Zehr had never been one to lose control, but the sight of his omega laying prone before an unknown alpha had him out of his mind.

She was his.

Heads would roll for this slight.

Zehr stalked forward, another roar erupting from him. He caught the offending alpha by the throat and slammed him down on the ground with a growl.

The alpha squirmed, trying to throw off Zehr’s hands, but there was little the alpha or any other shifter could do to stop Zehr in his rage. The sweet scent of his omega was tainted with the sulfur smell of fear and distress. It burned his nostrils.

He should have been there to protect his omega. She was hurt and his absence had allowed it.

All-Mother damn him.

“Zehr!” His sister’s voice rang out and he went still. “You can’t kill him. I know you want to but you can’t, not before your coronation. You know the laws!”

He grunted in response.

The alpha beneath him was grateful, he could tell from the smell of him, an interesting combination of terror and relief mixed with piss.

Giving the shit excuse of an alpha another wrench of his hands, Zehr drew back, but only far enough to slam his fist into the shifter’s jaw.

“I should rip you limb from limb, but for now I’ll make an example.” He rose then, dragging the alpha up by the scruff of his neck and jerked him around to face Cora.

He glared around him at the shifters who had ventured close from the neighboring camps, feverishly watching the tableau play out.

“You live for now but your time is borrowed. Now kneel and beg for mercy,” Zehr growled.

The alpha stiffened at the words but with a shuddering sigh he ducked his head and moved to drop to his knees in front of Zehr.

But he caught the shifter neatly and shook his head.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Zehr chided him with a shake of his head, “not to me. To her.”

He nodded at Cora with a hitch of his chin.

“Kneel to her.”

“Never,” the alpha spat, face twisted in anger. “She’s a witch!”

Zehr kicked the closest leg of the shifter out from under him and jerked his head back with a yank.

“Beg her for mercy.”

He could sense a war in the alpha—that though he was bested with no hope of successfully challenging Zehr he remained proud—and that earned a dust mite’s worth of respect from Zehr.

“With the coronation ceremony or not, for all intents and purposes she is your queen. Now beg her if you want to see a day past this week.”

“Do it,” a panicked blonde alpha female who reeked of fear begged the shifter in his grasp. “Rork, please, do it. Don’t be stupid. You can’t beat him. Not even with the both of us. Please!”

At the plea, a surprisingly heartfelt one, Rork’s shoulders slumped before he slowly fell forward onto his knees. “I beg for—”

Zehr’s foot in his back stopped him and he pushed Rork lower until the shifter’s face was in the dirt. “That’s the appropriate level for addressing your queen. Now you may continue.”

After a tense moment in which no one moved, not even the wind, the shifter tried again. “I beg you for forgiveness. I am at your mercy.”

Cora stepped forward, face bloody and eyes narrowed.

“I forgive you, but under one single promise.”

The shifter grit his teeth, eyes on the dirt in front of him.

“Name it.”

“You pledge yourself to protect Maggie and the other omegas. You swear that no harm will befall them so long as you breathe, and I will grant you your life. My mate will see to it if you agree to the protection and care of the Moonwater omegas.”

Rork jerked his head in acknowledgement, his eyes still cast downward in submission.

“I swear it.”

“Then take your life and leave.”

No sooner had Cora uttered the words than Zehr let the alpha go with a grunt.

“A broken promise to my mate is a broken promise to me,” Zehr told Rork. “If I find out that you have failed, there will be consequences.” He stepped in front of the shifter as he spoke, green-amber eyes fixed on him. Then he turned to Cora, a low growl rumbling in his chest as his eyes swept over her.

“Are you well?”

“Now that you’re here.” Cora gave him a watery smile through her bruised lips and Zehr felt his chest tighten.

He slipped a hand behind her neck and squeezed. The rough drag of his fingers at her neck calmed her and she let out a sigh, leaning into the scrape of her alpha’s nails against her skin, though her pleasure at his nearness was short-lived. The metallic smell of agitation rolled off of him in a dizzying wave.

He was upset.

“What’s wrong?” Cora stepped into the protective bulk of Zehr’s body, which helped the alpha relax. Some. He said nothing but turned to pin with his eyes the pair of alphas who hadn’t yet left. They stood some distance away, gaping at the show of affection, but they were still too close.

So he bared his teeth at them and watched with satisfaction as the two came to their senses and scrambled away in a tangle of clumsy limbs and downcast eyes. He turned to her, pulling her close, but withdrew with a jerk when he caught wind of the other alpha’s smell.

“I swear I hope he breaks his promise so that I can make him pay for this,” Zehr growled, eyes glinting as he pressed his lips to her bond bite.

The other alpha had touched her there, and Zehr threw himself into removing the offending scent with a single-minded determination.

Cora sighed with pleasure as her mate kissed her neck, lips and tongue moving over her bond bite, hands delicately feeling her out for injuries and wiping dust and blood from her face. When he was satisfied that she was no worse besides her busted lip he rumbled contentedly.

At the sound, Cora had to fight back a moan of pleasure. How could she want him again so quickly?

Zehr learned close, picking up on the change in her smell, and gave her a smirk.

“Soon.”

Cora blushed and looked down at the bag she still clutched as her alpha smirked. It was going to be a pleasure to thoroughly debauch his omega, but now was not the time for that.

Now there were different matters at hand, matters of pack and honoring the old ways. The time for his coronation was near and he could only go forward with his mate at his side. Zehr took Cora’s hand, squeezing it gently as he spoke.

“I swear to protect you and care for you always. Will you come with me as my omega, my true mate, to the coronation, and take your place by my side in the Fireheart Clan?”

Cora raised her eyes to his. He was the most powerful alpha she had ever known, and with blood on her lips and magic alive in her heart she gave him her answer.

“I will.”

It was the easiest thing she had ever had to say.