The Guardian Alpha by Evelyn Glass Page A

silver-tipped arrow burned her Wolf back. As his Mate leaned into him, he saw the arrow protruding from his back. Tears bit at the edge of his vision. He collapsed to his knees, his own vision blurring at the edges.
     
    This was it. For both of them.
     
    Someone noticed. Someone screamed Kristi's name. Then Jay's. All the fighting halted, shock taking the crowd by the throat. The moon hovered higher in the sky, seeking a better vantage. From atop the hill, the sudden silence cut through Selene and Mayor Stone's battle. Their gaze, as if directed by instinct, snapped to Jay and Kristi. Both gasped softly. The alpha and mayor exchanged an uncertain glance, shock painting their eyes wide. As their eyes met, though, realization hardened in their expression. Jay or Kristi could be out of the way, tilting the favor of battle.
     
    Selene and Mayor Stone charged down the hill, claws out and ready to end someone's life. Their simultaneous shrieks tore attention to them.
     
    Three little blurs ran out from the throngs of ceased battle. Jay's heart twisted as he realized who they were. He couldn't find the energy, or the words, to ask them to stop. They formed a mini-wall between Selene and Jay. Hazel, Vera, and Lily – with tear-streaked cheeks – glared up at their alpha. In unison, the pups screamed, “Stop!”
     
    Two figures cut between Mayor Stone and Kristi. Their eyes slit and claws bared, should they have to fight. Marie and Thad glared at Mayor Stone, taking protective position in front of Kristi.
     
    The alpha's and the mayor's gaze swung up and down the short line of protectors. Confusion mottled their expressions as the Wolf tried to make sense of this. Selene was the first to posit her question as a demand, “What is the meaning of this?”
     
    Hazel answered, “This has to stop!”
     
    “Look at what you've done to Kristi and Jay,” sniffed Vera, motioning to the two. Kristi shifted, peering out from her thicket of black hair toward the two leaders. She could barely make out the blurry figures that surrounded her and Jay. Her fingers weakly dug into Jay's tattered shirt. Jay hugged Kristi closer to him. Fear outweighed hope, but the latter still lingered. His fingers dug into Kristi as he listened to the debate.
     
    Marie stepped forward, pinning the mayor with a glare. Her gaze swung from mayor to alpha, a scowl twisted over her lips. “They were Mates and you pitted them against one another!”
     
    “Fifty years before our separation, we were allied together.” Thad's voice carried across the field. Uncertain whispers rifled through the pack, but the Sentinels – and those volunteer citizens from Goldbridge – remained unswayed.
     
    “Crystal Ridge and Goldbridge lived side by side, in harmony, thanks to an agreement when Goldbridge was established,” Marie continued, firmness in her voice. Her hard gaze pinned the unimpressed members of the crowd. “Thanks to the greed of one man in power, our ancestors started this long-lasting feud.”
     
    Thad added, as the pack began to mutter about farces. “Our ancestors, hurt and betrayed, lost this fact and clung to anger.”
     
    Marie's brows lowered as she thrust papers into the air. Her voice carried through the tense, quiet air on the back of surety, “I have proof right here.”
     
    Alpha Selene's eyes darted from face to face, apparently seeking support. Too many of her pack leered back with uncertainty. Turning back to Jay and Kristi's protectors, Selene screamed, with a crackling voice, “This is our land!”
     
    “Are our lives worth this land, Alpha Selene?” The three pups screamed in unison, their pain and anger echoing through the air. Silence reigned in after their question. Everyone knew the answer.
     
    A thump echoed through the air. As one, the assembled groups turned their gaze to Jay and Kristi. The two lay crumpled on the ground, Kristi atop Jay. Dark blood pooled beneath their bodies. The moonlight cast a ghostly sheen