Page 68 of Ascendant King

Just like Lynn, the wards protected him, meaning when he hit, he was the unstoppable force, and my body gave.

I flew from my position in front of the stairs, a decorative rosebush slicing my skin, sliding to a stop on the loose gravel of the drive. He had cracked one of my ribs, and I could feel it stabbing my insides. I growled, forcing myself back up onto my feet.

Benji howled, and it got the rest of his pack going, giving them extra energy, making each of their attacks more brutal.

We were about even in numbers, but the wolves with me, including the wolves that weren’t ours from Pineridge Springs and Three Lakes, fought together. One would attack, and the other would nip at an exposed side.

Ghost Pack might be fiercer, responding to their alpha’s call, but we were smarter.

I saw Nia and Gabe, both trying to force their way across the battlefield, Heather leading an attack on a massive gray wolf. She caught my eyes and tried to break off, come to my aid, but I shook my head.

Growling, I circled Benji, unwilling to give him an inch. He huffed a breath, lips peeling back from his teeth in an almost human smirk. I snapped, lunging in and latching my teeth onto his throat.

I immediately felt the magic of the wards, burning the already damaged flesh of my mouth.

Dancing back, I pawed at my muzzle, trying not to show any weakness despite the agony. Benji turned, facing me, his mouth still spread in a macabre grin.

I growled, then raised my own head, howling with such ferocity that it spread across the battlefield, each of my wolves taking it up. Ghost Pack might have a history together, butwewere Los Santos Pack.

Benji growled, using his shoulder to knock me off-balance. I turned, pressing into him, refusing to give him the space.

With my mouth, I latched onto the magic on his shoulder. I had torn the magic free of Lynn. And that had beenhermagic, woven into her skin as tattoos.

Benji, wearing borrowed armor, had no idea what he wore on his fur.

When I ripped it free, it took flesh and fur with it, leaving stripes of exposed skin. My jaw ached, and one of my teeth cracked at the effort. Benji yelped in agony, the high-pitched sound grating in my ears.

I tossed the magic to the side, where it landed with a wet squelch. Then I was on him, tearing into the exposed flesh. He tried to dance away, but I’d taken too much of the muscle, the tendons and veins that made moving possible. He was limping on three legs, and I didn’t hesitate.

When I jumped at him, he moved back even further, but this time, I dug my teeth into the magic on the back of his neck. I could see Carlo’s body, the way Albert was curled protectively over Nina.

This man had directed his pack to kill children. He could have adopted us in, could have banished us. Instead. Instead, he killed five children.

The magic came free, dragging fur and flesh with it, exposing the back of his spine. I didn’t hesitate.

I grabbed the bone with my teeth and shook it hard. The snap was audible even in the chaos of yelps and snarls. Benji fell limp, his body going slack in my mouth.

For a second, I froze.

It was like when I had stepped back into my childhood home. Despite the number of times I’d imagined killing him, the reality of it was almost like a shock to my system.

Benji was dead. The man who had killed my siblings was dead. I had done it.

I let his body fall heavy to the ground. Around me, everything else seemed to be coming from very far away. Sounds were muffled, my ears clogged by the rush of my heartbeat.

I should have felt good. I should have feltsomething. I should have felt?—

Cade was next to me, crouching down, using his hand to move my muzzle.

His voice broke through the fog. “Miles? Miles, did he hurt you?”

Everything hurt. My soul hurt, my body ached. I wanted to scream. I wanted to pound the ground and roll over and cover my face and grieve my siblings for the first time in eleven years. I had finally done the impossible. I had gotten vengeance.

“Miles? I’m going to try to heal you. Can you shift back to human form?” Cade brushed his thumb across my muzzle, getting his hand wet with blood.

I couldn’t, because if I became human again, I would have to face the reality that my siblings were dead and I had killed the man who’d murdered them, and it still didn’t make any of it okay.

With the death of their alpha, all of the fight went out of Ghost Pack. The battle was over.