Page 16

“I, Abbie Marie Barker, reject you, Alpha Kade, as my mate and Alpha!” I snap. Kade growls, clutching his chest while I shake my head and blink rapidly, the command falling off me.

“I, Alpha Kade, reject your rejection!” he snarls, and I whimper, knowing it is of no use. Yet I feel Ivy begin to shake and she lets me go stepping past me. Her aura makes me cringe as it slips out powerful and strong.

“Accept it!” she roared, and it was like a burst erupted out of her. Her words don’t feel like words, but something else entirely. All the surrounding wolves yelp and cry out. I feel the tingling sensation wash over my body and out of me as the command takes hold of him and makes him tense.

“I Alpha Kade, accept your rejection, as my Luna and Mate!” Kade blurts out, unable to fight the command.

I scream, clutching my chest and falling to my knees as it feels like my heart is ripped from my chest and burned to a crisp.

Kade staggers backward, clutching his chest, looking dazed while I try to breathe through the pain.

Rattled by what happened, Kade shakes his head. “You stupid girl!” he snarls before lunging at Ivy. Dustin is quicker however, and punches him, sending him flying backward when all the wolves suddenly run toward us menacingly.

“Run!” Dustin screams as he starts fighting them off and keeping them from us. The sound of flesh tearing mixes with the horrible sound of whimpers and broken bones as Dustin grabs any wolf that gets too close. The sounds are savage, but as he got rid of one, another came in its place.

My heart thuds painfully in my chest, and Ivy grabs my arm, pulling me to my feet. We run for the trees, and I hear Dustin fending them off. Wolves start dropping like flies as he takes them out. We start racing up the hill, only for one to slip past him, pouncing on us, and knocking us down.

The moment we both hit the ground, Ivy’s weight crushes me.

Then the weight lifts abruptly, and a furious growl rings through the air.

His feet are next to my face, and I gasp, staring over to see the king in his Lycan form.

The wolf that attacked us was held off of us by his hand wrapped around its throat.

He squeezes his hand, and I squeeze my eyes shut tight when I hear the sickening crunch of its neck breaking before he flings it away.

The king glares down at Ivy, and I drop my gaze back to the ground at the angry look on his face when he steps over us. Gannon is right behind him, and he grabs both me and Ivy, pulling us to our feet and away from the fighting.

“Thank Goddess!” I hear him murmur, clutching us tightly in his arms. I look down toward Dustin, who is still fighting the wolves. Suddenly, Kyson’s aura slips out, and his voice booms around us, echoing through the night.

“Enough! Now, stop!” he bellows, and everyone freezes under his command. Dustin clutches his knees breathlessly. Kyson stomps past him and shoots him a glare as he makes his way to Kade.

Kade backs away from the king, his hands raised in surrender. At this moment, he truly looks like the Lycan King. He towers over everyone, standing tall and intimidating. Power oozes off him and his aura feels deadly, suffocating the wolves pinned to the ground by it.

“I have done nothing wrong! I was merely getting my mate!” Kade chokes out before falling backward as the king’s massive Lycan form growls menacingly, stalking toward him with calculated steps.

“Wrong,” Kyson says with a deadly calm. Somehow, that made him even more sinister as I watch him approach Kade. Kade shakes his head, and the wolves all look away from him, cowering and whimpering.

“I hereby sentence you to death for treason!” King Kyson tells him, stepping on Kade’s foot and making him fall on his ass.

“Treason? But I didn’t commit treason!” Kade stammers, his voice more of a petrified squeak.

“Wrong! You touched my queen! Your pack just tried to kill her!” The king snarls, grabbing the front of his shirt and jerking him forward.

“And for that, I sentence you to death!” The king snaps before punching him square in the face.

Or I thought he hit him until I heard Kade gasp and the sickening sound of flesh on flesh and a gross tearing noise.

The wolves near him wail, writhing on the ground in what looked like pain.

The king shoves him backward, letting him go.

His back is tense when he drops something on the ground, his breathing loud while the muscles of his back flex.

Kyson peers around at the wolves as they all run for the trees.

I notice Cassandra standing out the front of the service station.

I can’t make out her features with my blurry vision but seeing her for some reason makes goosebumps rise all over me as she watches.

She then simply turns and walks away, disappearing into the night.

I feel the bile rise in my throat when I realize what Kyson dropped was Kade’s heart. Kyson then turns toward us, and his eyes go to Dustin. Ivy struggles in Gannon’s grip. I watch, horrified, as Kyson stalks toward Dustin like a predator hunting its prey.

Dustin doesn’t even move like he simply accepts the repercussions.

Lycans burst from the treeline forming a circle around us, looking for any threat having caught up with their king.

Damian is among them. I turn my attention back to Dustin, only to see Kyson punch him so hard it knocks him out cold.

Dustin drops at Kyson’s feet, and he just takes it.

He doesn’t even fight back, just allows the king to hit him.

Ivy whimpers seeing her friend hurt, and the king’s head snaps in her direction.

He snarls, his upper lip pulling back to reveal his razor-sharp teeth.

He moves toward us, and Ivy presses closer to me, a sob tears out of me seeing his anger at her.

Would he hurt her for helping me? Gannon tries to soothe me whispering in my ear.

“Grab him!” Kyson snaps at Damian as he passes him on his way toward us. His eyes do not leave Ivy. Damian rushes to do his bidding and grabs Dustin, tossing him over his shoulder. Kyson nods to Gannon, and he lets Ivy go as the king approaches. His eyes look her over before he grabs her.

“You disobeyed me!” The king growls. “And now you’re injured!” he snaps at her. Ivy groans in pain and tries to defend herself, my hands raise to reach for her when Gannon pins my arms by my sides.

“But Abbie…” Ivy tries to say before he cuts her off.

“I don’t want to hear it!” he growls, Ivy grips his shoulders and she chokes on a sob when his teeth sink into her neck.

She struggles for a second before falling limp in his arms. I see red as she goes unresponsive, how could he!

How could he hurt her when she was trying to help!

And I push Gannon away before attacking the king for hurting her.

My hands hit him as I try to stop him biting her.

“You fucking asshole! You prick! You didn’t even let her explain!

You just made her submit!” I scream, punching into his side in a fit of rage.

He looks at me as if I am merely a small child chucking a tantrum.

Gannon grabs me around the waist, tugging me back but I thrash, falling forward in his arms while flailing as he restrains my arms. I snarl angrily, leaning forward and biting the king’s arm like a damn savage before realizing what I just did as Gannon jerks me backward.

The king blinks down at me, where I was breathing heavily in my anger.

“I will fucking kill you! You… You savage neanderthal!” I scream, my face heating and I know I am turning red-faced from my boiling anger.

Gannon growls before snapping at me, his voice below my ear as his arms hold me stronger.

“He didn’t make her submit. Stop! Look!” Gannon snarls at me, pointing to where the king lifts Azalea’s shirt.

Her wound is already healing, though the king’s hand is filled with her blood.

The king shakes his head. “I’m sorry, My King.

I will calm her down,” Gannon tells him, but I escape his strong embrace, turning to dead weight and slipping out of his arms. I move to check on Ivy.

The king stares at me, a blank expression on his face while he takes me in.

“See? He isn’t hurting her,” Gannon whispers, behind me, and I let out a breath.

“You couldn’t have warned her first? Instead of just going all caveman and biting into her!” I ask him.

“Warn her? Like you did me when you bit me?” The king growls and my face heats with embarrassment.

“I thought… Never mind. Fucking neanderthal men! Anyone would think you were raised by cavemen!” I snap rubbing my temples.

My eyes fall on the dead body behind him.

Kade lays in the dirt and I blink at what became of my mate.

Tears prick my eyes at another person lost to me.

Someone who was supposed to be mine was taken away from me.

I hated him! Hated him for what he did, but he was mine.

“Can we go home now?” I ask, my voice barely audible to my own ears; I sound defeated and dead inside, and I am. I glance at Gannon and he nods his head.

“My King, we have three cars here. They are on the top road,” Damian says, coming over to us with Dustin tossed limply over his shoulder. Gannon leads me away to where Damian said cars are waiting.