Page 151 of Contested Crown
He was my height, looking me in the eye when he reached me. “So, you took down Declan. Took you long enough. What, you want a cookie? Here’s your cookie.”
Pulling back his arm, I saw his punch before he could touch me. He was going to hit me, and all I could see was everyone’s dead bodies, the blood of all the Castillo children on his hands. He was going to kill me too, like he should have eleven years ago, when I should have died with my siblings rather than become the monster Declan made me.
Benji slammed his fist into a wall of magic. Cade was there, panting, his magic uneven, graying out in spots.
Turning to Cade, Benji sneered. “And who’s this?”
I didn’t let him say anything else. I might deserve to be killed by the pack that tore my siblings apart, but Cade wasmine.
Growling fiercely, I raised my own hand, slamming my fist into Benji’s face, watching his look of surprise as I made contact, as though he’d still expected me to be the sixteen-year-old who’d taken one look at him and run.
Then I was on him, and we fell, my fist tight in his shirt, lifting him off the ground so when I hit him, it slammed him back into the cement. He hit the ground so hard his teeth snapped together, and blood trailed from his lips.
His pack answered, shifting quickly, ready for a fight. But the Los Santos pack met them, shifting fast and fluid, Heather and Gabe already crouched and growling.
“Youdohave teeth after all,” Benji said. “I’m glad. You know your baby brother didn’t fight at all. Just let us tear his throat out. That’s the one Miri still likes to remember.”
“Don’t youdaretalk about my sister.” I smashed my fist into his face, and he grinned at me, so I did it again, the rage exploding into action.
“What?” He brought his face close to mine, close enough for a kiss. “I can’t talk about my mate?”
I hesitated, and he pushed forward, knocking me off-balance and pinning me to the ground, his arm pressed across my throat. He spit, the warm liquid hitting my cheek. His eyes were manic, bright with amusement.
“You want to know what your dear little sister says when I’m making her come until her eyes roll back in her head?” He grinned. “She says that when I kill you, we’ll have a complete set. All the Castillo kids dead. And she’ll finally be free of your worthless family and their pointless ambition. Emperor Wolf, hah. You want to know what your mother was good for?”
I struggled, even as I clawed at his arm, I could feel darkness creeping around the edges of my vision, dark spots forming.
“She made a goodrugin front of the fireplace.” He laughed, and I reached up, digging my fingers into his eyes. He reared back, and I gasped, the cool air searing my throat.
I tried to push up, but he was already back, bearing me down, his weight matching mine and pinning me to the floor. He cuffed me, and my head snapped back hard. Then he leaned across my throat again, but I didn’t wait for him to try to knock me out. Instead, I scrabbled at his arms, and when that didn’t work, I shifted.
My wolf knew who this was. This was the reason that there had been no pack. This was the reason for the years of loneliness filled with too many bad decisions. This was the reason that there was no past, no last name.
Blood on my teeth, a scream, but he shifted before I could do more damage. His wolf was as large as me. His howl grated in my ears, and his pack met it. The only answer was my own howl, answered by two dozen, by humans and wolves who screamed and ran at enemies who could kill them easily.
I needed to end this before my new pack got hurt, before the new pack was hurt like all of my dead siblings. I growled and dug my teeth into his neck and pulled until skin and fur tore.
He spun, trying to land on top of me, but I had more to lose. I knocked him over, and then the rest of the pack was there because I wasn’t alone anymore, and I never had to fight alone again. Nia grabbed a leg, Evelyn another, pulling him off-balance. Gabe darted in, nipping at his exposed stomach. He turned, snapping, but I moved close, not letting him touch my pack.
When I went in for the kill, Benji roared, forcing his way out from the circle of Los Santos Pack. He and the rest of the Ghost Pack fled. I lifted my head and howled, bringing everyone else with me, until it was a chorus of noise, everyone cascading on top of each other, the sound echoing in the cavernous room.
Something smelled wrong. Afraid, angry, betrayed. I searched for what was wrong, and it was my mate. My mate was there, scared and horrified.
No, he needed me to be human. Forcibly, I pulled myself back to humanity, reveling in the slide of fur on my skin as Evelyn and Gabe both came close, nuzzling under my chin.
“Cade?” I asked, finally focusing on him. We’d won. Declan was gone; we knew Leon’s plan. We had all the pieces, so why did he smell so… odd?
“Elena’s bastard,” Cade said slowly. “That’s what he called you.”
For a second, I frowned. Cade knew—he’d said as much.
“And you started working for Declan eleven years ago after your family and pack were killed.” He stared at me. “Because your family and pack were the same. Because Elena Castillo was your mother.”
When he looked at me, he was crying, the tears flowing down his face, his jaw held so tightly that I heard a crack when he opened it to say, “Castillo Pack.”
“Cade, what’s going on? You knew this. You said you did.” I stared at him, as though watching him would make this all go away, make it make sense.
“Miles Castillo, the new Emperor Wolf.” Cade was still crying, and he raised his hands, throwing shards of dangerous magic straight at me and my new pack.