Every instinct within him screamed for him to stop it, but as David advanced, looking cocky, Abel also wanted his woman to kick this fucker’s ass. She didn’t need him right now. This was her moment, and he would let her have it.
There were no words, and as David attacked low, Cassie rolled over his back, kicking him down.
Rolling over, David caught her around the neck, drawing her to the earth, but squeezing hard, Cassie grabbed his arm, and instead of controlling her strength, she twisted until they heard a snap.
David howled in pain as he pulled away.
No alpha should ever show that kind of weakness, but he held his arm, suddenly looking frightened.
“I’m not a target anymore for you to pick on, to throw things at. To use as your personal punching bag.” She stepped up to David. “What is weakness, David? Your name will never be alpha again. You could have lived a long, happy life away from us. Left me to be happy, but being here tonight, you forfeited that right.” She stepped behind David, her hand going to his face. “You all laughed when he hurt me. Most of you joined in the fun. I was pushed out, rejected, and I moved on. I found a pack that loved me for me, and I love them. People say we have flaws. We don’t have any flaws.” With a quick snap, David’s neck was broken. “But you people do.”
With the alpha gone, Cassie had sentenced her pack to death unless they could kind find another alpha willing to take them.
She stepped back, holding Abel’s hand, standing tall beside him.
“Get the fuck off my property.”
Before they even took off, his own men and women were chasing them, making sure the intruders knew they meant business.
Cassie collapsed against Abel. “Are you angry with me?”
“No, I’m not. You had to do this.”
“I really did.” Tears were in her eyes. “I know David. He fights dirty, and when I told Jessica, she knew I had to come out here, to help you. I’ve only just found you, Abel. I don’t want to lose you.”
He pushed some of her hair off her face and smiled down at her. “I never thought I would ever love someone as deeply as I do you. You’re my life, Cassie, for better or for worse.”
“In sickness and in health?”
“’Til death do us part.” He claimed her lips, and she moaned against him.
“Yes,” she said.
“Yes to what?”
She giggled. “I’ll marry you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Even if you do think I oversalt my food.”
She winked at him, and he grabbed her ass, holding her close. “I can’t wait for the next hundred years with you.”
“It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Their pack came back, and they were surrounded with their love.
Pressing his head to Cassie’s, Abel knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the luckiest alpha in the world.
Epilogue
Five years later
“Karate chop!” Buster said, bringing his arm down, his cute baby face filling the air.
Cassie laughed as Clinton, Jessica and Carl’s son, brought his arm down. Their two boys were pretending to know some wicked karate moves.
“They are so cute,” Jessica said.
She looked over at her best friend, who was already heavily pregnant with Carl’s second child. They had been mated now for four years, and their romance had been a sweet one. Cassie was so happy for her friend.
Thinking of her own happiness though, she watched her husband at the grill, flipping burgers. The scent filled the air, making her mouth water.
“Go,” Jessica said. “I can see that you want to. I’ll watch our boys.”
Cassie got to her feet, and as she did, she greeted everyone who’d stopped by for the summer barbeque. Stepping up to her man, she ran her hands up his back before wrapping her arms around him.
“Are you trying to jump the queue?” Abel asked. He pulled her to his side and kissed her lips.
“Nope.”
“Please, you want to taste my wicked burgers.” His hand moved down her waist to cup her ass. “I know that my food doesn’t even come close to how good you’re going to taste tonight.”
“Abel,” she said. “This is a family event.”
“So? This is the anniversary that my wife, my mate, decided to marry me. I’m going to celebrate it, which is why Buster will have all the babysitters in the world, and I will be able to make love to my wife by our precious lake, near the stars.”
She smiled up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I don’t know, but if you find out, ask them how I did as well.”
Since the attack where her old pack tried to kill her, she had heard that no one else wished to house the ones that had been left. She didn’t know what happened to them, nor did she care to. In the last five years, she and this pack had thrived.