Page 26

I was already hot on my mate’s trail when the shade found me. Her ethereal voice crept into my brain with all the delicacy of a banshee screeching.

I held my ears and fell to the ground, but she quieted her tone and pointed, showing me with images a scene I wished to never witness again a million times. But that was horseshit because I needed to see it at least once more. To save my sweet Angel.

Hang on, mate. I’m coming for you.

The second I’d smelled my ex-Alpha’s son’s pitiful excuse for musk, I told Max who seemed to have already had the Shifter Council on speed dial.

Turned out that Enforcer I once upon a time told to challenge the Alpha for leadership of the Pack, finally took my advice, albeit belatedly.

He killed old Alpha Winters and banished his son, taking over the Winter Falls Pack and renaming them the New Hope Pack. That was fucking great, only he forgot to keep tabs on the Wolves he forced into exile. And now they were here. Hunting mine.

Grrr.

Oh, Flint Winters was going to suffer for his grievous and misguided decision to take my mate. There was no coming back from this. He would die. Either by my hand or jaw, I’d yet to decide.

Trees blurred as I raced through the woods, the Crew keeping pace with me. The sky was gray, and fat, white, fluffy snowflakes began to fall even as my feet pounded against the hard earth.

I heard them before I saw them. A group of soon-to-be-dead assholes were terrorizing my mate, taunting her with cruel words and promises of violence.

“JEZEBEL!” I roared when she was within shouting distance.

I watched as surprise swept across Flint’s face even as red tinted my vision. Then, I allowed Demon to rip through my skin, shredding my clothes and filling me with a fiery rage that was unmatched.

For the first time ever, I embraced the darkness inside of me and it felt fantastic. Power rushed through my veins and everywhere my claws connected flames erupted.

“Holy fuck!”

“What is he, man?”

“Shit!”

I ran at them like a battering ram. My heart pounded heavily in my chest as adrenaline surged through my veins. The three extra Wolves scattered about the woods.

Their startled yelps echoed through the trees as they stumbled over roots and underbrush, perhaps temporarily blinded by the rapidly falling snow.

They tried to escape the force of my charge. But I didn’t worry about them. My Crew had it handled.

They were my found family. My brothers. And they were built for moments like this. I listened to the sounds of Dante’s Grizzly roaring his displeasure. Kian’s Bull snorted and pawed at the ground in his rage.

He would give good chase, I knew it. A flash of red told me Max had unleashed his Jersey Devil, and that definitely spelled trouble for the bad guys.

Only Zeke would not free his beast, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. A Dragon might be overkill here. But I trusted them to keep those distractions occupied while I focused on the real target.

My eyes were fixed on him. Flint. The man who had kidnapped my mate. The prick who had torn apart my world in a matter of seconds.

A wave of rage coursed through me, igniting every muscle as I pushed myself harder, weaving through the dense, knotted tree roots with a singular purpose.

The forest and everyone in it seemed to blur around me. The branches clawed at my fur, but I didn’t feel them.

All that mattered was reaching Flint and making him pay.

He was standing over Jezebel. My mate’s blue gaze filled with tears as she watched me coming for her.

She was so fucking beautiful. Even covered in dirt and blood. The fact she was here. That she was breathing and alive made her the prettiest damn thing in the whole world.

Every instinct screamed at me to close the distance between me and that asshole. I was going to bring him down. To reclaim what he had stolen.

The rapidly cooling air felt like razors as I breathed it in, stabbing at my lungs.

But I welcomed the pain. It reminded me I was alive. I was still here. And I was going to make things right.

Flint glanced back, and our eyes met for the briefest moment. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by a calculating smirk.

He grabbed Jezebel’s face and snaked his tongue across her cheek. She tried to push him off. Good mate. So brave.

Any chance he had of begging for mercy dissolved with that one move. He shoved her away roughly, causing her to hit the old tree behind her. She yelped in pain.

MOTHERFUCKER.

I snarled. Flint thought he could get away with this. That he could outrun the consequences of his actions. But he had no idea who he was dealing with. My Crew was out there, dealing with his men.

But I would not let him go. I would not stop until I spilled his fucking blood on this forest floor. I wouldn’t let go until I had my mate back, safe in my arms.

Fueled by a fierce determination, I pushed through the final stretch of ground, focusing on my target.

The chaos around me faded, leaving only the sound of my heartbeat and the rustle of leaves beneath my feet.

Flint was within reach now, and I could almost taste the reckoning that awaited him, the soon-to-be-dead asshole who’d touched my mate.

Are you okay?

I asked Jezebel through our matebond.

Yes. I am now. Go get him, she added the last when I hesitated, warring between hunting him and staying with her.

Fuck. I hated making the choice.

“Go!” Jezebel ordered.

Pride filled me, but stronger than that was a need for vengeance. When I found the piece of shit, he was cowering behind a tree stump. When I approached, he crouched low, sputtering with his hands before him as if that would stop me.

“Y-you’re different. No! I won’t! It isn’t fair,” Flint sputtered.

But life wasn’t fair, and that was just too fucking bad for Flint.

I roared my anger to the wind as I vaulted over the distance between us and closed my lupine maw over his throat.

Then.

I tore it out.