Page 54 of Wild Games

Two words, and I’m undone. I crush her to me, not sure I’ll ever be able to let her go.

Mine.

When I finally let her pull back to breathe, she’s almost smiling, a rosy glow already starting to return to her cheeks.

“We’ll be okay,” she whispers.

Movement in the trees then cuts off my response. Branches snap under heavy feet, the undergrowth rustling. I tense, ready to shift again if needed, but already, familiar scents reach me on the night breeze.

Pack. Lots of them.

Dean stumbles into view first, Callum right behind him, one hand pressed to his temple, like his head’s still splitting from a headache. Both look rough and disoriented from the effects of the potion.

Dean’s gaze travels across the beach, taking in the carnage. The blood-soaked stones, Raven’s stricken face as he tends to the limp body of Alpha Williams, and us huddled together, soaking wet.

“Well, shit.”

25

JAX

“Are you both alright? What happened?” Dean asks.

Callum spots Tanner attempting to crawl away and moves to intercept him before he gets too far. He lets out a scream of pain when Callum steps on his destroyed shoulder and pins him to the ground.

“Alpha Williams happened.” I don’t release Camille, can’t make myself let go yet. She stays on my lap, clinging to me, as she explains to my brother what went wrong. “He had some kind of potion as well as the artifact. Knocked us all out, except Jax.”

She fingers the scarf, limp and slightly ripped now, but still tied around my neck.

Without a word, Dean moves across the beach and crouches beside Williams’s still form, checking for a pulse at his ruined throat. Blood immediately coats his fingers.

“Faint, I doubt he’ll survive,” he confirms, not sounding too upset about it as he wipes his hand on Williams’s expensive suit jacket before he stands again, waving over the next group of wolves to arrive on the scene. They roll the alpha’s body onto a stretcher and get to work trying to save his life.

I frown, my wolf displeased that they’re not just letting him bleed to death like he deserves.

“Run to my cabin and get some clothes for these two,” Dean orders someone else, who takes off at a sprint to Dean’s isolated cabin. It’s his haven away from the madness of the packhouse and the memories of how our father used to punish us there.

Callum grabs Tanner by the collar, hauling him partially upright, and snarls, baring his teeth at the cowering wolf. “You’d better tell me everything. Or I’ll let Jax come and interrogate you personally.”

Tanner nods, eyes fixed on me, knowing full well that if I got him alone in a cell, after what he did to my mate, he’d never make it out alive.

Callum turns back to Dean. “We need to send someone for Ryan. He could already be destroying evidence…”

Dean nods, expression grim as a wolf runs back into the clearing, with clothes for us and a large blanket from Dean’s porch in his arms. He spreads it over the alpha, giving him more dignity and respect than he deserves as he’s lifted.

DEAN:I’m doing it for Zane, not him.

Zane crashes through the trees next, taking in the carnage with grim efficiency, his stoic enforcer expression faltering when the scent of his father’s blood reaches his nose, and he sees Tanner still struggling pathetically in Callum’s grip.

Lynn arrives right behind him, skidding to a halt when the scene comes into view.

“He’s alive,” Raven tells him, face ashen. “But only just.”

“Oh God.” Lynn’s focus immediately switches to Zane, who does his best to remain calm and professional. “Zane, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, but Zane’s already pulling out his phone, thumb moving efficiently across the screen.

“I’m calling in more help. Neither Camille nor I will be able to complete the investigation given the circumstances.”

Lynn’s face crumples when he ignores her.