Chapter 13：12.

COLTON'S POV

I don't know what I'd been expecting to find when I reached them, but this wasn't it. I watched in horror as India leapt forward, shifting mid air and crashing into the vampire. I knew it was Alexandr the moment I took a whiff of the air. He was the leader of the coven a few miles off of pack territory. He'd been bothering me about land for months now, all of his offers I had turned down. He must have decided to resort to violence to try and get the reaction he wanted from me.

India's little golden wolf collided with him, her jaws latching onto his shoulder while the rest of her body twisted outside of reach of his fangs, her claws digging into his back as she held on. I heard him hiss loudly as he pulled at her from behind him, his sharp nails drawing blood across her coat. My wolf was seeing crimson by then, and all he wanted was the blood of the man who was harming his mate and threatening his pack.

I pushed him down, afraid of the consequences if he took over. I knew I should have followed her when she left earlier, but I knew she'd needed her space.

I didn't want to suffocate her. I didn't want her to resent me for not giving her the freedom to explore her pack freely. I knew my pack would take care of her, they hadn't met her yet, but each one had congratulated me when they'd heard the news that I had finally found their Luna, each one swearing their loyalty to her through a mind link she couldn't hear just yet, and each one eager to meet her. It made pride swell through me that my pack accepted her so easily, that they trusted my judgment of my mate, that they could count on me to make sure she would be a good leader, and as she fought against Alexandr, I knew without a doubt, she was the best thing the goddess could have ever granted me. 

Alexandr finally gripped her and pulled her from his back, her wolf falling gracefully to the ground on her paws. She didn't seemed injured, but I knew I couldn't let this continue.

"Stop." I called as I stepped out of the cover of the woods, trying to get a grip on the emotions that were surrounding me. My wolf was howling inside of me, begging me for a release. He wanted nothing more than to rip apart the leech limb by limb as he begged for mercy, just for touching a single hair on his precious mates coat. He wanted blood, and he wanted it now. It took everything I had inside of me to keep control of him. 

Alexandr stopped his advances on India and turned, smirking towards me.

"Hello Colton. I'm surprised you showed after your little she wolf mentioned you weren't coming, and what a little spitfire you have found indeed. Who knew the famous Alpha would have such a dedicated counterpart. Just the mere mention of you coming here sent her into a protective mode I've never seen in a she wolf. Yes, what a fine mate you've found indeed." He laughed aloud, as if the sound of his own voice was the most comical thing he'd ever come across. 

"She didn't want me to show up, but I've disobeyed my Luna. You'd better have a very good explanation for making me do that." I growled. 

She ripped it out cleanly and efficiently, jumping off of his dying corpse and lying on the forest floor, beginning to clean her muzzle and paws.

I looked back towards Alexandr, his black eyes blazing into mine as he smirked and whispered the word "mercury."

I looked towards India then and my heart stopped. He'd ingested mercury. She was poisoned.