Chapter 5

• TERESA
• "He's going to kill someone if we don’t stop him now!" I thought aloud and I didn't even realize that I was shouting.
• The situation was getting out of control and it was getting really worse.
• My throat burned so bad that I thought I might cough out fire. My palms were slick and my heart was not just in my chest anymore, it was in my mouth!
• Bennett’s wolf was thrashing across the hall like a raging storm loosed from its cage.
• What the hell was happening? This was getting too much to handle!
• Bennett's wolf growls shook the walls and his claws carved deep scars into the floor, scattering blood and splinters in every direction.
• So many guards circled him, trying to keep him down with their weapons drawn out.
• Their eyes were wide open, unsure whether to strike or stand down. As if that was not enough, Keller on the other hand was kneeling barefoot.
• His hands pressed to the floor as if trying to draw Bennett’s humanity back with everything in him.
• “This isn’t working,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “I can’t reach him like this. I don't know what's happening,” he complained further and I knew that I couldn't take that as an answer.
• “Try harder!” I snapped, stepping forward before the reek of blood and broken stone could scare me off. “He’l is in there somewhere. He knows you and he knows me. You have to try no matter what!”
• Keller shook his head and became defeated.
• “He’s lost in rage,” he blurted out and it broke my heart.
• He wasn’t wrong. Bennett didn’t look like a person anymore.
• He turned, his eyes glowing gold as they turned wild. In a snap, he snarled at the closest guard.
• One of the guards moved to him with just an inch and Bennett lunged too fast at him.
• The guard hit the wall with a dull crack, and I could not tell if he was breathing.
• “Enough!” Old Alpha Brock’s voice cracked through the mind-link like a whip. “Fall in. Reinforce the barrier and restrain him now!”
• More guards surged in through the double doors and I could feel their gear and their hesitation like it was stitched to my skin.
• No one wanted to be the one to face him. Not like this, not when he was nothing but a raging dog with sharp teeth.
• He was going to read them apart since what he craved was sweet blood.
• I took a step forward and decided to step in. Enough is enough!
• “Teresa, don’t,” Keller warned me and I shook my head in defiance.
• “I’m not letting him do this,” I answered sharply.
• “You are not strong enough….”he tried to warn me again and I understood him perfectly but I couldn't just fold my hands and watch him.
• “I’m his mate, remember?” I yelled at him and Keller froze.
• That seemed to shut him up.
• I walked toward the chaos while my pulse screamed in my throat. Bennett was still snarling, still fighting three guards who were barely holding their ground.
• One had blood pouring from his left shoulder and another was limping because of the deep bite on his leg.
• The third…..My God! The third was trying not to pass out from the weight of Bennett’s jaws clamped around a steel baton.
• I stopped thinking immediately and I could hardly breathe.
• I ran straight into the mouth of the beast and faced him.
• “Bennett,” I shouted, “look at me!”
• His golden eyes snapped to mine and then, for a second, there was nothing apart from his steady breath.
• Then after some seconds, he growled again and lunged at me.
• Pain lanced down my shoulder as his claws caught me, but I didn’t stop.
• I slammed into his chest, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pressed my body tight against his fur.
• He bucked out wildly trying to throw me off, but I clung harder.
• “Stop it!” I cried, hot tears burning my cheeks. “It’s me. I’m here. You don’t need to fight anymore, please. You don’t need to break anything else, Bennett!”
• He thrashed, howled, tried to fling me away like I was just another enemy but the second he twisted too far, two guards grabbed his arms.
• Then another and in no time, Keller moved in and pushed his power into the floor.
• Something cracked inside him and then he stopped raging.
• His breathing slowed down and his body sagged.
• And little by little, his claws pulled back. His face reshaped itself, and his bones began to realign under his stretched skin until it was him again.
• My chest collapsed with relief as I stated at his naked body before a guard threw a robe over him.
• Keller dropped beside him, panting hard. And me? I sat there on the ground, bleeding and trembling. My arms were still open like I was afraid to move in case it all started again.
• Bennett’s head tilted toward me and his voice was hoarse.
• “You are… hurt,” he managed to say and I laughed.
• “No shit, Sherlock,” he muttered again.
• He blinked countless times and tried to lift a hand but it dropped again.
• “Did I hurt you?” he asked me and I shrugged.
• “You did but never mind, it was not bad enough to make me leave.”
• “I don’t remember anything,” he responded with his eyes closed.
• “You weren’t yourself,” I whispered and he didn’t answer. Instead, he just let the guards help him to his feet.
• Then, like cold water dumped over my head, I heard the voice I was dreading.
• “You,” Old Alpha Brock barked, storming into the room. “Get her out of here. Now.”
• I turned, slowly, like maybe I had misheard.
• “I just saved his life,” I said, trying to explain to him. “I could have died in there.”
• “You put yourself in harm’s way and endangered the mission,” he replied. “That was not brave. That was reckless.”
• “Are you serious right now?” I asked, in shock.
• “I gave no order for you to intervene,” he pointed out.
• “No,” I said, stepping forward despite the fire screaming through my ribs. “But you were about to lose him. You don’t get to lecture me for doing what none of you had the guts to do.”
• He didn’t flinch. Instead, he just narrowed his eyes and said,
• “You are dismissed.”
• I wanted to scream at him and to spit in his face.
• If only I could tear this whole godforsaken hall down with my bare hands but I could not.
• I looked at Bennett one last time and I noticed his eyes were open again.
• That was enough for now.
• I turned and walked out of the hall like I was ordered to. It broke me that Alpha Brock sent me out, knowing fully well that I was meant to be in there with Bennett.
• “Such an old wicked thing!” I guessed under my breath.
• As I got outside the corridor, my legs kept shaking so bad that I had to lean against the wall to stay upright.
• While I got myself, I heard footsteps echoing behind me.
• “You are insane,” Keller said,
• stopping at my side. “You are completely unhinged.”
• I didn’t argue with him because I had heard enough.
• “But,” he added, “you are the only reason he’s still breathing. So, Thanks.”
• “You’re welcome,” I muttered.