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“A-Alaric?” Lina sobs hard. I don’t stop stroking her cheek. I don’t stop myself from kissing the top of her head and I don’tfucking stop the words that come out of my mouth, even though they are not true.

“Daddy’s here, baby girl, and I’m taking you and mommy home.”

The words are barely out of my mouth when a branch cracks somewhere to the right.

Julian’s voice echoes closer now. “Peaches! Where are you? Don’t make this harder than it has to be!”

Lila stiffens in my arms, and Lina hides her face on my chest. I read their expressions, and I promise to inflict a lot more pain on Julian than he did on them.

I’m going to rip him apart. I knew that when I tracked Lila down. I knew that when I saw my woman and Lina running to me like wounded pups, and with that in mind, I step in front of Lila, blocking her with my body.

“Stay behind me,” I growl. “Don’t move. Don’t speak. Just hold her and close your eyes for me. Can you do that, wild one?”

Lila’s hands tremble around Lina, but she nods.

I want to kiss her.

I want to kiss her tears away, and there’ll be time for that once I’m done with the man still calling out her name like she’s his.

“It’ll all be over. I’m going to make him pay for everything, Lila.”

“B-be careful,” Lila warns, and I kiss her.

I give her my all because she and Lina are my everything, and in order for them to remain that, Julian has to die.

Not be removed. Not be warned. Not be caged.

He has to bleed for what he’s done to them, to me. And I’m going to make sure he does.

Pulling away from Lila and watching her stand beside a tree, shielding Lina from what I’m about to do, I turn toward thetrees, the fury in my chest coiling tighter as my wolf listens to every step that Julian takes toward us.

“Peaches!”

He’s ten steps away.

“You think you can get away from me?”

The leaves crunch. I smell his fucking ego before I even get a whiff of his putrid scent in the air.

“I made you! I own you! Without me, you are nothing!”

The bushes in front of me give way, and out comes my nephew, in the flesh.

Blood oozes from his ear to his neck. I don’t have to guess who did that to him.

His bloodshot eyes meet mine, and then he looks behind me, his jaw twitching when he notices Lila and Lina are safe behind me.

“I knew you’d show up. It was only a matter of when, uncle.”

I take a few steps from Lila, putting as much distance between us as I can. My wolf is riding the edge of control now, howling for Julian’s blood. But I don’t just move to protect them physically, I move so Lina won’t see. So she won’t watch me become a monster. So she doesn’t carry the trauma of watching someone die with her innocent eyes.

Pushing my hair back, breathing in air and letting it stir up the fire inside of me, I chuckle. “You were always bad at getting the hint, Julian. I blamed it on your parenting, your fucking sour personality and that was my mistake. At the end of day, you’re a piece of scum I gave way too many chances, but your luck’s run out today, kid.”

“Peaches…”

“Lila,” I cut him off, my voice thunderous. “Lila is mine. Lina is mine! Take a look at them one last time because it’s the last time you will do so.”

Julian falters. Just for a second. Good, he should be scared.