Chapter Seventy-one

ZANE

Allie still wasn’t back. Ebony was wasted by this point and couldn’t stop laughing. Even Taylor was finding things funny; the two of them were taking pictures on his phone with filters.

It was when Chase sat down next to me, I could breathe easy. If he was back, it meant Allie was… wait.

“Where the fuck is Allie?” Blake snapped at him.

Chase looked up from his hot food frowning. “Um, she was. Well, she was with me and then… well…”

“She’s stoned, Chase!” Blake roared at him getting up. “You and I both know she doesn’t think straight when she is stoned! One of us always keeps an eye on her. I leave you with her for a minute, and you lose her!”

“She isn’t that stoned. Anyway, you’re the one that normally keeps an eye on her when she is. Not me.”

“Fuck, you’re more stoned than her! Bloody useless.”

“She isn’t that stoned!”

“What does she do when she is stoned?”

“Fuck you.”

“Apart from that.”

“Eat.”

“Where did you go with her?”

Chase’s face melted in understanding. “To get food.” He finally switched onto the situation. “Well, she seemed switched on. She even promised me something, but now I’m not sure if she was thinking clearly.” He frowned.

“Where did you leave her?”

“Can’t remember.”

I was up. I would search the whole festival looking for her if I had to. I could feel something was wrong with her, but I didn’t know if it was because of the drugs or not. Why did she have to do drugs?!

“You can read her mind. Read her mind and find out where she is,” Blake snapped at me. Like he could force me to do it if I wouldn’t willingly.

I was already searching for her before he even demanded it of me.

Ok. Where is Blake when I need him? Calm down, Allie. We are around people. He won’t make a move while in front of others.

Ok. He’s touching me. What the hell do I do? Change and kill him? We are in front of humans and who was I kidding. I couldn’t kill someone even if I wanted to.

I could feel her panic. She was with someone she didn’t like. She felt unsafe. She felt scared. ‘Allie, what the hell is going on?’ My voice filled her mind.

‘Are you with Blake?’ Her voice entered my mind high on panic.

‘Yes.’

‘Tell him Dan has got me. He will know what to do.’

I frowned and looked at Blake. “She said Dan has got her and you’ll know what to do.” Why wouldn’t I know what to do? Why didn’t she want me right now?

Blake cursed and looked panicked. “Of course he would find her when I wasn’t around. Do you know where she is?”

“Around food.”

“Well, you’re really fucking helpful, aren’t you?” he snapped and pushed past me heading for the food vans.

“Who’s this Dan guy?” I caught up with him. I couldn’t understand why Allie was feeling so scared, but it made me want to fucking find her more knowing she felt unsafe. Yeah, I was feeling how Blake looked.

“A jerk. He made a move on Allie years ago. She said no. He trashed our shit because of it. The next year Allie and I blew up their van as payback. We were meant to be on a lifetime ban because of that.” Blake pushed through the crowd.

I felt Allie’s panic go up as Dan gripped her arm, stopping her from running. She was stoned, her reflexes were slower.

“Werewolf or human?”

“Werewolf. Allie could handle a fucking human. Why else do you think I’m panicking?” He was scanning the crowds looking for her.

I didn’t need to look. I could feel her. I was naturally drawn to her. I pushed a few more people out of my way and, instead of following Blake, he was following me.

I saw her. He had her up against a food van.

‘I’m coming, Allie.’ Surely, she knew I would come.

‘Thank you.’

Blake spotted her and pushed past me and broke out running.

He ripped the guy's hand off her, and that was my job!

It was when Blake wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to him like she was his – well that sent my blood pressure up.

“Here, I thought you left your prize possession completely alone, Blake,” the guy said to him. “Allie and I were just catching up.”

As soon as I reached them, I gave Blake a pointed look to let go of her. My mate. He had his hands on my Allie. He let go of her and pushed her towards me. Not fighting me on it. It was only natural to wrap my arms around her.

I heard her exhale slowly as soon as I did, but she was still stiff. Her heart beating like it was last night, only this time I wasn’t causing it, and it was beating out of fear.

‘Calm down, sweetheart. I’m right here, and so is Blake.’ I wanted to reassure her that she was safe. She had to know I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her while I was around, and I doubted Blake would let anyone hurt her while he was around.

As much as that annoyed me, it was the truth. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her either.

I guess it wasn’t a bad thing if Allie had another person looking out for her.

“I told you last year to stay away from her.” Blake’s fists were clenched at his side. “You suffering memory loss?”

Dan’s eyes weren’t on Blake. He couldn’t give a care about Blake. His eyes were on Allie and me.

“You got yourself a friend, Allie?” He turned, looking at us more closely. “One with Alpha blood.”

“Not a friend, a mate,” I corrected him, feeling the need to make a stake on Allie.

His face twisted with understanding. “Allie and Alpha. What do you know?”

“An Alpha that will ruin you if you go near her again.” I pushed Allie behind me. Normally I didn’t like threatening people, or using my blood to do the threatening. I liked to consider myself as a relaxed type of guy, but I wasn’t feeling relaxed right now, knowing how scared Allie was. “Don’t go near her again or you answer to me. Simple really. Fuck with her, and I’ll ruin you.”

“Yeah, because you would really start a war over her,” he scoffed.

My expression didn’t change. His did though with the realization of how serious I was.

“She’s pretty, mate, but she isn’t worth a death sentence.” He started to back away. “But just for the record, Allie and I aren’t over.”

“Considering there was nothing between you and her, I think it’s fair to say, it is over.” I took another step towards him, and he took an automatic step back. “Touch her or go near her, and I’ll personally take care of you.”

Just like that he backed away completely - leaving us. Again, I couldn’t help but think why was it everyone’s mission to get in the way of Allie and me? Trouble followed Allie like a shadow and I knew for the rest of my life, I was going to be the one stopping that trouble from hurting her.

I was so tense watching him disappear in the grounds. If he went near her again, he was a dead man. No man, not even my father was going to stop me from being with Allie.

I’ll do anything to keep her in my life now, even walk from a role that I had been groomed to take over. Dad never wanted Ryder to take over. He never wanted Ryder to be the next Alpha. He had always wanted me, but as soon as he released Allie from her commitment to the pack, he also released me in a way because wherever Allie went, I followed now.

But she was yet to know that.