Page 29

Kyle, Tibald, Rudy, Felix, and I are gearing up for the hunt tonight. My mouth waters at the thought of this sweet revenge. We’re tossing guns and backpacks into the SUV while my little sprite sits in the vehicle waiting. She’s making sure we don’t leave without her. I hate the idea of having her anywhere near Ben, but this was the only compromise my mate would accept. After we went through the details to leave Maggie out of it, my mother is currently giving me the silent treatment. There is no fury like a mother’s, so I’m glad to distance myself from her.

The guys are camouflaged, tucking knives into their ankle sheaths. My eyes flick from them to my mate and back. These are my best guys. They’ve been around since I can remember, and when my dad died, not one of them left my side the first night. We sat around, telling stories about my dad, how much he loved my mom, and my future as Alpha of the pack. As much as Kyle and I argue, we’d both take a bullet for one another. Our bond is strong. This is why I’m going in alone.

Tibald catches me reclined against the SUV, arms folded over my chest, and asks.

“Aren’t you bringing any weapons?”

“No need. I’ll be shifting there.”

Their glances flicker from one to the other.

“You guys will be taking the ammunition, returning to the SUV to watch over my mate, and I’ll go in for the kill.”

Ivy turns in her seat.

“Larc. They’re staying with you.”

Without giving her my attention, knowing it will turn into a full-blown argument, I say to the guys.

“When you get to the vicinity of the cabin, you’ll work your way through the grounds, removing any weapons, then leave and give me the go ahead. I’ll hang back a bit, but will also scope out how many and figure out my attack.”

Felix asks.

“What if they’re awake or wake up while we’re searching?”

“Knock them out, but don’t kill them. After everything is removed, I’ll shift and handle the rest.”

My little sprite is out of the vehicle in no time, pressing her front into me.

“Larc. This is not the plan we discussed.”

Kyle chimes in.

“There are five of them. Can you take them all?”

I growl my response.

“Of course I can take five pathetic humans. What the fuck kind of Alpha do you think I am?”

Ivy’s fisting my shirt.

“Don’t ignore me. They’re staying with you. Do you hear me? You are not doing this alone.”

My hands cover hers, and I finally look down at her.

“Mate. From the start, I said this is my fight. The only reason I agreed to have them come is to clear the way so I can rip Ben to shreds.”

Tears drift down her cheeks. My thumb brushes them away to make room for more.

“Mate. This is my promise to you. You don’t need to witness me killing them.”

“I understand that. But we discussed it. These guys are going to keep you safe as you do whatever is needed.”

I bend down, rubbing my nose against hers, and say.

“Ivy, my love, my mate, my little sprite. I’m Alpha of this pack, and I have the last say.”

She tries to wiggle her hands out of mine, sobbing.

“Listen, love. Nothing is going to happen. These guys are going in to remove all weapons. The hope is Ben and his friends will leave the guns in plain sight. They’re not expecting us or anyone else.”

“What if they forget one?”

“They won’t. We’ve never forgotten what we needed to do on our missions, and we’re not about to start now.”

I hug her and kiss her forehead.

“I love you, Ivy.”

She’s burying her face in my chest.

“Look at me.”

Her gorgeous amethyst eyes meet mine.

“I’m coming back to you, and when I do, I’m tanning your ass for sassing me.”

This doesn’t get her laughing, so I take hold of her jaw, kiss her lips, and add.

“I told you I’d hunt down every one of your demons, and this is what I’m doing. If there are any problems, I’ll mind-link the guys. Okay?”

She gives a hesitant nod, whispering an okay.

In the car, I hold Ivy close to me while we go over the possibilities again. Ben and his friends might be wandering outside the cabin. Or they might be in the house in separate rooms. The plan is for Rudy and Felix to search the back and front of the place, and Kyle and Tibald will go inside the cabin and search the cars, slicing the tires before leaving.

We park a mile away so we’re undetected, and pile out, checking weapons, and sorting through the backpacks. When they’re ready, they nod, and disappear into the forest.

I place Ivy in the driver’s seat.

“I’ll be leaving soon, so lock the doors. If you see anyone other than these guys, you get the hell out of here.”

Her sad eyes are staring out the windshield, so I take her face in my hands.

“Do you understand, Ivy? You slam on the gas, and hightail it out of here.”

“I will.”

Our last kiss is bruising, possessive, and full of unknowns. At least, it’s full of unknowns for her. Her hands latch onto me, teeth biting, prodding, anxious with every breath. Ivy is battling loss before it’s happened, but it’s to be expected. She’s lost a lot in life, including almost losing me. Except I know for a fact I’ll be back. We have so much more to accomplish. So much life left. Luna. Pups. I wouldn’t miss them for anything, and I sure as hell won’t because of Ben.

I back away from the car and indicate for her to lock it. Once I hear the locks click in place, I remove my clothes, placing them on the hood of the car. Kyle informs me they’ve made it there. Rudy and Felix confiscated their hunting guns and knives. So far, there hasn’t been any movement inside and all they hear is snoring.

Without taking my eyes off Ivy, I shift into my wolf, trotting over to the driver’s side. I lick the window, push off, and run into the forest. While I’m running, Kyle tells me they’ve collected as many weapons as possible, but there could be more inside. I tell him to get out of there and I’ll handle the rest.

When I approach the cabin, I smell Ben, which raises my hackles. Ivy had described all of the men who brutally raped her, and from what we know and have seen, all of them are here. His close-knit sick cult friends.

Forest debris cracks under my paws, so I pause to listen for movement. A chair scratches against a wood floor, and I hear footsteps coming closer. My body presses against the house and I curl up into a ball, tucking my snout under my paw so all that’s visible is my black fur. One of them slams open the door, stumbling out, shouting if anyone’s here. He holds a glass in his hand as his body rocks from side to side.

“Hey! Who’s there?”

He takes a swig of his drink.

Another one comes to the door, hanging onto the knob.

“What’s going on?”

The first one is laughing, waving the guy’s comment away.

“Nothing. Needed air.”

“Well, get back inside, drunk ass,”

and he disappears inside, leaving the door open.

The first guy lingers, walking in my direction. His hand rakes through his sweaty hair, looking out into the dark forest. A mist hovers in the cool night air. Noticing the glass in his hand, he stares at it before whipping it at a tree. The glass shatters and he laughs, stumbling and tripping over a stick. He falls in front of me, tilting his head to the side, and he smiles as he pets my fur.

“Nice, doggie.”

My head rises, flashing my yellow eyes, and before he can scream, I clamp down on his neck to silence him. I shake my head back and forth until his head pops off.

The other guy is yelling for his friend to come back in so they can finish the game. I slip through the open door and crouch down low, stalking toward the other drunk. He’s in the kitchen, feet up on the table, flipping his beer cap in the air, and it drops to the ground. I’m by the refrigerator, so he notices me when he stands, backing up to the counter and grabbing a cutting knife.

He holds it in front of him.

“Get away!”

From the hallway, another guy comes barreling down, pulling his pants up. He hasn’t seen me yet, and yells.

“What the fuck, Pete?”

With the knife, he points to me, and the guy from the hallway waves his arms to chase me away.

“Git! Go home.”

I show my teeth, saliva and blood dripping to the floor. His feet shuffle back, he turns, and takes off down the hall. I charge behind and pounce on him. He’s flailing his arms and legs, pushing me off, so I tear his throat open and he goes slack. My teeth continue to sever tissue, veins, arteries, skin, and organs.

Two down.

The guy in the kitchen is gone. My nostrils flare and I sniff the air, detecting him in the nearby closet. He’s sniffling and crying. I sit and wait until he thinks I’m gone. My ears twitch to listen where the other two are located, and I hear a back door slam. Whoever it was, won’t get far. I’ll be done here soon. Minutes go by, and the door slowly opens. The guy’s head pops out, looking toward the hall, and then he turns to me. My jaw opens, and I clamp down on the back of his neck, practically separating his head from his body. A couple more bites, and his head rolls under the table, thumping against the table leg. Like the others, I destroy his privates.

Three down.

I creep up the stairs, checking all the rooms. There is only one left in the house, and it isn’t Ben. This one is spread out over the bed, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. I bite down on his dick and balls, shaking my head as they tear off, and toss them to the side. The guy wakes, screaming, his hands automatically clutching his crotch as blood seeps between his fingers. Then he sees me and his eyes widen, screeching for help.

I grab him by the arm and drag him downstairs as his head bounces off each step. In the living room, I slash down his chest, opening it up, his body shuddering from shock. Then pop goes his head.

Four down.

Now the big event. Ben.

I leap over the couch and out the door, smelling the air to track Ben. He’s running deeper into the woods, toward a stream. My claws dig into the ground, and I take off, rounding trees and kicking up debris. Puffs of fog emit from my nostrils. Near a large tree, I notice Ben at the same time he notices me, and he shoots. The bullet ricochets off a nearby tree, causing me to drop and roll. One more shot, a miss, and then he takes off again.

The chase. He has no idea how much I love a chase. This one will become my all-time favorite. I veer to the left, forcing him to run to the right, which will take him away from the stream. Better he runs further into the forest in the darkness.

Ben trips, stumbles forward, catches himself, and continues running. All he knows is a big bad wolf is chasing after him. I’m gaining on him, yet still fall back to tire the bastard out. He hears me, aims behind him, attempting to shoot me again, which is far-off. Three shots, so I’m banking on a six chamber handgun, and regular bullets.

I hear his erratic breathing. His heartbeat thudding fast. I smell his fear. My howling has him frantic, picking up speed, but he falls and the gun flies out of his hand. He shuffles over to it while I watch in wait behind a fallen tree.

Ben starts shouting.

“Get away!”

I scratch at the bark of the tree and his arms rise, firing in my direction.

Five shots.

Resting up against a tree, he wipes the sweat from his forehead, checks the chamber, and says shit. One shot left.

I shift behind the fallen tree, step over it, and approach Ben, whose face is stripped of color. My claws are still extended along with my incisors as blood drips from my hair.

He stutters out, “You’re…”

He’s pointing at me.

“The guy with my slave.”

I roar.

“Her name is Ivy.”

My voice settles down. “My mate.”

Ben rises to his feet, points the gun at my heart, and right when he shoots, I turn so the bullet hits my shoulder. The impact is minimal, blood seeping from the wound.

He backs up into the tree.

“All of this is for a whore?”

Towering over him, I grip his throat and squeeze enough to have him gasping for air.

“All of this to rid the world of your kind.”

I grab the gun out of his hand and toss it to the side, smacking the back of his head into the bark. His fingers scratch at my hand, then change to fists, and right before he’s about to pass out, I release him and he collapses to the ground.

On his hands and knees, he coughs and spits to catch his breath. He gets to his feet, narrowing his eyes at me. The fucker thinks nothing can hurt him. I dig my fingers into the wound in my shoulder, removing the bullet. His face scrunches in disgust.

Ben’s chest is heaving when he says.

“If you kill me, you’ll be jeopardizing all werewolves. Your secrets will be uncovered. The government will strip you of land and money, and toss you in jail or make you extinct.”

My head tilts to the side and I smile.

“That’s if they have evidence I killed you, which they won’t. When I’m done with you, there will be nothing but ashes.”

I grab him by the shirt and toss him twenty feet away, and he slides another several feet. Ben lets out a grunt once he hits the ground. He’s clutching his left arm as he stands, so I stalk toward him.”

His hand shoots out in a stop motion.

“Don’t! Seriously, if I go missing, they’ll send out hundreds of search parties. They won’t stop until I’m found.”

I laugh.

“Not a problem. Like I said, you’ll be ashes, along with your buddies.”

I’m right in front of him when he says, “Let’s…”

He snaps his fingers.

“Let’s make a deal. This can work in both of our favor. No one has to know about what happened here.”

A rumble comes from my chest, vibrating throughout my body as I say sarcastically.

“I’m sorry. You must have me confused with someone else. I’m not here to negotiate. As of now, you’re a dead man walking.”

He’s visibly shaking.

“Wait. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Ah, you see, there’s the problem. I could handle a little bullet, but it’s my mate you hurt. Tortured. Abused.”

I’m flush against him, baring my teeth.

“But you know what?”

In a shaky voice, he asks what.

“You didn’t break her. Couldn’t break her. She has more strength than you and your buddies on Capitol Hill.”

Ben nods.

“Good. It’s good to hear she’s doing great.”

I tilt my head to the side with a sinister smile.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Please. We can work something out. Think about it? The power I’ll have in government. I’m working up to the presidency. I can give you more money and land. Anything you want.”

My claw grabs his dick, snarling in his face, wrenching my hand back, and removing his dick and balls in one smooth swoop. Ben topples over, grabbing at his crotch. I drop his small cock and stare down at his writhing form.

“Your friends are dead and decapitated. It was fairly quick, but for you, I want to savor the kill.”

Snot and saliva drip from his mouth, begging me to save his life. A flood of tears comes down. I’ve reduced this scum to a sniveling worthless insect. Pleading for mercy. A mercy he never showed Ivy. His sadistic actions caught the attention of other snakes, who slithered into people’s lives, wreaking havoc on them. It stops here.

“I’m going to pluck your limbs like the feathers of a chicken. And do you know why?”

His face is etched in torment.

“I’m doing it for Ivy. For all the pain and humiliation you put her through. For all the abuse. For selling her to a demented man.”

With my claws, I rip down his front several times, leaving gaping lacerations on his chest. He falls on his back, pressing his hands against the openings to stop the blood. I dig into his shoulder joints, stabbing the bone and separating his arm from his torso. His head falls back with a scream. Blood spurts out. I shove his balls into his mouth, and his eyes lock on mine as I remove the rest of his limbs in the same manner, until his torso is just a stump. After all the blood loss, I still see a slight rise and fall of his chest. I grab his hair, yanking it back to where he can see me.

“This is for all the women you’ve abused, the people you’ve hurt, and the bullet you shot me with.”

In seconds, my mouth transforms into a snout. I open my jaw, covering his entire throat and bite down. My bite is hard enough to pop off his head. I smile at the carnage.