The Devil Himself

**MAX**
Every single one of them looks up in shock and fear as I barrel toward them with fire in my eyes. Rolfe drops Blanca instantly and I almost scream when I watch her fall, but Finn catches her, cradling her in his arms and against his chest. He whispers something to her as I approach, but I don't hear it because my murderous gaze is fixed on Rolfe. I can't seem to get the cruel way he was holding her out of my mind and the one thing I aim to do is rip his fucking head from his shoulders and roll it down the hall.
"Max!" Fionna's voice sounds behind me, stopping me just shy of reaching for his neck.
"Go and wait in your room, Fionna," I hiss, turning around. "This is pack business, and you aren't a member of this pack *yet.*"
Fionna snorts, walking up the aisle like she owns the place. "Oh come on, baby. It can't be that serious." Then her eyes fall on Blanca and she sneers. "Is that the Shiftless girl Jared is messing with?"
"That's her," Jill answers snidely. "Girl doesn't know her place."
*No it is not her! She hasn't been with Jared.*
*At least, she better not have been.*
Putting enough authority into my voice to bring a city to its knees, I say, "Fionna, go to your room, now."
Fionna flinches, her mouth turning down in a sad little pout, but she retreats from the room without so much as a whimper.
Turning back to Blanca I can see the red that stains her hair and I have to work to keep my breathing under control or else expose my secret to the entire room. "Why is she bleeding? Who did that to her?"
"She did it to herself," Gina says haughtily. "Hilda was only trying to make sure the food wasn't contaminated. The Shiftless kept having to restart the gravy because her hair kept getting in it. When Hilda called for the shears, she tried to run and ended up cracking her head on the ground."
I hardly hear the bitch because although I am looking her way, I am only pretending to listen. My mind, body, and soul are tuned in to one person and one person only. The same person who is presently in the arms of another male. Screaming inwardly, I glare at them, all of them.
"So, her hair was getting into the food, is that what you're telling me?"
"Yes," Hilda says confidently. "Surely you understand, Alpha, I was only trying to-"
"What I understand"-I snap, getting in her face-"is that I assigned her to serving duty, *not* kitchen duty, and you took it upon yourself to ignore my orders. What I *understand* is that you were caught taking matters into your own hands. And *now* someone has gotten hurt." Knowing I can't take it any longer I reach for her. For Blanca. "Give her to me."
"I think she should see the pack doctor," Finn says. "I was going to take her there. There's no need for you to-"
"I said give her to me." I can hear the growl behind my words and the gasps from those around us, but I don't care. I need to have her in my arms and I need her there *now.*
"Yes Alpha Max," Finn says calmly, handing her over.
The moment I feel her weight in my arms it's like I can breathe again. The coiled hand around my heart loosens and I gaze down at Blanca's tear stained face. I want to scream when she looks back at me with glassy, unfocused eyes. "How hard did she hit her head?" I ask them, but none of them says a word. My head snaps up and I'm just about to roar the question again when Finn speaks.
"Pretty hard, Max. I heard it crack on the tile when she landed."
I swallow a lump that has lodged in my throat and remember that pain that sweltered through my head when I was on the stairs. "Rolfe is *your* newest problem, see to it that he is disciplined Commander. Never again will he hold a female against her will. Not *ever.*"
"Yes sir," Finn says with a half smile. "Let's go Rookie," he snaps at Rolfe.
I watch them leave, thinking that I'll get at Rolfe myself the next time we're in training. Then I turn toward the females in front of me. "She has to see a doctor or else I'd deal with you three right now." The three of them look on in fear and at that moment I know exactly what it is I'm going to do to them the moment I've gotten Blanca settled. "Diana!"
"Yes Alpha Max," Diana says, true concern in her eyes when she gazes at Blanca.
I decide right there and then to find Diana a better job. "Call the pack doctor and tell her it's an emergency. Tell her that *I* need her immediately. When she arrives, send her up to my room."
Jill squints at me suspiciously as Diana races away. "Y-your room, Alpha Max? But won't Jared be upset? After all-"
"Jill!" I snap.
"Y-yes Alpha?"
"Shut the fuck up. I don't give a flying fuck what Jared gets upset about and if I hear even one more whisper of gossip come out of your mouth your next stop is the prison." She gasps and I smile. "That goes for each of you. Send two trays up to my room for lunch."
Then I stalk past them and out of the kitchens, not giving even a little fuck when the entire place stops to stare at me.
"Max," Blanca whimpers, closing her eyes.
"Yes. I've got you," I say softly, hating the tears that stream from her eyes.
*Those are my fault. I did this when I made her a slave.*
*She smells a little like Jared, damn it. Why? How?*
I race up the stairs, not slowing down at all until we're safely locked inside my suite. Then I lay her down on the couch as gently as I can. I'd put her in my bed, but I know that will arouse suspicion when the doctor arrives.
"I'll get your pillow," I say, disappearing quickly to do just that.
*When did it become her pillow, Max?*
*Maybe it has always been...*
Shaking off that thought, I step back into the room to see Blanca trying to stand. "What the fuck are you doing, Shiftless? Lay back down! Now!"
She shakes her head. "No. I shouldn't be in here. Your girlfriend is here. I should be in *my* room. Downstairs."
"My *girlfriend*?" I hiss, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her back down. "You mean Fionna?"
She nods, looking away from me. "Yes. Fionna."
"She's not my girlfriend," I snap angrily. "I don't have a girlfriend."
Her next words are spoken in a whisper. "But she *is* the one you've chosen for your Luna. Isn't she?"
For the first time since I decided Fionna would be the one, I'm finding it hard to admit to. "I...yes. Yes she is."
Tears brim in her eyes, one trailing down the side of her face slowly. "Then I shouldn't be in here," she says so sadly that the sound goes right to my heart.
*Goddess help me.*
I start to reach for her, but she yanks back away from my hands making me think about what Jill said in the kitchen. "Everybody thinks Jared is the one who gave you those marks. Did you tell them that?" I snap, a bit more angrily than I intended.
She snorts. "I didn't tell those...*females* anything! Jill saw me in the morning, coming out of Jared's shower. She made her own assumptions."
"So you *did* shower in Jared's suite," I say coolly.
"Yes," she answers with a lift of her chin, her eyes flashing. "So what? He was worried that the Omega's shower would be too crowded and it might be unsafe for me."
*And he was probably right. But you could have showered in here...*
It shouldn't bother me that everyone thinks *Jared* is the one that had his mouth on her, but...it does.
It *really, really,* does.
*Why? Do you want everyone to know it was you instead? So they can make her life hell?*
"When the marks are gone, everyone will forget about it. Then you will have no reason to let them think that *you* are with Jared." The venom leaves my mouth before I can stop it and it sounds like a load of jealous bullshit, even to *my* ears.
She opens her mouth to say something, but the pounding on my door stops her. I know who it is even before I answer it. It's the devil himself. *Jared.*