Christina’s POV
The chaos in the grand hall was spiraling, but Ysolde wasn’t backing down. She landed a powerful kick on every woman who dared approach her, even sending one particularly bold one flat on her back with a satisfying thud.
"All those combat training sessions with the pack warriors are finally paying off," she gloated to .
I gave her a quick nod, admiring her strength.
That’s when Niall finally decided to grace us with his presence, fresh from whatever mirror he’d been admiring his reflection in. One look at the unfolding scene, and his expression transford from "Highrise’s most eligible Alpha" to "enraged dominant wolf" in half a second.
"Christina! What the hell do you think you’re doing? If you’re pissed off, take it out on ! Leave Beatrice out of this!" he snarled, storming toward with the commanding presence.
Moving with supernatural speed, he grabbed my wrist, attempting to wrench my hand from Beatrice’s hair. The force of his grip sent pain shooting up my arm.
But I wasn’t letting go. Not this ti.
"You stay out of it!" I snapped back, tightening my grip. "You just assu it’s my fault without even asking, as usual?"
"You’re literally dragging Beatrice around by her hair! Am I supposed to pretend I’m blind?" he said angrily.
The room was filled with the North’s most powerful pack mbers,the type of Alphas and Betas Niall had once desperately wanted to impress. His pride must have been dissolving faster than morning mist under the sumr sun.
So naturally, he took it out on , yanking my arm with such force I thought the bones would snap.
I barely had ti to curse before a large, powerful hand clamped down on Niall’s arm. Hard.
Niall stiffened, his wolf imdiately sensing the dominant presence. "Who the hell—?"
Hudson ripped Niall’s hand off with the effortless strength, peeling it away like it was nothing before taking gentle hold of my wrist. "Co with ," he commanded.
The way he was glaring at Niall, you’d think he was two seconds from challenging him to a fight.The kind that ends with one wolf limping away in submission or not walking away at all.
I glanced down. A bright red mark was blooming across my wrist like so kind of horrible brand. Great. Just what I needed – battle scars from my ex-mate.
Hudson saw it too. His eyes narrowed, deadly anger simring.He shot Niall a look so cold it could have frozen the river in midwinter. Niall actually flinched, breaking into a nervous sweat.
He just stood there, dumb as a newly turned pup, while Hudson led upstairs without another word.
I caught sight of a suited man charging toward Ivan with a bunch of security guards trailing behind him.
"Let go of ! Not my fault!" Ysolde shrieked. "Everyone saw it! Niall has been cheating, flaunting his side piece around like it’s mating season, and they ganged up on Chrissy! The mating bond’s been severed! And it’s not Chrissy’s fault she’s leaving – it’s because Niall is a lying piece of shit who rejected his own mate!"
"I need to get to my friend," I said.
"She’ll be fine," Hudson said curtly, his grip on possessive yet gentle.
I saw the man in the suit shouting commands at the security team while gesturing toward the crowd around Ivan. They charged in and started separating people from her.
Ysolde remained on her feet, looking fierce but perfectly capable of handling herself.
Hudson added, "They’re coming this way. Don’t worry, your friend is safe."
No ti to argue. His grip on my wrist was firm but careful, as though he understood the precious nature of what he held. He guided into a side room that appeared to be so kind of private sitting area.
Seconds later, the suited man ca barging in, escorting Ysolde.
He raked a hand through his hair and demanded, "Right. Start talking. What in the Goddess’s na happened down there?"
Ysolde grabbed a napkin and started dabbing at her wine-soaked dress, muttering curses about ruined silk. She launched into a detailed account of the confrontation downstairs.
While she explained, Hudson brought out a first aid kit, his touch surprisingly gentle as he dabbed antiseptic on my wrist.His fingers moved with carefulness, almost... reverently, as though tending to a mate’s wounds.
The antiseptic burned slightly, but I barely noticed it.
The real problem was how intensely close he was. Hudson was half-kneeling before , his breath ghosting over my skin, and between the sting and the heat radiating from him, my whole arm felt like it might ignite. Akira stirred restlessly, drawn to him in ways I couldn’t explain.
His eyes flicked over , sharp and thorough, like he was scanning for damage. I felt completely exposed.
I yanked my hand back and shrugged like it was nothing. "I’m fine, really. I train with the pack warriors, you know. If it had co down to it, those won wouldn’t have stood a chance."
Hudson straightened to his full, imposing height, grabbed his phone, and made a call. When it connected, he said, "Dominic, pull the security footage from the first floor. I want to see exactly what happened."
I checked on Ysolde, who was still blotting at the giant wine stain on her designer dress. The suited man hovered nearby, handing tissues as if trying to make himself useful.
"That dress is beyond saving," he said with surprising gentleness. "I’ll have my staff bring you sothing fresh to wear."
Ysolde waved it off with typical defiance."The dress is fine. If you hadn’t dragged away, I swear I would’ve shown that Niall what’s what!"
Then she shot an apologetic look and said, "Chrissy, about announcing your rejection with Niall was complete in public—you’re not upset, right? It just sort of... slipped out in the heat of battle."
I shrugged, surprisingly calm about it. "I’m not upset. It needed to be said."
Then I looked over at Hudson. "I didn’t realize you’d arrived. You were upstairs this whole ti?" Even with all the fists flying and glass breaking, I hadn’t missed how he’d appeared from the second floor, not the front entrance.
Hudson hesitated.
Before he could respond, the suited man cut in, "Why wouldn’t he be upstairs? This is his ho."
I blinked at Hudson, genuinely surprised. "You live here?"
Ysolde interjected, her eyes darting between the suited man and Hudson with growing recognition. "Wait, you two know each other?"
The guy nodded, looking bemused. "Obviously. We’ve been allied for years. That’s Hudson Laurent, Alpha of the Sabreridge Pack. Just returned from establishing territory in Europe. This whole gathering is to announce his return."
I nearly stumbled backward. "Hudson Laurent? You told your na was Hudson Girard!"
At the sa mont, Ysolde exclaid."Hudson? Chrissy, this is your new mate?"
Hudson, as calm as a flatlined EKG machine, simply stated, "Girard was my mother’s na. Laurent is my father’s."
His friend’s jaw practically hit the floor. "Wait, what? You’re engaged? When did this happen?"
Hudson gave him a asured look. "This gathering is to announce it. Didn’t you receive the formal pack notification?"
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