Page 172

He tries to dive into my head but comes up against my solid wall. His growl of frustration causes me to laugh.

“I guess the re-mating ceremony is still on?”

He snarls and takes a step toward me, but stops. “Once the ceremony is complete, you and I will have a long talk about your behavior, wife.”

“Ex,” I say. “I am your ex-wife until midnight.”

This time, he smiles. “Yes. And once I seal the deal, I will circle back to your little dog pack and slaughter that mutt you called yourself mating.”

Fear coats me, but I hide it under my neutral appearance.

“Do as you please with the wolf,” I shrug. “Did you not witness his heartbreak? He’d much rather help you kill me than die for me. You’re wasting your time.”

Even though I say those words with a lack of any emotion, they hurt like hell because they are true. Deep down, he probably wouldn’t care what happened to me.

“You don’t deserve my love and you damn sure didn’t deserve Elizabeth’s.”

Enzo will move on. He will find a female wolf that will be everything he ever wanted. He will have full wolf pups, and hewon’t miss the short time he was mated to me. There is a much better deserving mate out there for him.

“No, there’s only you.”Enzo’s words pop in my head so loud and clear I glance around the room. How the hell did he get past my barrier?

I don’t get to question this because a lone howl goes up into the night. No, please no. Turning to the window, I press my face closer, trying to find him. I know that wolf howl. I know it like I know my own voice.

“Zo,” I whisper his name when I spot golden glowing eyes through the trees. A swarm of legion members that have been guarding the house make their way toward the trees where the howl came from.

To get back to Chicago, it would’ve taken us about twenty hours. Markis didn’t want to risk missing the full moon, so he opted to hunker down in a cabin he found in Montana. We were only an hour's drive away from Chayton’s pack. Enzo must have tracked me somehow.

“Zo, go back. I have a plan. Don’t risk this. You need to stay and protect Elizabeth.”

“You don’t get to make plans without me while carrying my pup.”

Even though I’m startled, I should have known Liz would tell him about the baby. I again place a hand on my still flat belly.

“Sacrifices will have to be made. Your job will be to figure out who will be the sacrificial lamb.”

My child is the sacrifice I’m making in order to save everyone.

His growl is prominent in my head.“My child will not be a fucking sacrifice. Nor will my mate.”

For a split second, I forgot Markis was in the room with me. However, his grip on my hair reminds me he’s here. He drags me off the seat and makes me stand.

“You betrayed me?” he snarls down in my face.

Although, I did not set this up, and I don’t think this is a good idea, I don’t miss the opportunity to rub this shit in Markis face.

“Now you know what it feels like.” Crossing my arm over my chest, I release my blade. As I knew he would, he expected the move. He shoves my arm down just in time, sending the sharp end of my blade into his shoulder and not his neck, like I wanted.

He groans and releases my hair. I remove my blade from his shoulder and shove him to the ground as I take off for the door. I needed to get downstairs before Enzo made it into this house. They needed my help to fight off the legion.

“Mizani,” Markis yells so loud through the house, the pictures on the wall seem to rattle. I don’t stop moving.

One of Markis’s new disciples jumps out in front of me. I don’t even break my run as my blades slice his head off. Another disciple comes rushing out of one of the rooms near the staircase. He lunges for me. I jump on top of the iron banister railing out of his reach and then slide down to the bottom. I jump from the rail into a tuck rolling on the floor and then pop up on my feet. Chikae comes around the corner. His eyes widen when he spots me.

He turns to run, but I flip my wrist over and send out a pike that clips him in the back of the neck. He drops to the ground.

My mother screams as she watches her eldest son hit the ground. Father grabs her and pulls her behind him.

His weak nudge of compulsion presses against my brain. He’s trying to convince me to turn around. I roll my eyes as I walk toward them.