Page 120 of Poet & Protector

“Fuck.” To his credit, Dax’s expression was mortified. “No, Sabine. Never. We all hate Efron for that. You know we do. I would never⁠—”

“Yes, you would.” Sabine cut him off. “Because you did it to Mason.”

Dax paled, unable to muster any reply.

With the heat of my initial fury and instinct to attack fading, I’d gone cold at the revelation. Part of me didn’t want to believe Dax could go that far, but he had. I despised him for it. He was still my packmate, but he’d lost all my respect. My stomach knotted and I felt like I might vomit, but I pushed the rising gorge back and instead remembered the beautiful sound of Sabine’s fist connecting with Dax’s jaw.

Despite the temptation to create a repeat performance of her punch, I kept still. This was an important moment for her. Painful, but important. She never talked about Efron to our pack. She barely spoke of him to me, and I was her closest friend.

“I’m sorry, Sabine,” Dax said at last. “I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Sabine replied. “And I’m not the only one you need to apologize to.”

Dax frowned slightly but nodded. “Can I stand up first?”

“Nev?” Sabine asked without taking her eyes off Dax.

“Yeah,” I said. “He can stand.”

Dax climbed to his feet and gave me a grudging nod. “I’m sorry, Nev. I’m only trying to protect our pack.”

“I know that’s what you believe,” I replied. “I wish you understood how wrong you are.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but my growl stopped him.

“You listened to Sabine,” I said, holding his gaze. “Now you’re going to listen to me. We are packmates. I can’t change that. We will always be in each other’s lives, but you are not my friend. In a fight, I will have your back because that’s what packmates do, but you are no longer someone I trust. You didn’t tell Ren about this stupid-ass ‘intervention’ of yours because you know he isn’t with you. Ren made it clear he supports me and Mason. You’re a fool to think you can go behind our alpha’s back and change things.”

Dax didn’t respond and I continued.

“For the sake of the new pack, I’m not going to tell Ren what happened here. We will drop this and we will go back to acting like everything is the same.”

I took a breath, pushing back the fresh crimson wave of rage that threatened to knock me off course. “Nothing is the same. Mason is not just some guy whose dick I like to suck.”

I paused, enjoying the way Dax’s eyes suddenly bulged before I spoke again.

“I love him. He. Is. My. Mate. I would die for him. And that means if Logan ever, ever, hurts Mason, I will tear that smug bastard open and eat his heart. It doesn’t matter that he’s our new master. I don’t care what happens to me. But you should care what will happen to our pack if I decide to kill Logan, and that means Mason is someone you need to protect.”

Dax was shaking. I couldn’t be sure if it was from anger or fear. I suspected it was both.

“Do you understand?” I asked him.

He inclined his head slightly. It was enough.

“Then we’re done here,” I said.

A choking sound pulled my gaze from Dax. Sabine was doubled over again, her shoulders shaking. It was strange that she’d be laughing after that exchange. She must have enjoyed seeing Dax taken down a peg more than I expected.

Another sound escaped her and I realized she wasn’t laughing. She was weeping.

Shit.

I looked at Cosette. Her hands were covering her mouth as she watched Sabine with wide, frightened eyes. Glancing at Dax, I could see he was still catching up.

“Dax, take Cosette to get a Coke or something,” I told him in a brusque voice. “This has been a lot.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he grumbled, frowning at Sabine. I was fairly certain he didn’t know she was crying, not laughing.

Dax beckoned to Cosette, who reluctantly pulled her gaze off Sabine and let Dax lead her out of the commons.