I chomp down as I feel a bite of silver in my flank. Ripping my jaws away from my Beta Gafton’s bleeding neck.
Alpha Kin growls behind me, the grating noise trying to force me back into my human form.
My wolf snarls as I fly around to face him. He’s not one of my Alphas. He will not control me. He will die instead.
But the silver blade in my rump is making it hard to focus on my movements.
It’s actually making me a little uneven.
I stumble.
He smirks.
Then his wild eyes go to the snarling beast at my back.
All the fur along my spine stands on end as the knife is ripped out of my rump and Alpha Dirk darts forward to slam the blade into Alpha Kin’s shoulder.
I blink, stunned.
Only to have a leg grabbed and twisted beneath me by Beta Gafton.
He’s rabid.
Feral.
With wild eyes I don’t recognize and an expression of pure animalistic fury.
“You did this,” he roars, leaping at me.
My wolf bounces out of the way, but the corridor is only so wide. I immediately hit a wall, which sends a jolt through my lower half.
I’m healing now that silver is out of me, but I still feel awkward.
Except I’m on my four legs.
And Beta Gafton is on two.
I also have a fully functioning irate wolf running the show while he’s clearly lost his mind. Likely a side effect of Bryson controlling him, which is the only explanation for his blankness.
How did he even get here? I wonder as he attempts to attack me again.
My wolf reacts, going straight for his throat with the intention of finishing the job this time.
His arms come around me and squeeze so hard, bones start to crack, but my jaws are locked tight around his jugular.
He didn’t expect me to leap.
And he thinks his strength is enough to intimidate me now.
But my wolf works through the pain, locking her teeth and ripping out his fucking throat. A harsh gurgling follows, his crazed eyes blinking in surprise as blood pours from the wound.
He’s choking.
My wolf is licking her chops, appeased.
His knees buckle, his hands clawing at his throat.
When a bullet goes through his head.
A silver bullet—something I know because I feel the blaze of it in the air.
I spin toward the shooter to find Alpha Dirk lowering the muzzle to his side, his body covered in blood.
And a dead Alpha Kin at his feet.
I back up, my rump hitting the wall as I brace myself for whatever fight is about to occur. Because pure unadulterated rage pours off of Alpha Dirk.
He’s bigger than Alpha Kin.
Stronger.
Fiercer.
My wolf growls, challenging him because she doesn’t know what else to do.
Alpha Dirk narrows his eyes in return.
Then a howl pierces the air, the source of it coming from the phone on the floor between us.
My legs buckle beneath me, my animal immediately submitting to the rage coming from that sound.
Tieran…
32
TIERAN
Several Minutes Earlier
Your lives or hers, Bryson said.
I choose neither, I think as he enters the clearing with the phone near his side.
It’s a mistake. He’s still hooked up to the speakers, allowing me to hear Clove’s response.
She’s in pain and she’s furious.
But he doesn’t seem to realize that because he’s grinning triumphantly.
The three enforcers at his back don’t appear nearly as confident because they are all who remain of Bryson’s team.
Meanwhile, all my wolves are still alive.
Because I have something he doesn’t—heart.
He uses hive mind manipulation and enslaved pussy to tame his wolves. That only allows for so much loyalty in a pack. And those wolves at his back don’t appear too keen on dying for their insane leader right now.
Because they know that’s what’s about to happen.
A roar comes through the phone, the source of it all Clove, and a loud crash follows. Beta Gafton dropping the phone, I translate.
Volt is moving before I can even lift my weapon.
He has two blades on Bryson’s chest in the next breath, just as Caius sends a bullet into the enforcer closest to the Alpha. I take down the next two with my own gun, firing without thinking and giving them both a quick death.
Then I walk up to where Bryson is wheezing on the ground. “I choose your death,” I tell him, aiming at his head.
And pull the trigger.
There’s one thing I’ve learned in my training—never prolong a death just to gloat. One never knows when the opposite party will gain the upper hand.
Just like we did now while Bryson paused to enjoy his victory.