Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(29)

Jag just smirked.

Teeth grinding, Lyon forced himself to loose his grip on the serving fork, pushing back the beast that longed to escape his rigid control. Dammit to hell, Kara wasn't his. He had no right to feel this outrage, this Possessiveness. Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down.

He looked to Paenther. "Get Vhyper."

The warrior nodded and left. Slowly, the conversation started again. Pink brought out more platters, and the meal was relatively pleasant, though Kara never stirred.

Lyon was nearly finished when Wulfe gave a deep growl and cleared his plate, Foxx's, and Jag's from the table with a single, furious sweep of his arm.

Jag snarled, but Foxx leaped at Wulfe, taking him crashing to the ground in a flurry of fangs and claws.

Lyon let them go for a good minute or two. Getting their anger out was often the only way for them to get back in their skins. Then he rose to put a stop to it.

"Enough!"

Foxx broke away from the fight, but Wulfe tackled the younger warrior and the battle resumed full force.

"Wulfe!" But the man didn't seem to hear him. Bloody hell.

It took both Kougar and Jag to tear the huge warrior off Foxx, but Wulfe continued to try to fight them.

Lyon stepped in and pinned Wulfe to the ground. "Get back in your skin."

Slowly, slowly, the fight went out of Wulfe, and he sheathed his claws, his fangs retracting.

Lyon stared into the now-human eyes of one of his best fighters. "What happened?"

Wulfe shook his. head hard, as if trying to clear it, then threw off Jag's and Kougar's hands. Lyon stepped back and let him rise to his feet.

"I don't know." His scarred face tightened with a frown, "I lost it."

"You can say that again," Jag muttered.

"Are you back in control?" Lyon demanded.

"Yes."

Lyon put his hand on Wulfe's shoulder, surprising himself. Surprising the warrior.

"Get some rest, Wulfe. You need it."

The warrior nodded and hooked his arm around Foxx's shoulders. "Sorry, cub."

"Don't call me cub." But Foxx slung his arm around Wulfe's shoulders in return. As the pair started for the door, Paenther returned.

"What happened to you?" Foxx asked.

"Nothing." Paenther looked as bad as Wulfe and Foxx, though his cuts were well on their way to healed.

Lyon scowled. "Well?"

Paenther glanced at the door, not turning back until Wulfe and Foxx were out of sight.

"I found Vhyper in bed with Zaphene and reminded him he had a mate," Paenther said quietly, rubbing his hand over one of the cuts on his face. "Didn't seem to like that."

"Damn him. He disrespects Kara. Steals from Foxx." Despite his anger, a small, jealous part of him was pleased that Vhyper had sought out a woman other than Kara. He'd kill the snake if he ever hurt Kara, but she had yet to want him. Foxx, on the other hand, would care very much that Vhyper had turned to Zaphene instead of his mate. "If Foxx finds out…"

He was used to fights, sometimes vicious fights between his warriors. They were, after all, half-animal. But generally, there was a reason for the scuffle. And if he demanded control, they found it. Always.

With the lack of radiance, that appeared to be a thing of the past.

How much worse was this going to get before they got Kara ascended? This kind of loss of control, and inability to get it back, was dangerous. To the Ferals and anyone near them.

Including their Radiant.

"Where's Vhyper now?"

"Nursing a concussion," the warrior said with a hard grin.

Lyon pulled out his cell phone and punched the snake's number. "In my office, now," he barked when Vhyper answered.

He snapped the phone closed and turned to his second. "We've got to get Kara ascended, and I don't want Vhyper near her."

"He's her mate," Paenther said simply.

"He's out of control. I won't have her harmed."

The prepping didn't have to be by the Radiant's mate, but usually worked better if it was. If for no other reason than it built a trust between them they'd need when it came to the Ascension itself. But those two had a long way to go to establish any trust. And there was no way he was putting Kara in any danger.

"I need you to prep her, B.P."

Paenther shook his head. "I'm not sure I'm in any better shape than Vhyper. He jumped me, but I went feral first. My control is razor-thin at the best of times. And these are not the best of times. I'm not the one you want with the Radiant right now, Roar. How about Hawke? Or Stripes?"

"Not Tighe." He'd seen the way Tighe watched her. Lyon was certain he wouldn't hurt her, but his jealousy stirred, thick and hot. "Has Hawke shown any signs of losing control?"

"Not yet."

"Then send him."

"What about you? You've got a good connection to her."

Lyon's jaw clenched. "That connection needs to break." He had to stay away from her. Because his own control was close to snapping in an entirely different way. A way that would dishonor them both, and that was a thing he refused to do.

Kara stood beneath the hot spray of the shower, shaking. Her heart hadn't quit thudding all night except for the minutes when Lyon had touched her. Her chest ached. Her stomach hurt as if the threat of stabbing from both nightmares had horribly come true. And there had been a second nightmare.