Page 29 of Bane of Hate and Silver (Primordial Inheritance #1)

A threatening hiss pulsed through her throat and the twitching wolf ran at her, bouncing wildly as he did so.

Jules evaded his attack easily. Spinning, she grabbed him, throwing him as hard as she could.

With a loud crash, her desk broke under his weight.

He lay, unmoving, on the office floor. She turned on the taller wolf, who had been lounging against the door frame looking more at ease than his companion.

He was the largest wolf she’d ever seen. Near Luca’s height, but much bulkier.

Jules’s confidence waned. Defeating him would not be as easy.

Going for a round kick, but not making contact with his large frame.

He was surprisingly fast and even stronger than Jules had anticipated.

He took her second kick square in the stomach, then grabbed ahold of her foot.

The wolf swung her hand against the wall.

So hard that it cracked under the impact.

She dropped to the ground but rolled to standing, barely feeling the impact’s effects.

As she got to her feet he came at her again.

This time, she was able to bolt a few feet out of his path.

With any luck his speed would cause him to hit the wall hard, but for a man of his size, he was quite graceful in his movements.

Not lumbering as Jules had expected. Which is unfortunate, she thought to herself.

He navigated a turn easily and they were now facing off once again.

Just then, a groan sounded from the wolf still on the floor. Instinctively, Jules glanced sideways at him but only for a fraction of a second. It was long enough. The wolf was still satisfactorily incapacitated.

“Sorry about your friend,” Jules commented, trying to buy herself time to come up with a plan.

“Not really a friend,” the big wolf said with a shrug.

Jules took the moment that his response time allowed and picked up one of her file cabinets.

Launching it across the office, she hit the wolf in the face, knocking him backward.

Both the cabinet and the wolf landed simultaneously against the wall with a crash, and she bolted toward the office door.

But the wolf recovered too quickly. He stood and caught her arm as she passed him.

Their eyes met for a fraction of a second.

His eyes began to glow wolf yellow, and his huge hand clamped down tight on her neck.

He sneered at her and lifted her off her feet by the throat.

After a few long seconds, her body went flying backward.

The impact reverberated through her body. The glass of her large internal office window shattered as she flew through it and hit the bookshelf just outside the office. Landing on the floor with a thud, glass shards dug into her back and books rained down on her head.

Jules laid there, stunned, for a fraction of a second. Everlasting death would be too real a possibility if she didn’t get moving. Glass embedded itself deeper into her back as she shifted to stand. Causing her to cry out and involuntarily drop back to her knees.

Nose wrinkling, Jules took in the smell of gasoline.

The friend that Luca had been with at the carnival was dumping it around the perimeter of the room and on all of the books.

Why didn’t Luca warn me? This was a completely irrational time to be thinking about him, but still, the question grabbed hold of her mind as she again tried to stand.

Another failed attempt had her collapsing to the glass ridden floor.

A pair of large boots stopped in front of her and the Alpha crouched next to her, his face coming into focus.

“You’re going to die tonight.” It didn’t sound like a threat, but a promise.

Then one of his large hands came to rest on the back of her head.

He caressed it for a moment. Instead of delivering a fatal blow, however, Carson grabbed Jules harshly.

The glass in her back twisted inside her skin as he and the big wolf, who had apparently just joined them, made her stand.

“Nice job, Kip,” the Alpha congratulated the big wolf who had defeated her.

“The job’s not done yet,” Jules spat. The Alpha had made his first mistake.

If he wanted her dead, he should have killed her while she was still on the floor.

Jules lashed out, nails creating long scratches across the Alpha’s snarl.

In the fleeting moments the Alpha was distracted, Jules turned to run but was grabbed by Kip, who held her against him.

His beefy arms clamped tightly around her.

Jules got a small amount of satisfaction when the wolf groaned as the glass still embedded in her back cut into the flesh of his abdomen.

As she struggled against the tight hold, the Alpha’s hand connected with her jaw.

The blow would have knocked her back to the floor if she hadn’t been trapped between Kip’s arms. Jules turned back to face him and spat blood in Carson’s face.

The Alpha’s fist connected with her ribcage.

More than one rib cracked under the impact.

“Carson,” a wolf called. The Alpha walked a few paces away to meet the newcomer.

Jules struggled to free herself. If she didn’t get away now, this might actually be how her long existence would end. “Why are you doing this?”

“Orders,” Kip replied blankly. Before she could manage to wriggle free, the newly arrived wolf joined Kip in restraining her.

“Were you able to erase the security footage?” Carson asked the new wolf as he approached them.

“Just like the alarms, it wasn’t a problem,” he responded calmly.

“Excellent.” Carson lifted the object the new wolf handed him and turned the switch to on. The bright light flicked on and the scalding rays stung her eyes.

So that was his plan. He was going to burn her alive.

Without whimpering, Jules struggled against the two men who were holding her in place, knowing what came next.

Jules wanted to beg for her life but never would.

She’d live, or she would not. However, there was no doubt her immortal life would not be spared by begging for it.

“You should have left town when I told you to,” Carson growled, waving the light back and forth in front of her face.

“Do it!” Jules shouted. Taunting having gone on long enough.

With a growl Carson placed the bulb on Jules’s chest and pressed down slightly.

She cried out involuntarily as her flesh started to burn.

The pain was like nothing Jules had experienced before.

No physical pain was its equal. Just as the skin directly under the light began to melt away, Carson pulled the light back.

Unable to stop it, Jules visibly trembled.

Carson looked down at the angry red burn, undoubtedly an open wound now.

“That’s disgusting,” Kip said from behind her.

“Why torture her?” Luca’s friend said as he approached. Apparently pouring gasoline on every inch of the library was sufficient. “Why not just kill her?” This wolf sounded different from the others, less jovial.

“Where is the fun in that?” Carson said, a dark desire in his yellowed eyes.

“Kyle’s right Carson, protecting Aboit doesn’t mean we have to torture people, even if they are already dead,” Kip said from behind Jules, still restraining her. “And the whole, melting her skin off thing is just gross,” he added, sounding a little like he might be trying to lighten the mood.

How absurd , Jules thought but said, “I agree with the big one.” Jules found that with this short reprieve she was regaining some of her determination, despite the pain.

“Kyle, where is Luca?” The other wolf that was holding her in place inquired.

Jules didn’t catch his reply, for Carson had touched the bulb to her skin again, in the middle of her forehead this time.

She screamed as he began to drag it slowly down one side of her face.

The searing pain made Jules weak on her feet.

The large wolf took her weight. The smell of burnt flesh made Carson wrinkle his nose as he laughed maniacally.

Jules knew that he was enjoying watching her suffer.

“Seriously Carson, you don’t have to do this,” Kyle said, standing tall.

Carson growled. “Kyle, that will be quite enough, get back to your post,” he ordered.

The wolf strained under the order in defiance, but after all to brief a moment, did as he was told.

Weak, but not weak enough to give up the fight, Jules used this distraction to elbow the big wolf in the ribcage.

She kicked the other in the back of the knee and he went down hard.

This would have been her best chance to escape if the first wolf she’d knocked out hadn’t regained consciousness.

As the others’ hold faltered, he grabbed her around the neck and slammed her into the wall.

The glass in her back penetrated farther.

The pressure on her neck was harsh, but he couldn’t exactly choke her, she didn’t have to breathe.

Her hands came to his wrists. She squeezed hard, probably breaking at least one of them.

“You idiot,” Carson shouted. He shoved the energetic wolf out of the way and kicked Jules in the leg. She dropped to both knees, pain shooting up and down the left side of her body. He was about to kick her again when someone shouted.

“Everybody get out!”

The shout made Jules look toward the door of the library. A wolf stood in the entrance holding up a lighter, flame blazing.

“Luca,” Jules said under her breath, astonished.

He didn’t meet her gaze. He refused to look at her at all. He did know about this. He was a part of this pack and this attack. Her heart broke. He’d been using her and she had trusted him. She’d opened her heart again, that was her choice, this pain was on her.