Free Web NovelChapter 103: Chapter 103
Aria’s POV
The man rushed over to his dog, helping it up. Grenade whimpered pitifully. Alpha Rowland’s kick had hit hard. Too hard for an ordinary dog.
The man shot him a furious glare. “I already apologized! Look at Grenade, he’s hurt! You did this to him! Are you still gonna call the cops?”
Alpha Rowland didn’t answer.
He was already dailing the enforcers.
The man lunged. “Hey! Don’t you dare—” frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Alpha Rowland sidestepped him smoothly, turning his head with a cold, razor-sharp stare.
The kind that could freeze blood.
The man’s hand stopped in the air.
He trembled, actually trembled.
“Who exactly are you...” he asked but got no response.
The man looked around the upscale neighborhood and seemed to regain some fake courage.
“You want money, right?” he said, his chest puffing out. “How much? Just say it. Stop pretending.”
Money?I almost snorted.
Alpha Rowland’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling in a cold laugh.
He reeked of power, wealth and dominance. As if he needed the man’s money.
But the man scoffed. “Grenade didn’t hurt anyone. You hurt him. I’m being nice and offering compensation. Anyone else would demand you pay!”
That was enough.
I finally stepped forward.
“Sir,” I said sharply, shifting Lana against my shoulder, “it’s illegal to walk a dog without a leash. We were defending ourselves. You’re clearly in the wrong.”
My gaze flicked to Alpha Rowland in gratitude.
“If he hadn’t stepped in,” I said quietly but firmly, “the dog would’ve reached me and my daughter."
My wolf growled softly inside me.
Just imagining that dog sinking its teeth into Lana made my blood turn to ice.
Alpha Rowland’s eyes met mine, sharp and alert. His grip on the phone tightened, the movement was so subtle anyone else would’ve missed it.
The man, meanwhile, had the nerve to clap his hands over his ears and shout, “You’re being so ungrateful! I already said I’d pay you!”
Ungrateful?My wolf growled.
He saw we were still intent on calling the enforcers, and all traces of fake remorse vanished from his face like smoke in the wind.
“You two clearly don’t belong to this community!” he barked, puffing out his beer belly like some overconfident toad. “Do you know who I am? Don’t mess with the wrong person!”
He smelled of arrogance and old beer. Even Lana wrinkled her nose.
He strutted forward. “Listen. The enforcers chief? He’s my uncle. You really think calling the cops will do anything to me?”
He looked between us, expecting us to shrink back.
Instead, Alpha Rowland stayed perfectly calm. A stillness rolled off him, the kind that made every wolf instinct in me stir in warning.
Then he chuckled.
A low, dangerous, sarcastic sound.
“Oh, really?” he said softly. “Guess we’ll find out if you are really as powerful and untouchable as you think.”
The tone in his voice... gods.
It didn’t match his handsome face at all. It was lethal, Alpha-level lethal.
I couldn’t help it. I looked at him again, longer this time.
Something fluttered in my chest.
Here was a man I barely knew, willing to stand up to someone with influence...
For me, for my child.
Brave, my wolf murmured. Brave... and familiar.
That thought scared me a little.
I shifted my gaze to the man. He was definitely in the wrong, but he still had the audacity to throw his weight around. His pride reeked like spoiled meat.
Before Alpha Rowland could escalate things, I reached out and grabbed his arm.
He turned toward me instantly, his eyes flicking down to where my hand rested on him and they sparkled.
“Don’t worry,” he said in a low voice meant only for me. “I’ve got your back. No one’s laying a finger on you as long as I’m here.”
My heart jumped, literally jumped.
My wolf swayed with the sound.
Why did those words feel familiar?
Like something I’d heard long ago... far before Lana... far before Nathan.
But that was ridiculous. We weren’t even friends.
Before I could process the strange echo in my chest, a sudden snarl ripped through the air.
The golden retriever who had been limp a moment ago went berserk.
Its eyes went feral, bloodshot, as if something had triggered it all over again.
“Woof! Woof!”
My wolf stiffened inside me. Something was off. But before I could fully process the warning, the dog snapped.
Then it lunged.
I barely had time to inhale before the weight of the golden furball slammed into me, knocking me backward. Instinct overrode fear and I curled my body around Lana, shielding her with my arms. The gravel bit into my skin, sharp enough to draw blood. I felt it trickle, warm and slow, down my forearm.
Protect the pup! Protect the pup!.
My wolf’s voice thundered through me.
Alpha Rowland’s expression darkened instantly, he moved fast and threw his arm between us and the dog’s snapping jaws. I heard teeth scrape against his skin and my heart lurched.
“Alpha Rowland!”
With a powerful kick, he sent the frenzied dog sprawling across the dirt. In one fluid movement, he pinned it with his boot, his wolf simmering in his eyes as if ready to shift if needed.
Then his arms were around Lana and me, pulling us in, shaking as he asked, “Aria—are you okay?” His voice cracked on the last word.
