Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 506: The Animal Story

Roman was full of surprises.

"So, you can control animals?" Violet arched a brow at him. "How did I not know? You don’t seem to invest in that particular skill."

They sat on the bed with their backs to the wall. Sure, the room was wrecked, but where else could they go? It was just a gaping hole in the wall, not the apocalypse. Outside, night air slipped through the break, carrying the faint hum of the temple beyond. The bed at least was still intact, and that was enough.

Besides, the mating fever had cooled to a dull ember, no longer suffocating her thoughts. By morning, she’d be out of here. She couldn’t wait another hour. After that witch’s attack, Violet needed to see the rest of her men and make sure they were alive, breathing, and preferably not doing anything stupid. Then she’d figure out the rest of this madness.

One thing was clear: Angus hadn’t made a move until her powers were free. That alone made her pause and dulled whatever anger she’d been holding toward her birth mother. If Angus was this insane, she could only imagine the kind of fear her mother had lived with, probably the kind that drove her to bind her own daughter’s magic.

So yeah, Violet couldn’t exactly blame her.

Roman said, "My mother didn’t like it."

At the mention of his mother’s name, Violet shifted on the bed, bracing herself for the bitter turn this story was about to take. Alexa Draven had never been a steady presence in Roman’s life, and Violet could only imagine what she’d done to make him avoid honing this skill altogether.

intertwining. A silent gesture meant to anchor him and offer the support she knew he probably wouldn’t ask for. Roman wasn’t Asher and would have taken it regardless,

a bad way though. It was

a bruise they didn’t want touched. It was too quick, and

calm until I touched and soothed them. Unfortunately, this only worked on the caged ones, so you can imagine the animals

sad territory, the way Roman

smirked at her reaction and went on, "I turned our home into a fucking zoo. There wasn’t a week when the pack staff didn’t find one or two raccoons raiding the kitchen. I once walked into my room to find a deer asleep on my bed. Don’t even get me started on the birds? Flocks would follow me like I was Snow White, only they were louder and far more annoying. I opened the bathroom door once, and there was a

The pack had to full-on evacuate the pack

face, but the mental image of all of those encounters was too much. Before she knew it, her shoulders shook, and finally she burst into full-blown laughter, leaning

said, wiping the tears from her eyes, still catching her breath

was worse," Roman replied, savoring the memory until

instantly, her posture straightening. She could feel the story was about to turn, and whatever came next had ended the laughter

scalp. "I think I was about ten at the time. My mother was dead tired of my ’antics’ and decided it was better to give me a space of my own where I could entertain my ’friends.’ So they moved me into this smaller quarters on the estate, far enough for her peace of mind,

I was also crushing on this girl in my pack. I went to

brows lifted, amusement gleaming in her eyes. Someone