<h4>Chapter 179: Truce</h4>


    <strong>Dean POV</strong>


    A vicious, territorial snarl ripped through the room.


    Kane.


    Fucking perfect.


    I lifted my head from Elena’s neck, my lips still stained with her blood, my cock still buried deep inside her, and met his zing, furious gaze.


    His chest was heaving, his muscles tense, his ws halfway extended.


    His eyes?


    Pitch yellow.


    Not from lust.


    From pure, unfiltered rage.


    The mate bond between us thrummed, wild and unstable, vibrating with raw tension.


    I didn’t fucking care.


    Not now.


    Not when my body was still humming from the high of iming her, from drinking her, from sinking into her so deep I could still feel the echoes of her orgasm squeezing around me.


    I let out a slow exhale, a smirk curling my lips as I snapped my hips forward onest time, forcing a strangled moan out of Elena, her body still sensitive, still writhing from overstimtion.


    Kane fucking lost it.


    With a roar, he lunged.


    I barely had a second to react before he mmed into me, sending us crashing into the dresser.


    Wood splintered beneath the force of the impact.


    Elena gasped, thrown off bnce, but I caught her, rolling us so shended on the bed instead of the broken furniture.


    Before I could even turn back, Kane’s ws raked across my chest, tearing through my skin like paper.


    I snarled, the pain lighting me up like fire, fueling my own fury.


    "Jealous, wolf?" I taunted, licking the blood off my lip, grinning as it healed almost instantly. "Or just mad because she didn’t call out your name?"


    His fist collided with my jaw.


    The world snapped white for a second, my head jerking to the side from the force.


    Fuck, he was strong.


    But I was faster.


    I spun, using my momentum to m my elbow into his ribs, following it up with a sharp knee to his gut.


    He grunted but barely flinched, grabbing me by the throat and mming me against the wall.


    His ws dug into my neck, his grip crushing, but all I could do wasugh.


    Because his gaze kept flickering to Elena, to her flushed, wrecked body sprawled across the bed, to the way her thighs were still spread, wet with my release.


    He was torn.


    Between killing me and iming her.


    Between his fury and his need.


    "You should be thanking me," I rasped, my fangs shing in a sharp grin. "I was only helping our mate."


    His snarl shook the walls.


    "You don’t fucking touch what’s mine!"


    "Then maybe you should’ve kept her satisfied."


    This time, he didn’t just punch me—he threw me clear across the room.


    I crashed into the nightstand, the wood exploding into splinters beneath me, but I was already moving before he could lunge again.


    I ducked his next swipe, pivoted, and kicked his legs out from under him.


    He went down on one knee, but instead of staying there, he used the momentum to propel himself forward, tackling me to the ground, his ws at my throat.


    "You think I won’t fucking kill you?" he growled, his breath hot, his fangs bared.


    "You think you can?" I countered, snapping my hips up, flipping us over so I was the one pinning him.


    He let out a sharp growl, his body tensing to push me off—


    And then Elena moaned.


    We both froze.


    Turned our heads at the same time.


    She was watching us, licking her lips, her ck eyes gleaming.


    Enjoying the show.


    My stomach dropped.


    Kane stiffened.


    Something was wrong.


    Very, very fucking wrong.


    And in that moment, I knew—


    This wasn’t just Elena anymore.


    Something else was inside her.


    Something that wanted more.


    Something that wasn’t done yet.


    And we were both fucked.


    Elena’s ck eyes burned into us, a slow,zy smirk curling on her lips as she dragged her fingers over her bare skin, tracing the bite mark on her neck—the one I’d given her.


    She wasn’t ashamed.


    She was reveling in it.


    Her legs were still spread, slick and trembling from the intensity of what we’d just done, but she wasn’t sated.


    Not even close.


    And that was the fucking problem.


    Kane and I had both felt it through the mate bond—this wasn’t normal. This wasn’t just her giving in to lust.


    This was something darker.


    Something feeding through her.


    And I’d just been stupid enough to let it take from me.


    Kane’s body was still rigid beneath me, his heart pounding, his rage palpable, but I could see his confusion bleeding.


    His wolf was on the edge, wing for control, torn between rage, instinct, and something else he couldn’t quite ce.


    I knew what it was.


    I’d tasted it.


    Elena’s blood—it wasn’t just hers.


    Something else had been woven into it, something ancient, dark, and insatiable.


    And now that we were both here, now that she had both of us in one ce...


    She wanted more.


    A shiver crawled down my spine.


    I pushed off Kane, my fangs still bared, and took a slow step toward her.


    Her smirk widened.


    "Now, now," she purred, her voice silk and sin, her fingers trailing lower over her stomach. "Don’t tell me you’re both going to just stand there?"


    Kane let out a low, guttural growl.


    "Elena," he bit out, his voice strained, his wolf barely contained. "What the fuck is happening to you?"


    She tilted her head, feigning innocence.


    "Happening to me?" she echoed.


    Then, in a blink, she was off the bed.


    I lunged on instinct, my vampire reflexes kicking in, but she was faster than she should’ve been.


    One second she was in front of us—


    The next, she was behind me, whispering in my ear.


    "You taste different," she breathed. "Powerful. Addictive."


    A sharp pain tore through my chest.


    I snarled, whirling just in time to see the tip of her w retract from where it had barely grazed my skin.


    Not an attack.


    A test.


    Kane lost his patience.


    With a snarl, he lunged, grabbing Elena by the arm, trying to pin her down.


    Sheughed—a dark, sultry sound—before twisting out of his grip like she wasn’t even trying.


    His eyes widened.


    Mine did too.


    Because no wolf, no matter how strong, should’ve been able to move like that.


    Not against an Alpha.


    Not against a vampire.


    Not unless something was helping her.


    Kane and I exchanged a rare, silent nce.


    Truce.


    Just for now.


    Just until we figured out what the fuck was inside our mate.


    Elena smirked.


    And then—


    She attacked.


    One moment she was standing there, bare and smug—


    The next, she was ws and speed, a blur of movement as she lunged straight at Kane.


    His wolf reacted in a split second, shifting mid-motion, his ws catching hers, the impact shaking the entire fucking room.


    I didn’t hesitate.


    I moved with vampiric speed,ing at her from behind, my arms locking around her waist, pinning her against me.


    She screamed.


    Not in pain.


    In rage.


    The entire room shook.


    And then I felt it.


    The darkness inside her, pulsing like a second heartbeat, thick and insidious, coiling around my body, trying to drain me all over again.


    Fuck.


    Kane’s wolf snapped his jaws, his fangs inches from her throat, his instincts screaming to dominate, to take control.


    But that was the trap.


    That’s what it wanted.


    Elena bucked against me, her strength unnatural, her body searing hot against mine.


    She twisted in my hold, her lips at my throat before I could react—


    And then Kane’s massive wolf tackled both of us, sending us crashing to the floor.


    Shended between us.


    Trapped.


    But when she lifted her head, her ck eyes glowed.


    And she smiled.


    "You can’t fight it," she whispered. "You’re already mine."