
“What, why?” Jonah asks just as Zane opens the backdoor with his hands in a surrendering gesture, knowing Donnie is on edge.
My hands white knuckle the steering wheel.
“Are you good, Alpha? Just grabbing Jonah,” he says, and I nod.
He is mated already to Nora, but not even he is game enough to get close to an Alpha that’s heat crazed, and I’m not game enough to move either.
Donnie is struggling and can’t think straight, especially with her scent filling the car.
“Most are still asleep. Malik has gone with Nora to get the berries to make the jam in case they wake,” he tells me, and all I can do is nod.
A new appreciation for Ezra washes over me. How he could control Maddox enough not to kill me and everyone else when Kat went into heat is beyond me.
I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to stop Maddox from killing Mateo, who was locked in the packhouse with her, knowing you have barely any human consciousness once locked onto a scent.
I don’t know how he did it or how Mateo resisted the urge to mate her. Because I’m struggling not to let my wolf kill my son and Beta. Zane is mated already, and Jonah still has no wolf and is a child, yet Donnie wants them nowhere near her.
“But she’ll be okay?” Jonah asks, tapping my shoulder, and I catch Zane’s eye in the rear-view mirror as he tries to pull Jonah from the car.
“Jonah, you need to come with me.” Zane tells him.
Fur spreads across my arms when Zane leans over Sage, reaching for Jonah, who refuses to leave his mother. “But why?”
“Come,” Zane hurriedly tells him, holding out his hand.
“No, I am not leaving her,” Jonah says, slapping Zane’s hand away.
“Jonah, you need to go with Zane now!” Donnie forces the words over my lips. My voice is distorted and gravelly sounding. The noise hurts the back of my throat.
“Come now,” Zane says, grabbing his arm and pulling him from the car.
“No, I want my mom,” Jonah says, kicking and screaming.
Donnie, realizing Jonah won’t leave, retreats to the back of my mind.
“Hurry, I want her inside,” Donnie snarls at me, letting me block him out. I open my door and get out.
Zane backs away from me instantly, yanking Jonah behind him protectively. His hands out in what I assume is a placating gesture.
“I’m fine,” I tell him, and Jonah rushes over, grabbing my legs. My entire body tenses as I kneel before him, so I am closer to his small height.
“What’s wrong with her?” Jonah asks, peering in the window.
I know he fears losing her again. It is nearly impossible to keep the barrier up between Donnie and me. Her scent pulls him forward as he tries to remain back so I can have control. A slow, steady throbbing is pulsating in my head at the strain. I need to be quick before I give myself a migraine from the restraint.
“She will be fine, but you need to stay with Zane and Nora tonight.” I try to speak as calmly as possible.
“But why?” He whines, and Sage makes a groaning noise that causes Zane to tense and look in the car’s window.
“Ah, she just threw up in your car, but she is fine now,” Zane adds, and I shake my head.
Fuck! Jonah peeks through the window at her, and I remain where I am, knowing it may force Donnie forward if I look.