🍃Deer in the headlights🍃

Kellen watched his cousin match straight to Gypsy's side without any regard to what he just said. Frankly, his tolerance for the beta's insubordination when it came to this woman has reach a tipping point.

"Don't take another step, Trevor."

Trevor froze, standing ramrod straight with his back to Kellen and the other two men he just entered the kitchen with; Rio and Jared.

Kellen could sense the whirling in Trevor's mind, his back muscles bunching up under his shirt as he fought to rebel against his Alpha's command which his wolf's natural instinct was to obey.

A few seconds passed like eternities, and then he took that step. Kellen closed his eyes briefly at the sheer audacity, when he opened again Trevor had dropped to Gypsy's eye level, prying her hands off her throat to get a look.

Damn humans, they bruise so quickly. Even from where Kellen stood, taking calculated breaths, he could see the forming harsh print of his grip on her dark skin.

The kitchen was dead silent. Everyone's individual breathing could be heard by the heightened senses of the werewolves, Trevor's was the most labored of all as he fought a losing battle with the anger coursing through him.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" He clipped without looking back but the jarring of his words hit it target like knives.

"Choose your words carefully, Trevor." Kellen gritted. "You realize what you just did? Are you truly that dense?"

"This is your mate on the floor!" Trevor pushed to his feet and whirled around to face his Alpha. His eyes an angry, glowing amber. Of course he realize he just challenged his Alpha's authority by disobeying a direct order in the presence of other people.

Kellen clenched his jaw and fists, trying to override his wolf's desire for Trevor's blood. "Don't mess with things you don't understand!"

"I promised her she would be safe here and you laid your fucking hands on her!" Trevor roared, angrily charging forward at Kellen. Except Rio jumped between them in the nick of time and body slammed Trevor back a couple steps.

"Alright comrades, how about we all take two freaking minutes." Rio suggested, making himself a barrier between the Alpha and the beta.

Kellen compelled Trevor to hold his gaze over Rio's shoulder. Inching towards him step by step, he tortured his mind by forcing his dominance on the beta's wolf.

Hesitantly, Rio moved out of the way when he realized why Trevor had suddenly mellowed down. Though Trevor's anger kept him strong on his feet for a few seconds, it didn't take long before he buckled under Kellen's intense gaze and dropped on one knee with his head bowed in submission.

"Alpha." He acknowledged with a whimper.

"You crossed a line with me, Trevor Keeper. Your unruliness has no place in my circle." Kellen admonished, "You're stripped of your beta's title and privileges, effective immediately."

Trevor howled and dropped on all fours. The cracking and breaking of his bones rented the silent kitchen's air as he began to shift into his wolf form, faster and more painful than it'd have been if he had any control over it.

Once his clothes was completely stripped and peeled off his back like rags, a large grey wolf replaced his crouching form, whimpering and licking Kellen's shin in absolute surrender.

"You'll be taken into isolation until you've come to your senses and gotten over your crush for this female." Kellen said firmly, snapping his fingers, two of the pack's guard he'd mindlinked as he was speaking entered the kitchen with a silver cuff that was quickly secured around Trevor's wolf to more howling and whimpering as he was dragged out of the kitchen on a leash.

Kellen eyes fell on Gypsy's were she sat watching him with wide eyes and opened jaw. Her face completely drained of blood, she watched him like he was Lucifer himself, yet he doubt she fully understood what just happened.

He went to her and pulled her to her feet by the arm. Quickly letting her go and drawing back to avoid the primal urge he had, to pull her into his chest and beg for forgiveness while kissing her neck until there wasn't a trace of his harsh grip left on her tender skin.

"Your gun stays with me till you're on your way out of my pack." He told her. "And until then, you stay where you're asked to stay. So help me god, you as much as take a wrong turn and I don't care what deal you have with Trevor, you'll be done!"

Her eyes flashed with anger, hatred, perhaps and Kellen suddenly had the desire to hit himself in the head with something hard and blunt.

"Jared, get this woman out of my sight." He addressed the younger wolf in the kitchen that had been trying to blend into the walls the whole time.

"And stay with her." He added without taking his eyes off of hers. "She does not go anywhere, she don't even breathe without your knowledge. Is that clear?!"

"Yes, sir! Alpha sir! Absolutely sir, I'll not let you down sir."

"Do not touch me!" Gypsy pulled back sharply when Jared made to grab her hand.

The low growl that came out of her mouth caught Kellen by surprise, although he didn't show it. She licked her lips and casted another despise-full look at him before turning towards the door and walking out with her back straight and head held high.

🍃🍃

"Was that really necessary?" Rio asked, following Kellen into his office a while later with a bunch of files in his clutch. "You couldn't have gone easier on Trevor?"

"I didn't draw his blood." Kellen replied flatly. "I didn't want to mess up my hair. Plus I like this shirt."

"You shouldn't have stripped him."

He went straight to his liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of bourbon, pouring two glasses he slid one across the table to Rio.

"Cheers, you're the beta now." He said, circling his office desk with his own glass and the entire bottle of whiskey. He dropped into his swirling chair and unclipped Gypsy's gun before depositing it in one of the drawers.

Rio dumped the files in his hands on the desk and picked the shot glass. "That's really nice but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

"You've always bitch and moan about how you would've made a better beta and now that I'm making you it, it's thanks but no thanks?"

"No, that's actually a banter I enjoy having with Trev. I never truly wanted to be your beta, no one will ever be more suited for that position than your cousin."

Kellen cocked a brow at the gamma, "Trevor's been stripped, end of." He said, picking a file and thumbing through pages. "Now talk to me, what do we have here?"

Rio sighed and settled into the chair across from Kellen. "Dr. Snowman is back with the cure he whipped up." He said the name like he bit into something extremely unpleasant.

"All the patients are being treated and monitored and per your order we've advised everyone to go and get tested, early detection, early cure and all that shit. I just don't understand why Dr. 190 IQ has to be present for any of these, surely Ernie and the staffs are more than capable of taking it from here."

Kellen discarded the file in his hands and picked up another, it was an invoice for the fifteen tractors they just purchased. He tossed that aside, too and picked another.

"It's an important and selfless work that man is doing for us. Your whining and petty jealousy is starting to get on my nerves."

"Petty jealousy?" Rio cackled. "Says the man who just stripped and imprisoned his own cousin for getting too close to his mate!"

"The hell you talking about? Trevor disobeyed a clear order, he needed to be reminded of his place."

"Yeah," Rio chucked down the rest of his drink and got to his feet. "Keep telling yourself that, bro." He added, heading for the door but seemed to have a second thought.

"You know what, you're probably right." He turned around, "You're probably incapable jealousy. You're so calm that it's sometimes boring, and you've been that way since we were kids. So tell me, why did you lose your shit back there?"

"She had a gun."

"Okay. All respect, Alpha." Rio retraced the few steps he had taken towards the door. "I know that we're fairly sheltered here as a pack but you can't pretend not to know that the world out there isn't safe for women. Hell, you have our girls learning self defense from the age of 13 and Trevor told me he picked your mate off the street, without a roof over her head. She has to protect herself and her daughter somehow!"

"You know what comes to mind for protection?" Kellen bit into his glass as he down another drink. "Pepper spray, teaser, I won't trust her with a pocket knife and certainly not something as damning as a gun!"

"Some women are dangerous."

"Exactly." Kellen agreed with his shot glass raised towards Rio.

"Some men like dangerous women."

He narrowed his eyes at the glint in the gamma's eyes. "Weren't you just leaving?" He asked, "I'm sure there are tons of things that require your attention, now that you're the beta."

"I am no beta." Rio's smug expression turned into a glare. "And I'm headed to the hospital to make sure Dr. 190 isn't being too sleek with my mate. After all, a woman can open her heart and love as many times as she damn well pleases. But us, bro." He flicked a finger between him and Kellen. "We only get one shot at this."

It was almost midnight before Kellen made it back to his room with almost an entire bottle of bourbon down and the party for one still on going, there was a nice little buzz going on in his system.

Stepping out of the showers with a tower around his waist and another one in his hand carefully towel-drying his locs, he walked straight to what was left of his drink on a glass table in the corner of his room.

Rio's last words still rattled around in his head.

"We only get one shot at this."

"A woman can love as many times as she pleases."

The double meaning in the gamma parting words wasn't at all lost on Kellen, which he knew was exactly the purpose.

He didn't think he could bring himself to love someone that was capable of what Gypsy did. Yet he remembered how it felt being in that kitchen alone with her. Catering to her need even if it was making a simple cup of tea.

When she touched him, and looked at him through her lashes like that, he'd been about to blast everything to hell and claim what was rightfully his in a searing kiss. That was until he found the gun and was reminded of who she is.

The deep betrayal he felt at that moment had been blinding.

He emptied the last content of the whiskey bottle into a glass and had just been about to throw it down his throat when his wolf suddenly became alert and restless.

"She's here." His other half informed him.

"Here where?" Kellen asked, looking around the room and that was when he heard it. The voices outside his bedroom.

"Get your hands off me this instant or I'm going to kick you where the sun doesn't shine!" Her voice, just outside his door.

He annihilated the distance in a flash and threw the door open, hard, the force almost unhinge the damn thing and the sight before him sent hot blood rushing to his head, all he saw was red for a solid five seconds.

Jared, the wolf he'd assigned to watch Gypsy, had his arms wrapped around her midsection, with her legs in the air trashing and kicking, trying to writhe out of his hold.

Was that a nightgown she was wearing? The flimsy thing has ridden all up her thighs in her struggle, giving him an eyeful of her long legs and the black thong between them.

"Let her go!" Kellen boomed, stilling the raucous instantaneously.

Jared immediately untangled himself from her and she went to quickly smoothen down her dress.

"I'm sorry Alpha, I try to keep her away. I told her coming to you was a wrong turn but there's no stopping this hothead woman. She bit me!" Jared exclaimed, glaring at Gypsy.

"I wouldn't have, if you've let me go when I asked you oh so nicely." She glared murderously back at him.

"You call stumping on my toes nice?!"

Kellen whipped the towel he had been using on his hair into a taut rope as the two bickered back and forth, throwing it around Jared's neck he pulled the younger werewolf forward to his eye level.

"I told you to keep an eye on her, not roughen her up." Kellen grounded out. "You ever put your hands on her again and I'll make sure you're still breathing when I feed your fingers to those human pet, what are they called?" He looked at Gypsy for answer. "Those ones that bark."

"Uhm, dogs?"

"Yes, dogs." He reiterated for a wide eyed Jared. "Are we clear?"

"Yes sir, Alpha sir."

"Leave." He growled at him, simultaneously reaching  for Gypsy's hand, he pulled her after him into his bedroom.

When he turned around to shut the door behind her, she brushed past him further into the room. Her breasts softly grazing his naked arm in the process.

It was like being electrocuted on the spot. All his senses wired up instantly.

If he was a betting man, he'd bet to his last penny that she had no bra on under that blimey dress of hers.

"What are you doing here, Gypsy?" He scowled at her, mindlessly stepping closer.

Good god, she smelled divine! She smelled like the first night of vacation. Like shea butter and vanilla with a hint of cherry blossom and orange zest.

He watched her eyes dilated as they wandered around his torso, down to the towel around his waist, she bit her lip and swayed on her feet. "I...I came to talk to you."

"So talk." He said, even as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

She yelped and planted her palms flat on his pecs. "Kellen." She breathed.

He walked her around his room like that, moving his legs forward and forcing her to move hers backwards. Slowly and steadily, they waltz to a melody only in Kellen's head.

"Release Trevor and give him his title back." She said, searching his eyes.

He lifted his hand and caress the dark lines around her neck with his thumb. Her lips parted and she slightly angled her head to the side to give him access.

"Those two things are not both going to happen sweetheart."

"You don't understand," She rasped when his thumb made the journey to the corner of her lips. "I'm not asking."

"Is that so?" Kellen raised his brow, "What makes you think you can demand anything of me, little heart?"

"You owe me, and I'm calling in a chit."

"I wanna kiss you so bad," Kellen growl, letting his thumb rest on her plump lower lip. He'd backed her against the wall and caged her with his body and one arm resting on the wall beside her head.

"Why?" She asked in a breathless voice and swallowed.

"Right now? Cause you have the nerve to make demands." He said, pressing a hot kiss to her chin. Gypsy whimpered softly, pressing further into his chest.

"Before, in the kitchen, it was because you're so goddamn beautiful." He continued, sifting his finger through her hair and holding her head tightly in place as his mouth explored her throat. "At the hospital, because you were kind and courageous."

Kellen dropped his hand from her hair to the small of her back and held her fast against his body. He stood straight, placed his forehead slightly atop hers and closed his eyes.

"Then I'm reminded of who you are and what you did that night." He whispered, his breath fanning her face. "Give me something, darling. Self defense, momentary insanity? I don't care, just tell me something. Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Gypsy asked, her tone slightly agitated.

Kellen opened his eyes and stared down at her. "Why did you stab that man to death?"