Page 83 of Ascendant King

“I won’t let you take this away from us. We need it. It’s ours.” I felt the prickle of fur on my skin as it grew thick, the sign that I was beginning to shift. Claws sprouted from my fingers, biting into Cade skin, drawing blood.

Basil squeezed harder, and it should have cut off circulation, but instead, I tightened my grip even further, feeling the pulse of something in my skin, amber sap dripping from my extended claws.

Around us, the world pulsed, the walls themselves flexing in and out like a straining heartbeat. It thumped in my head, and I opened my mouth to speak again, but my teeth sharpened, muffling anything I had to say.

Instead, I roared, a growling, ferocious sound that echoed through the room. Books fell to the floor, their pages glued together by poisonous sap.

“Let me go!” Cade thrust his arm into me, an enormous pulse of power hitting me flat in the chest, sending me sprawling across the room until I hit the bed.

I could hear whimpering in the closet, a sobbing child. I was an alpha, and it was my job to protect them, but instead, I knew I wanted to kill him. I wanted to taste the salt of his blood on my tongue.

I growled, lowering myself to the ground, even though my body hadn’t fully shifted yet. A chessboard was overturned in the corner, and a woman—the child’s mother—was sprawled on the ground in front of the closet.

Cade stood before me, but the crown on his head wasn’t black, made from his own tattoos. Instead, it was gold, marking him as king of House Bartlett. His casual clothing was already spattered with his wife’s blood.

This was the king’s bedroom. This was where I was going to kill him.

A heartbeat pulsed under my skin, slightly out of sync with my own. Gold sap flowed through my veins, drumming in time with that strange beat. I had to kill them all.

No. I was an alpha. It was my job to protect the helpless. It was my job to make peace with the mages, not for myself but for the good of every wolf.

I had to?—

I had to?—

I had to protect House Bartlett. These two. The king and his wife,theywere the danger, they were the danger to House Bartlett.

Brown eyes stared at me from Cade’s face, the golden crown welding itself into his brow. “You! You are the reason that my parents are dead.”

He threw magic at me, but it wasn’t black. It was silver, arcing from his hand like a lightning bolt. It burned across my fur, exposing the flesh underneath.

“I will defend my child.” Cade frowned, his brown eyes narrowing as he turned and looked over his shoulder at the closet. “My son, Cade…”

I used his distraction. Leaping at him, I tore at his arm, but he threw me back with a wall of silver power.

Growling, I circled him. I was the Emperor Wolf. It was my duty to protect my… my… my pack?

Yes, my pack, House Bartlett. I needed to protect it. The king was going to break ties with the ley lines. I needed to kill him, taste his blood in my mouth, tear his throat from his neck.

Because I needed to protect…

My head pulsed in agony, amber flowing behind my eyes, coming out of my ears, dripping from my mouth.

“You. You are the reason I grew up likethis. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have had a father and a mother.” He frowned again, shaking his head violently, staring down at the woman on the ground.

Because the woman on the ground wasn’t there. She was an afterimage. I saw her through amber, but I knew who she was. She was the man’s wife but also his mother. Because the man was Cade but also his father.

My head felt as though it was collapsing in on itself, cracking under the pressure. I roared, leaping at him. It was his fault. I would stop him because he wanted to hurt House Bartlett.

He slapped me aside almost absently, not even looking at me. Then he was on me, his eyes wild, one brown and one sapphire blue.

His fingers dug into my fur.

“You killed my parents. And I will end you.” His fingers tightened on my neck, my limbs laden, pinned by his magic. I couldn’t move.

He screamed, his fingers tightening convulsively. Amber dripped from between my teeth.

“Elena Castillo, I will kill you before…” His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “Before you leave him an orphan…”