Chapter 38

Jude

The moment Rosie’s voice came through the phone crying and panicked, my wolf roared to life inside me, demanding blood, violence, and revenge against whoever had hurt our mate.

Every instinct screamed at me to shift, to hunt, to kill.

“River!” I shouted while barging through the door to our dorm room. I’d just finished at the gym when I received the call, still sweating, heart racing, and immediately sprinted from gym to the dorm. “Where are you?” I said before my eyes landed on my friend.

River yelped, “Dude, what’s the fuc—” whipped his head from the game he was playing on his phone, pulling off his headphones as if noticing my eyes, he asked, “What’s going on?”

“Someone posted a video on the school forum,” I said, and my voice was barely controlled rage. My hands were shaking. My wolf was prowling at my mind, demanding to be let out. “I need you to take it down and scrub it from everywhere.”

River’s expression immediately hardened. He knew what this meant—knew about Rosie, knew what she’d been through because I told him about it so that he could help to erased it but I didn’t know it’d be so soon.

“I’m on it,” he said, moving to his desk where his computer was already. “Send me the link.” he said.

I forwarded the forum link that Maya had texted, my jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached. I watched while River’s fingers flew across the keyboard faster than I could follow, typing commands and accessing systems that I didn’t understand but was incredibly grateful existed.

My wolf paced in my mind, snarling and snapping. Mate is hurt. Mate is crying. Find them. Kill them.

Soon, I promised him.

“Got it,” River said after maybe three minutes, then smirked with that cocky confidence that made him the best hacker I knew. “Deleted from the forum and I’m scrubbing it from anyone who downloaded or shared it. Give me another two minutes to make sure it’s completely gone.”

I paced back and forth, unable to stand still. I trusted River’s hacking skills—the guy was practically a genius and could hack into anything from inside our small dorm room. But waiting was torture when all I wanted was to get to Rosie, to hold her, to make her feel safe again.

I could feel my claws trying to extend, pricking against my fingertips. My wolf was demanding to be let out so we could hunt down Josh and Sophia and rip them apart for what they’d done.

They made my mate cry again.

“Done,” River finally said, leaning back in his chair. “It’s completely wiped. The forum post is gone, all comments deleted, and I’ve flagged anyone who tried to download it so if they try to repost, it’ll be automatically removed.”

I grunted in response, grateful beyond words, “I’m going to beat Josh into the fucking ground for this,” I growled, and I could feel my eyes flashing gold. “I’m going to make him regret ever—”

“Dude, calm down,” River interrupted, standing up and putting a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll get your revenge on the rink on Saturday. That’s where you can destroy him legally without complicating things or causing pack problems.”

“I don’t care about any of that,” I snarled, my wolf pushing forward. “He hurt my mate.”

“I know,” River responded firmly, although craned his neck to show submission that he wasn’t challenging my wolf. “But your mate needs you right now, not you losing control and getting yourself in trouble. She needs you to be there for her and make her feel safe. You can destroy Josh on Saturday in front of everyone. That’s the better revenge anyway.”

Those words finally penetrated through my rage haze. I forced myself to take a deep breath. Then another. And another, until my claws retracted and my eyes stopped flashing.

River was right. Rosie needed me calm and in control right now, not raging and violent. She needed her anchor, not another source of chaos.

“You’re right,” I said gruffly, running a hand through my hair. “I need to get to her.”

“Good,” River replied, going back to his bed.

“Thank you,” I muttered, and River grinned.

“Anytime, man. Now go take care of your girl.”

I immediately tugged on my sister’s mind link. Where is she? Is she okay now?

Maya’s response came instantly. Yes, I took her home.

Okay. I’ll meet you there now.

I closed off the mindlink and grabbed my keys and helmet from the nightstand, rushing out of the room. My bike roared to life under me, and I took off toward her cottage at a speed that was probably illegal but I didn’t care.

The ride felt like it took forever even though it was only few minutes.

When I got there, I noticed Maya’s truck was gone—she’d already left, giving us privacy. Good.

I walked to the door and knocked. It didn’t take more than a minute before the door flew open and Rosie threw herself into my arms, crying.

The impact caught me off-guard and I recoiled slightly, thrown off balance, but I caught myself and held her tight. I let her sob against my chest while making soothing sounds and releasing calming pheromones to help settle her panic.

Mate is safe. Mate is here. Protect mate.

My wolf finally started to settle now that she was in my arms.

I nudged up and I lifted her easily. She immediately wrapped her legs around my waist in a koala embrace, her face buried in my neck. I carried her inside, kicking the door shut behind us.

“It’s gone,” I murmured into her hair softly, breathing in her scent to calm both of us. “River deleted everything. No one can see it or download it anymore.”

“But some people already saw it,” she whispered brokenly, her voice muffled against my throat.

“Then they’ll forget about it, or I’ll make them forget about it,” I enuciated, and I meant every word while I patted her head gently. “I’m staying with you tonight.”

Hours later, after she’d calmed down and stopped crying, I went into her tiny kitchen and started cooking dinner. She looked at me with surprise from where she sat curled up on the couch.

“You want to cook?” she asked, and I could see the look in her eyes—remembering my previous kitchen disaster, probably expecting me to burn something or set off the smoke alarm.

But I just smiled at her over my shoulder. “I promised I’d cook for you next time, didn’t I?” I threw her a boyish grin. “So I’ve been learning. Watching videos and practicing.”

And it was true. I’d wanted to take care of my mate, to feed her and love her with everything I had. So I’d spent weeks practicing—burning food, making things that were somehow both overcooked and undercooked, getting yelled at by my mother when I destroyed her kitchen or the kitchen member in dorm send him away.

But it was all worth it.

The food turned out pretty good—pasta with egg, nothing fancy but edible, warm and made with so much love.

I grinned as I watched her eat what I made, her expression shifting from cautious to surprised to happy and approving. Those expressions made some of the rage in my chest settle because at least she was safe here with me, eating and not crying anymore.

My wolf purred with satisfaction. Mate is eating. Mate is safe. Good.

Later we were on the couch with her curled against my side, half-asleep and warm against me. I was content just holding her, stroking her hair, feeling her breathe.

Then her phone lit up on the coffee table with a notification.

I reached for it automatically—I shouldn’t have looked, should have respected her privacy—but I’m glad I did because when I saw the message from an unknown number, my entire body went rigid.

"How does it feel to be popular here also... ugly pig.”

A vicious growl rumbled deep in my chest before I could stop it. I had to physically fight to keep my fangs from extending as rage flooded through me all over again, hot and violent and demanding blood.

Someone was still tormenting my mate. Still trying to hurt her and make her feel small and worthless.

Kill them. Find them. Rip them apart.

I quickly forwarded the message to my own phone before deleting it completely from hers and blocking the number so she’d never see it. My hands were shaking with barely controlled fury.

Then I texted River: Track this number. I need to know who sent this.

River replied within seconds: On it.

River could always be trusted, he always came through.

I would find out who sent that message and I would make them pay for it along with everyone else who’d hurt Rosie. They would never go scot-free, would never get away with what they’d done. They’d pay for every tear, every panic attack, every moment they’d made her feel like she was nothing.

I pulled her tighter against my chest and kissed the top of her head. She mumbled something sleepy and content, completely trusting in my arms.

“No one’s going to talk about that video,” I said quietly, even though she was barely awake to hear me. “And no one’s going to hurt you again. I promise you that, Rosie. I’ll ma ke sure of it.”

She made a soft trusting sound and relaxed completely against me, her breathing evening out into sleep.

I sat there holding my mate, feeling her heartbeat against mine, and planning exactly how I was going to destroy everyone who’d ever hurt her.

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough.