She shoved her wrist to my mouth, giving me no choice. The metallic smell tickled my nose.
Dillon appeared from behind a tree. “Wait! Won’t that kill him?”
“Only my venom has that capability,” Marguerite corrected. “Vampire blood will heal him. Mine will give him more energy than he had before getting hurt.” She turned back to me. “I said drink.”
My stomach turned at the smell, but I had no other choice. I put my lips to her wound and sucked. The cool, bitter blood filled my mouth.
Dillon’s face contorted as he watched. “I hope I don’t need that,” he muttered.
Jet shoved him. “Just kill some more jags. Now.”
“My pleasure.” Dillon ran toward the parking lot.
“Focus on me.” Marguerite guided my face so that I was looking at her. “We’re going to beat these shifters, and you’re going to save Victoria. You’re already her hero—I can see it in her eyes.”
Strength formed within my core. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pep talk or the blood. Probably both.
“You can do this, Toby. You’ve helped win wars. I know it’s harder to focus when someone you love so dearly is at stake, but you have to focus.”
“You’re right.” I focused on drinking. When the energy circulated, coursing its way through my entire body, I let go and steadied myself.
“Did you get enough?” she asked.
“I think so. Let it run through my system. You need your strength, too.”
She shook her head. “I’m more worried about you. I can drink from Alre if I need to.”
The energy buzzing around my insides flashed with an inexplicable burst. I jumped to my feet and glanced around. All of my senses seemed on fire. I could see farther, hear more acutely, and smell more scents. My muscles no longer hurt, but begged to be used.
We ran around to the back, taking down jaguars as we went. It didn’t take long to gather a good-sized group. We would definitely give them a run for their money, if not take them down completely. It just depended on how many they had in there.
“Do you see an opening?” Sal asked, as we wandered back around to the front.
The front door burst open.
Carter ran outside.
“I thought he’d been taken captive,” Jet grumbled.
“That’s what I thought,” I said. Had he actually been in on it, breaking Victoria’s trust?
Carter waved us over. “Hurry!”
“So we can fall into your trap?” Jet yelled.
“No! It’s Victoria! Get in here!”
My heart plummeted to the ground.
Chapter 29
Victoria
Franklin tightened his grip around my wrists. I cried out in pain.
He turned to me and slapped me across the face with the back of his hand. “I’ve had enough of you.”
“Then why marry me?”
“Because you’re mine. Now shut up.” He yanked me down the dimly lit hall. The little lights along the path reminded me of all the happy times I’d been there with Carter. Between this and having rescued Toby, the Jag was nothing more than a horrible memory—all good ones there had practically been erased.
My right foot twisted and I stumbled over the too-long slacks he’d made me wear before leaving the room and sending Carter away.
Franklin turned around and glared at me. “Have you always been this pathetic?”
I clenched my jaw, keeping myself from spitting in his face like I wanted to.
“Well, I’ll just have to beat the clumsiness and stupidity out of you. Hurry.” He pulled me forward again, dragging me behind him. “Now keep up.”
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. It sounded like a herd—or a pack. Toby?
I whipped my head around.
“Don’t get too excited,” Franklin said. “Those are probably just our wedding guests.”
My stomach lurched. If only I had something in my stomach to throw up—all over him. “What did you do to Carter?”
“Why do you care?”
“Because he’s my friend.”
Franklin spun around and glared at me. “Sure he’s nothing more?” He sprayed hot spit on my face.
“My heart only belongs to Toby.”
He scowled. “You need to let him go. Look at all the heartache your rebellious fancy for him has caused. You should have seen your poor mother after you and Elsie died. It nearly killed her as well.”
I flinched, hating to think of what Mother had gone through—all at the hands of her husband. He’d killed Elsie personally, and though he hadn’t pulled the trigger, he was behind my death, too. If he’d have let me marry whoever I chose, I’d have never died in the first place.
The footsteps behind us grew closer. I sniffed the air. Vampires and werewolves.
My heart thundered in my chest. Had the pack come for me? Did Franklin know they were coming?
Franklin’s grip around my wrists tightened all the more. He would leave bruises for sure.
I needed to find a way to stop the wedding. There was no way I would agree to marry him, but he would find a way to force me. He would soon find out how serious I was about choosing death over a life with him.
He stopped in front of a closed door. “Here we are. I think seeing this room will change your tune.”
I said nothing. The only thing that would change my mood would be if Toby was in there with open arms, waiting for me—which of course was a joke. If Franklin had his way, the next time we stepped into this hall, we would be married.
What a scumbag.
My eyes grew heavy and the exhaustion engulfed me like a thick fog. He had to be speaking the truth about my irritation toward him making me weak.
I fell to the ground. The only thing keeping me from collapsing all the way was his death grip on my wrists. He shoved me up and against the wall. “Quit it.”
The footsteps down the hall finally caught up to us. They belonged to my father, brothers, and several of his key wolves. My heart sank. I would have sworn I’d smelled vampires and wolves from our pack.
Had that only been a trick?
My father sneered at me. “Looks like you’re finally where you belong. It took you long enough. You’ll learn to obey our ways soon enough.”
I stared at him. He hadn’t changed a bit—he was the same man who had killed his daughter so many years ago. Without a doubt, he still fully believed he had done the right thing in murdering Elsie. What an outdated relic he was, and a colossal sexist besides. I couldn’t keep my feelings and a sneer from showing on my face.
Franklin shoved me into the wall. “Show your father some respect. I won’t have my wife behaving like this.”
Good thing I wasn’t his wife.
He shoved me again, this time digging his nails into my flesh. “Did I not make myself clear?”
Several of the men laughed.
“Can’t control your woman, huh Franklin?” asked Henry, one of my father’s closest advisers.
The whole group roared with laughter.
Franklin’s face turned red—I could see that much in the dim hallway. He forced me against the wall, knocking the back of my head against it. “Pay respects to your father, woman.”
Tears stung my eyes. I turned to my father and held his gaze. “Yes, sir.” I couldn’t remember what he’d said, but that seemed like a reasonable response—or at least something they would find acceptable.
Father folded his arms and looked down on me. “Glad to hear it. Let’s get this wedding over with. You owe Franklin a huge apology for making him wait so long. Centuries! I’ve never met a man so patient. He knew you’d come back to him one day.”
I didn’t respond.
“I said you owe him your sorrow, daughter.”
Franklin’s grip tightened even more.
Shaking, I turned to him. “I-I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He pulled me close, so that I was pressed against him. I could feel the rhythmic motion of his
chest as he breathed.
“For making you wait so many years.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll make it up to me.” He opened the door and forced me into the small room. A couple dozen chairs pointed toward the front of the room, otherwise there was no other indication that a wedding was about to take place. My stomach twisted into a tight knot, but somehow I felt more energized.
Because I’d apologized to Franklin.
What if that was it? If that was my out? Perhaps if I faked going along with the wedding, I could build up enough strength to get away. It would be tricky with the strongest and most agile men of our pack in the room, but it was my only chance.
“Get to the front.” Someone shoved me from behind.
Franklin dragged me to the front. Everyone else shuffled into the seats.
My heart threatened to explode out of my chest as I tried to think of a way out. “Don’t I need a dress?”
“Stupid human tradition,” Franklin muttered. “Doesn’t matter what you wear.”
“Can you let go of my wrists?”
“I can, but I won’t.”
“I won’t go anywhere.”
He snorted, clearly seeing through me. “I don’t trust you, even with your father and the rest of his men here. You’re going to have to earn my trust after everything you’ve pulled.”
“But you said I need you to be able to shift, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then why would I flee? The last full moon nearly killed me. One more without you, and it certainly will.”
“Stop talking.”
“But I—”
“I said, stop talking.”
It looked like I would need to take a different angle to make my escape. I glanced around the room. Seeing my father and his chauvinistic crew made my skin crawl.
The door opened. My head snapped to attention. Could it be Toby?
My mother and some of the other women from the pack entered. Elsie wasn’t with them. Did that mean she had managed to hide from the pack, also? Or had they hurt her again?
Mother covered her mouth when she saw me. She and the others sat next to their husbands like the obedient wives they were—just as I would be expected to behave if I couldn’t find a way out of the ceremony.
Something crashed into the other side of the wall. My breath caught. Was that Toby or our pack?
“Don’t look so excited.” Franklin jerked my arms. “It’s just the jaguars. They like to wrestle.”
I believed him about as much as he believed I wouldn’t try to make a run for it if given the chance. I sniffed the air, trying to see if I could still smell my real pack. Unfortunately, I couldn’t smell any over the pack in the room.
The door opened again.
My pulse raced.
A man with thinning gray hair and a wrinkled suit came inside. “It’s crazy out there!”
“You’re here now,” my father said. “Let’s get this show on the road. We have a great many wrongs to right that this will fix.”
The room seemed to shrink, closing in on me.
“Of course. Glad to see you got her in time.”
My father nodded. “They sure didn’t make it easy, but ultimately, we always get what we want. One way or another.” He turned to me and stared at me. I couldn’t pull away from his gaze.
The door opened again.
“What?” Franklin muttered. “Everyone’s here.”
Toby walked in and glanced around. His gaze stopped on me.
Chapter 30
Toby
Everyone else in the small room turned and glared at me. Memories raced as I scanned the room. So many people I’d killed before the other side released the dead. Eyes narrowed, faces reddened, and growls sounded around the room.
Clearly, many wished to repay me.
Finally, my gaze landed on the front of the room. Victoria stood at the front, wearing a pale yellow top that buttoned up to her neck and black pants that covered her shoes—clothes that women used to wear in the packs years ago. Franklin had a hold on her, and she had to be in pain, given the angle he held her wrists.
Anger tore at me. “What’s going on?”
Her father rose, taking off a large hat. “You need to leave. Your kind isn’t welcome here.”
“That should be up to Victoria.”
He glowered at me. “It’s up to her father as head of the pack and her husband.”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
This was a wedding.
I turned to Victoria. “You’ve married him?”
She shook her head vigorously. “No, I—”
Franklin pressed her against the wall. She cried out.
I ran down the aisle, but all the other men in the room jumped up to block me.
“You were told to leave,” said one of Victoria’s brothers.
“Not without her.”
“Don’t do this. Let her have her wedding.”
“Look at how he’s treating her!” I tried to get around them, but they had me blocked on all sides.
“Exactly as she deserves.” Her father scowled. “After what she put everyone through. In fact, I’d think you’d find her too much trouble after nearly getting you killed.”
I pushed against them, but as a group, they were too strong.
“Stop,” her father told the others.
They all let go, and I lost my balance, nearly stumbling, but I recovered quickly and glared at him. There was no way he’d tell his guys to back off unless he had something worse in store.
The look in his eyes made my blood run cold. “What is it?”
He threw back his head and laughed a cruel, dark laugh. “The only way Victoria will be able to shift again is if she marries Franklin. Then as part of the family, he finally becomes my second-hand man.”
I stared at him, too dumbfounded to speak. Could it be true?
“In other words,” Franklin said, “get out!”
The men around me roared with laughter.
My pack and the vampires were waiting outside in the hallway. It was tempting to release my war cry and have them all pile in, but if Victoria needed to marry Franklin in order to shift, I couldn’t risk him getting killed.
Not yet, anyway.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I demanded once the laughter quieted. “What does him marrying her have anything to do with her shifting?”
Franklin narrowed his eyes. “Because it’s the only way to cure her of the curse keeping her from shifting. The jaguars asked what I thought a good cure would be, and that seemed fitting. Now step aside.”
My stomach sank. It fit everything else we knew—everything Victoria remembered from the true love’s kiss spell. She recalled the jaguars setting everything up with her father and mine to mess with her mind. One of the witches had stripped her ability to shift, and her father knew she would need to undo that, so he made sure it would end up in the marriage he had always wanted so badly.
I would have to kill Franklin in between saying the I do‘s and the consummation of the marriage. Then I would take great joy in killing everyone behind the cruel curse. How dare they put Victoria through such agony after everything she has already been through?
“I said to move.”
I glanced around the room, trying to decide how to handle the situation. It was risky, but I had to let her marry the pompous wolf. At least long enough to break her free. Then death could part them. My gaze finally landed on her. She pleaded with her eyes for me to do something. Unfortunately, that meant continuing with the ceremony. I gave her a quick nod to let her know I had a plan.
I turned to her father. “Carry on with the ceremony. If you’re going to keep me from her, I want to see this with my own eyes.”
Victoria cried out.
He laughed. “Even better.” He turned to his sons. “Keep hold of him.”
Victoria’s three brothers came over to me. Two of them grabbed onto my arms and dragged me to a se
at. The other sat, glaring at me.
I looked up at Victoria, giving her an expression that I hoped showed her I had a plan.
The pain in her eyes told me the message wasn’t received.
“Are we ready?” asked the officiate.
The look on Victoria’s face nearly killed me. She may as well have cut out my heart with a dull knife, chewed it up, and spit it back out at my feet.
She had to know the last thing I would ever let happen would be for her to actually marry that moron. But if it was the only way for her to shift, a temporary wedding had to happen.
I couldn’t let her die. Not again.
Chapter 31
Victoria
Tears stung my eyes as I stared at Toby. Not only was he covered in blood—whose?—but he just sat there, letting my good-for-nothing brothers hold him down while I was about to be forced into marrying Franklin.
I took a deep breath and studied his face. He didn’t seem worried. Maybe that meant he had a plan. Could he have found Soleil? If so, was she out in the hall, waiting to suck out the essence of every other werewolf the room besides Toby and me?
That had to be it. He wouldn’t give up that easily.
Franklin squeezed me, digging his nails into my skin again. “Look at me, woman. You’ve seen the last of that fool.”
“Don’t you want her to watch us kill him?” my father shouted.
I flinched.
“Of course she will,” Franklin sneered, glaring at me. His grip tightened all the more.
I gasped and pulled away. He dug his nails, drawing blood, and pulled me so close I was pressed against him.
“You don’t want to see that?” he taunted.
The officiate moved, blocking my view of Toby. Unfortunately, that was probably for the best since I needed to think about Franklin in order to build my stamina. Maybe I could try to kill him once we became man and wife. The thought of being married to him for even a minute made my stomach lurch.
“We are gathered here,” the officiate began.
Franklin loosened his grip around my wrists slightly. “Look at me.”
I turned to him and forced myself to look into his eyes. It was almost impossible to not hate him, but I had to find something redeemable about him. Exhaustion was already forming in my joints.
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