Tabitha's POV
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
I stood in situ, facing the brown wolf that was about to pounce on me. His claws were sharp and gleaming with cold light.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment, and I could see the horror in his eyes clearly.
In this tense confrontation, I met his eyes, and all of a sudden, I knew. He was Aiden.
He must have jumped out in a rush, and now, he couldn't control his movements in time.
Just as Aiden was about to pounce at me, I saw Derek again.
Derek held me close and protected me with his body.
And that left his back fully exposed to Aiden's claws.
Aiden's claws left several blood marks on Derek's back.
In the next second, Aiden quickly leaped away so as not to cause further harm and landed on the ground.
Alvin and Rolf quickly surrounded him. Rolf commanded, his voice carrying authority and control, "Shift! Now!"
Aiden's body began to change visibly.
His body gradually shrank, and his thick brown hair slowly receded, revealing his skin.
The bones of his limbs made a slight rattle. As his muscles contracted and stretched, he gradually shifted back to human form.
There was pain and unease on his face. Obviously, being forced to shift from wolf back to human was a difficult process.
With a final muffled groan, Aiden fully shifted back to his human form.
He sat on his knees, breathing fast and trembling slightly. It was apparently due to the physical burden that the rapid shift had just placed on him.
Alvin quickly walked to him and threw him a blanket.
Aiden wrapped the blanket tightly around himself, covering his naked body.
"Aiden..." I whispered his name softly, but he looked down, unable to look me in the eye.
As I was about to go forward to comfort Aiden, I heard Derek's painful groan.
I turned to look at Derek and saw blood oozing from the wounds on his back and beads of sweat on his forehead.
Suddenly, I felt a strange resonance. It seemed I could feel his pain directly.
It startled me. The feeling was so familiar yet so far away.
Crystal said in my mind, her voice calm and natural, "Tabitha, you feel it, don't you? The bond with Derek."
I took a deep breath, trying to collect myself.
It got me wondering again. Was Derek really my second chance?
"Derek, let me see your wounds," I said quickly and then turned to Alvin. "Go get the first aid kit!"
When Alvin came back with the first aid kit, I began to clean Derek's wounds at once.
Meanwhile, Rolf raised his pistol and aimed it at Aiden.
Seeing that, I exclaimed hastily, "Don't shoot! He's just a child!"
Derek reached out his cold fingertips and brushed the tears in the corners of my eyes. "A young beast with fangs is still a beast, Tabitha. Being kind to your enemy will do you no good."
His voice was so low that I couldn't tell any emotions at all.
But I knew he was angry. To be more precise, he was furious.
He always got very emotional when it concerned me. On the contrary, for others, the angrier he got, the calmer he looked.
I held him tightly with both hands and said, "Derek, Aiden didn't mean to hurt me. He is just a child. Please! Don't hurt him!"
Seeing me crying, Kyrian burst into tears as well as if he felt aggrieved.
"Daddy! Mommy!" He cried while running towards Derek.
Derek picked Kyrian up.
Then he said, having no choice but to give in, "Fine. I can spare him. But..."
He stared at Lucian without blinking and said coldly, "He must die."
Noticing Derek's gaze, Rolf and Alvin turned to look at Lucian.
I couldn't just stand by and watch Lucian get hurt because of me.
Therefore, I took a deep breath, focused, and mobilized the Alpha power within me.
I could feel my aura gradually spreading. It wasn't as powerful as Derek's, but it was enough to make Rolf and Alvin feel pressured.
They sensed my aura and hesitated.
"Tabitha, are you making an enemy of me?" Derek's voice was icy cold, and a hint of pain flashed across his eyes.
"I don't want to, Derek, but I've gotta protect the people on this island," I said firmly.
Noah came out of nowhere and said, "If you wanna kill someone, kill me. Don't kill Lucian. He's just trying to improve conditions on the island, and he's a good man. Even though we took your son, we never hurt him. We even gave him milk that we couldn't bring ourselves to drink."
Derek said concisely, "Piss off."
Noah, however, didn't move at all. "If you really loved Tabitha, you'd leave her friends alone. What you're doing is hurting her. It's not love."
Derek smiled devilishly.
"Who told you I loved her? The more pain she's in, the happier I am. If killing all of you can make her heartbroken, I'll be more than happy to do so."
"If you hated her, you wouldn't have shielded her from danger at the first moment. You'd leave her to die instead of holding her in your arms!" Noah said loudly.