Her breaths coming in short, soft pants, Havana stood upright. Her wounds protested the movement, but she made sure that her pain didn’t show on her face.
Ashlynn had done some damage. The skank wasn’t smirking anymore, though. Especially now that scratches crisscrossed over dozens of swelling bites on her face. The rest of her looked no better.
Trembling and breathing heavily, Ashlynn stared at Havana, looking somewhat dazed. That she’d been defeated? That the devil had so badly wounded her?
Havana shrugged one shoulder. “Told you it’d hurt.”
Tate descended the porch steps and moved to Havana’s side, but his eyes were on Ashlynn. “You challenged my mate.”
The skank sneered. “You can’t discipline me for it,” she said, her voice edged with pain. “I don’t answer to you anymore. I’m a lone shifter now.”
“Which also means my healer isn’t compelled to tend to your injuries.”
Ashlynn’s face went slack.
“You’re banished from here,” Tate declared, all Alpha. “Grab your shit and go. You don’t return. Ever. Not even to visit your family. If you want to see them, you invite them to wherever you’re staying. But you don’t come back here.”
She let out a derisive snort. “Like I’d even want to.” She stiffly pulled on her clothes and, without a single look at anyone, hobbled across the lawn and through the crowd.
Tate looked at Farrell. “Follow her. Make sure she retrieves her stuff and leaves immediately.”
The Head Enforcer nodded and trailed after the feline. A few words from Luke had the crowd dispersing.
Tate turned to Havana, his jaw tight. He looked eager to hold her, but he settled for cupping one side of her face. “Your devil really is a bloodthirsty little thing.”
Her devil preened at that. “Was that ever in doubt?”
“No. But it’s one thing to know it. It’s another thing to witness it.”
One of the pride’s healers, Helena, approached. “Let’s get you fixed up.” She rested her hand on Havana’s arm, and the healer’s energy poured into her. Wounds closed over, bruises faded, and the fractures in her ribs healed.
Havana smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” said Helena before striding away.
Havana blew out a breath and turned back to Tate. “I kind of need to clean up. Then I want pancakes.”
He slid an arm around her shoulders. “I can make that happen.”
As they all began to make their way back to the porch, Havana noticed that Bailey hadn’t moved and was staring into space. Havana let out a sharp whistle. “Yo, mamba, you okay?”
Her eyes coming back into focus, Bailey nodded. “Yeah, I was just wondering … why do people say ‘unsolved mysteries?’ I mean, obviously they’re unsolved, or they wouldn’t be mysteries. Don’t you think it’s weird?”
Havana blinked. “Put that way, yeah, it’s weird.”
The rest of the day was pretty eventful, but not in a negative way. Members of the pride turned up in clumps to swear fealty to Havana and congratulate both her and Tate on their mating—even Eva, Aimee, and Priscilla. Havana had thought Ashlynn’s mother might appeal her daughter’s banishment, but Priscilla didn’t even bring it up. Either she knew it would be pointless or she felt that it would be better if Ashlynn didn’t return here.
Later that night, when Havana and Tate were finally alone, they each grabbed a beer and headed to the patio deck. It was a little cool out, so she snuggled into him on the rattan sofa. “It’s nice having a backyard. I haven’t had one since I lived with Corbin.”
Tate took a swig from his bottle. “Did you talk to him about reducing the number of hours you work at the center?”
“Yep. He was already expecting it, because he knows how many responsibilities come with being an Alpha. And he knows the girls will be working the same hours as me from now on, what with them being my bodyguards and all. It doesn’t leave him in the lurch. It means he can hire more loners or give other employees extra hours.”
“Hmm,” said Tate, a little gruff.
She sighed. “You can’t possibly still be sulking.”
He frowned, affronted. “I’m not sulking, I’m just annoyed.” He knocked back some beer. “You should have told me.”
“So you keep saying, but … if I’d told you that I suspected Ashlynn would turn up and challenge me, you would have paid her a visit and ordered her to keep her distance.”
“Well of course I would have. I don’t want anyone laying their hands on you.”
“Understandable. However, she’d have then spread the word that you intervened before she could challenge me. She’d have insinuated that you didn’t trust I could hold my own. That would have tempted other people to challenge me, like Eva or Aimee or anyone who wasn’t completely sold on having a devil shifter for an Alpha female. I didn’t want to fight random members of your pride to prove my worth. So I let Ashlynn come for me, I used her to make my point, and now I won’t have to beat up anyone else.”