Benzy’s voice shot through the mind-link, urgent and tense. “Luke, calm him down! We’ve got a situation. Bella’s apartment has been breached. Security’s on high alert. We’re handling it!”
The words slammed into Luke like a freight train, and Maddis’s rage flared hotter. “Mate in danger!” Maddis roared in Luke’s mind, pushing harder against him for control.
Luke’s claws extended involuntarily, shredding the bedding as his beast surged forward. “Who? What happened?!” he growled, his voice guttural, a mix of man and wolf.
Benzy responded quickly, his tone clipped. “Unidentified wolves tried to break into her building. They didn’t make it to her apartment, but the triplets were spooked. Bella’s holding them together, but Tyler’s on high alert. She’s pacing the apartment. She knows something’s wrong.”
Luke slammed a fist into the wall, cracking the plaster. Maddis growled viciously, his instincts demanding they leave immediately. “I’m going now!” Maddis snarled.
Benzy’s voice cut through the haze. “Don’t, Luke! Not yet. You’ll make it worse. We’re securing the perimeter. If you storm in now, Tyler will sense you, and she’s already on edge. She’ll fight you, thinking you’re another threat. Give us time to calm the situation down.”
Luke’s breaths were ragged as he fought for control, every muscle in his body taut with the effort of holding Maddis back. “Tell me exactly what’s happening,” he demanded, forcing himself to focus on the details rather than the fury coursing through him.
Benzy continued. “Two wolves—rogues, from the looks of it. They tested the building’s defenses but didn’t get far. Security neutralized one; the other fled. No sign they were sent by anyone specific, but we’re digging into it.”
“And Bella?” Luke asked, his voice trembling with restrained anger.
“Shaken but unhurt. She’s barricaded herself in with the pups. Macky’s outside her door, keeping watch. He’s using his Gamma charm to calm her as best he can without going in.”
Maddis snarled. “Not enough. Protect Mate!”
Luke gritted his teeth, gripping his temples. “I’m her mate, Maddis. We’ll protect her, but we can’t scare her right now.”
Maddis growled but retreated slightly, letting Luke take back control of his body. Luke forced himself to breathe deeply, his claws retracting as he steadied his trembling form.
“I want updates every five minutes,” he told Benzy. “And if anything changes—anything—you call me immediately.”
“Understood,” Benzy replied. “But stay put, Alpha. For now, it’s under control.”
Luke didn’t reply, pacing the room like a caged animal. Maddis prowled in the back of his mind, his agitation barely contained. The thought of Bella and their pups in danger was unbearable, but he knew Benzy was right. Charging in now would only escalate the situation.
“Hold on, Bella,” he whispered to himself, his heart pounding. “I’ll bring you home soon. I swear it.”
Benzy’s frustration was palpable as he wrestled with Maddis’s overwhelming rage, his voice strained as he tried to keep the situation under control. “Bella, this isn’t a joke! Tell him to go—now!” he bellowed through the phone, his Beta authority crackling with urgency.
Luke fought harder than he ever had against Maddis’s fiery dominance, but his wolf had no intention of backing down. Maddis’s bloodlust surged with a singular, primal focus: protect his mate and claim what was his. The Alpha’s half-shifted body was straining against the combined efforts of Benzy, Macky, and Lanky, who were all desperately trying to hold him back.
Bella’s voice, distant yet calm, came through the phone again. “Fine. Tim, can you leave for a bit? Something urgent came up.”
Benzy shouted into the phone, “Not ‘can you’—tell him to leave now, Bella. This isn’t optional!”
“Okay, okay,” Bella responded, annoyance in her tone. Then her voice softened, directed at Tim. “You really need to go now. I’ll explain later.”
Luke could feel Maddis hesitate, as though Bella’s words were piercing through his furious haze. But the relief was short-lived as Maddis roared in Luke’s mind, “He was touching her! I can still smell him on her!”
Luke gritted his teeth, pushing against Maddis’s rage. “Calm down, Maddis! She’s safe, no one is hurting her!” But Maddis wasn’t listening—his beast wanted vengeance, his instincts demanding he eliminate any threat to his mate.
Benzy’s voice came again, strained but resolute. “Bella, did he leave? I need confirmation right now.”
“Yes, he just walked out the door,” Bella replied, her voice now carrying a trace of worry. “What the hell is going on?”
Benzy sighed in relief but didn’t ease up his efforts. “Stay inside. Do not leave your apartment. Maddis is in a state, and if he gets loose…” His voice trailed off, not wanting to say the words outright.
Luke seized on the moment of hesitation in Maddis, the knowledge that Tim was gone giving him the slimmest chance to reassert control. He poured every ounce of his will into wrestling Maddis back, forcing the raging beast to retreat into the recesses of his mind.
Maddis roared one last time, his fury echoing through Luke’s thoughts before finally receding. Luke gasped for air, his body trembling as the half-shift dissolved and he returned to his human form, drenched in sweat and exhaustion.
Benzy slumped against the wall, breathing hard. “That was way too close,” he muttered.
Macky nodded, his shirt torn and bloodied. “We need to get her here, Luke. This can’t happen again.”
Luke sat up, his eyes blazing with determination. “It won’t. I’ll fix this—no matter what it takes.”
Luke sat on the floor for a long moment, his breathing labored, his body aching from the strain of both the partial shift and the fight to suppress Maddis’s rage. The weight of the situation was heavy on his shoulders, and the silence in the room was only broken by the sound of his men shifting uncomfortably, trying to tend to their injuries without drawing attention to their pain. He knew how much they had endured to stop Maddis from completely losing control, and their efforts weren’t lost on him. They were loyal, even when his wolf was at its worst.
