Would it hurt Arys if I killed his sire? Was that something I should allow to alter my decision? He claimed to feel nothing for Harley, but how could I be sure?
I hated that he might, which made me feel like the world’s biggest hypocrite. Arys could do whatever he wanted. Who was I to say anything? I did what I wanted, despite the many repercussions. I was no one to judge.
Knowing that didn’t change my way of thinking. I wandered the path home feeling broken, insecure and more than a little jealous. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get the image of Arys and Harley together out of my head. It made me hate Harley so much more.
I allowed myself to fantasize about the various ways I could kill him. Each one brought a smirk to my face. I was almost looking forward to seeing him again.
As caught up as I was in my thoughts, I was instantly aware that I was being followed. I sensed it before I picked up the wolf scent of my follower. It wasn’t a total surprise. I figured Dylan wouldn’t wait long before making his move. Predictable bastard.
Keeping a calm head was easy. I was already spoiling for a fight. This was the perfect time for him to try to jump me. I knew his buddy had to be out there somewhere as well. So far, I could only smell one, but I could sense the other. I continued to walk as if I didn’t know I was being stalked.
The sensation of their watchful eyes burned right through me. Instinct told me to take a stand and call them out, but common sense said to keep going. Kylarai’s place was closer than mine was. If I could get into the forest on that side of town, I could avoid a confrontation in town and hopefully have the home turf advantage.
Before I left the comfort of the streetlights, I needed to bang out a quick message to Shaz. I kept it short and to the point: being followed, headed for Ky’s. If I knew Shaz, he wouldn’t be far behind.
Resisting the urge to look for my stalkers was nearly impossible. I was torn between both physical and psychic responses. It was hard to focus, and I started to wish I’d never left the bar.
Deep breaths. Do I run? No. They’d just chase me down. Could I make it into a public place before they could grab me? Fuck that. I was the Alpha in this town. My town.
I watched my feet hit the ground, one after the other, and I concentrated on the energy in my surroundings. The power that Arys and I had just tapped immediately reacted to my desires. I wanted to know where these two wolves were located around me. I wanted to see them.
I could feel them then with a keen psychic awareness of their auras. I read them with the ease of reading the morning newspaper. Just had to skim the surface to get everything I needed to know. It was so simple to bend the power to my will. I knew it was largely due to the confrontation with Arys. He had a way of firing me up. Oddly enough, it seemed to work in my favor. Also, it proved me right. Arys and I did need each other. It was no coincidence; my power and my control improved because of him.
Both Dylan and the other wolf kept their distance. Dylan was staying about a block behind me, keeping to the shadows. I could see him in my mind’s eye, padding along with the silence of the wolf. His companion was to my right, walking parallel with me a block over. I didn’t feel intimidated by them, but I was wary. Werewolves were nothing if not true killers. Having two of them preying on me was definitely unsettling.
My wolf was on full alert, ready for an attack. She wanted it. Tearing Dylan’s throat out would feel incredible right now. The thought encouraged my bloodlust and a small smile played along my lips. This could be fun.
Much as I liked to rant and rave about it, the vampiric tendencies I’d acquired from Arys had a plus side. With the power blazing its way through me and the blood hunger rising, I wasn’t surprised when my fangs and claws lengthened fully. My brown wolf eyes were very likely blue with the vampire power coursing through me. I focused on control. I’d let loose when the fuckers cornered me.
It wouldn’t be much longer before they made their move. I could feel it. Dylan started to close in on me from behind, and that’s when I casually strolled across the street. Kylarai’s was still several blocks away, but using the walking path and cutting down another street would lead me to the stretch of field behind her house just the same.
I jumped when my phone vibrated in my purse. Slipping it out, I struggled to maintain my casual composure. Shaz’s reply said only: on my way. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was pretty sure I could handle these guys, but Shaz was my mate and Alpha male in this town. I knew he’d want a piece of Dylan.
Ever so slightly, I quickened my pace. I wanted to hurry as if trying to flee the biting cold, but they’d never fall for that. It wasn’t cold enough to greatly affect a Were. Dylan would be onto me by this point. He had to know I was aware of their presence.
The liquor induced haze I’d felt upon leaving the Lounge quickly dissipated as adrenaline blasted through me. I was ready to fight for my life and, if all went well, end theirs.
I’d underestimated them. I’d mistakenly assumed they would tail me from their positions a block away until we left public property. When I sensed the sudden shift in their positions, I almost panicked.
They were coming up on me fast, a full out run. I could feel it. I froze, glancing frantically at my surroundings: a line of houses on both sides of me and the field at the end of the street, straight ahead. One mile or so remained to the tree line beyond.
Dylan’s heady Alpha wolf energy was strong, coming fast. I broke into a full out run, knowing that I had to outrun him. I couldn’t decide whether to shift forms or not. I had more metaphysical power in human form. However, we were all wolf, and that was the ideal way to settle this.
Leaving the glow of the streetlight behind gave me a sense of comfort. My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I stared hard at the tree line. I’d never beat them in human form. I simply couldn’t move as fast on two legs as I could on four. A snarl broke the silence behind me, causing the tiny hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.
I reacted without thinking, throwing a blast of vampy energy behind me. It burned my palm as it went, and the sudden yelp that came next was music to my ears. The two of them were hot on my heels, no more than several hundred yards behind me. Too close.
I allowed myself a split second to mourn my outfit. No way would I have enough time to disrobe before shifting. It would end up a torn, useless scrap of rag instead. Damn.
The two men had much longer legs than I did. They quickly closed the distance between us. As carefully as I could, I let my purse drop to the ground. I used the last precious moments to toss another shot at them before leaping into the air and becoming wolf.
I hit the ground hard, nearly losing my balance. The element of surprise was on my side, and I was off and running before they could change forms. The snow and dirt kicked up beneath my feet, and the cold wind ruffled my fur.
Exhilaration drove me hard, and I all but threw myself toward the awaiting forest. Shaz couldn’t be far. He’d be coming from Kylarai’s backyard. A glance in that direction revealed nothing.
I fought back the fear that threatened to break through my calm and ready demeanor. Dylan was approaching fast. I made the mistake of casting a look back over my shoulder, right in time to see him launch through the air.
I didn’t even have time to gasp before he slammed into me. His momentum rolled us so that we flipped in the snow a few times before sliding to a stop at the base of a large spruce tree. I sprang to my feet before he could sink fangs into me. Circling away from the tree, I put it at my back so that neither wolf could attack from behind.
Dylan, large and grey, advanced on me in a way that was supposed to intimidate. His companion, a slightly smaller brown wolf, stood twenty feet away watching for a signal from his Alpha.
Peeling back my lips, I growled deep in my throat. I refused to let him cow me in any way. His eyes flashed in the moonlight. Rage fueled him. Without hesitating, he flung himself at me again.
I snarled and snapped, driving him back with my fangs bared in his face. He di
dn’t let up, coming at me again and again. My back end was up against the tree. There was nowhere I could go and nothing I could do but fight back to the best of my ability.
We both fought so hard, yet, we were doing little more than battering one another. I was somewhat surprised to find the other wolf merely watching and waiting. If they’d taken me on together, I might not have stood a chance. As it was, Dylan was going for the respectful Alpha-to-Alpha combat. Or, so I thought until he shifted back to human form.
That was when the other wolf snapped into action. He came at me from the side, drawing my attention to him while Dylan grabbed me around the throat with strong hands. The way they moved together, so calculating and precise, told me this was likely a tactic they used often. My disgust grew.
“Shift,” Dylan growled into my face. “We’re going to have a little conversation before I tear your throat out, Ms. O’Brien.”
He wanted me to shift so he could kill me? That was disturbing. I didn’t want to be naked and exposed with him, but that would be irrelevant when he was dead. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but as his grip tightened, cutting off my air supply, I didn’t have a lot of options.
The inability to breathe sent me into a frenzy. I thrashed around violently, shifting back to human form. The power that was subdued in wolf form came rushing to the surface, bursting forth from me like my body was over capacity, and it could not be held in.
It threw both men off their feet with more force than either of them had expected. I sucked in my breath, my mind racing to determine my next move. The brown wolf recovered fast, scrambling to his feet. Envisioning him trapped within a circle of energy, I directed the flow of power with my palms, and it happened.
He leaped into the side of the energy circle, hitting as if leaping into a brick wall. Good. That allowed me to focus on Dylan who was rapidly getting to his feet. I kept my eyes on his face, careful not to acknowledge his nudity.
He looked pissed. Rubbing his hip, his hand came away bloodied due to his fall on the hard packed snow. Oops.
“You protect a known murderess!” His voice boomed through the forest, and I cringed. It seemed so wrong to be human here where animals belonged. “You are no better than she. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Crossing my arms over my breasts, I glared hard. “And, you’re a fucking trespasser in my town. You have no right to come here and tell me how to run things. Zoey Roberts can be punished without being killed.”
Dylan’s eyes widened, and he huffed. “You’re as goddamn deranged as she is. She murdered my family, people who were there to protect her. That is unforgiveable.”
He seemed to be keeping a cautious distance. I don’t know what I was waiting for. The blue and gold energy that swirled around my fingertips reached for him. It seemed to have a mind of its own.
“Something like you,” Dylan said, taking a menacing step toward me. “Shouldn’t be allowed to live. You’re as bad as she is. A mix that never should have been.”
“Fuck you.” The power jumped as I spat the words. A cut appeared beneath Dylan’s left eye, slowly dripping blood down his rugged face. I licked my lips hungrily at the sight of it.
The breath he sucked in was shaky despite his continuing forward motion. “Last chance. Give up Zoey Roberts, and I walk away from you right now.”
“And, if I don’t? You kill me?” I laughed wickedly. What a joke this guy was.
He rushed me then, hands outstretched, fangs bared in his human face. He was trying to catch me off guard so that I couldn’t have a metaphysical advantage. It worked because my automatic reaction was to step backwards when I should have held my ground.
The breath smashed from my lungs when his weight hit me. I was able to get a knee up in between us, and I drove it into his groin with everything I had. He grunted and froze. I took advantage of his pain, rolling him off me and following up with a solid punch that had his nose gushing blood.
“Bitch.” He was up and after me faster than I’d expected. When he went for my throat again, it became increasingly clear to me that he knew he couldn’t take me. He was seeking the fastest way to disable me.
The grim look in his eyes warned me that he really felt he was doing what was right. That kind of dogma could drive a man beyond the restraints of sanity. If Shaz didn’t show soon, this really could get out of control.
I drew on the hot energy burning inside me, battering him with it. I was weakening fast in the metaphysical area due to the physical and mental exertion, which had me panicking. Dylan was bruised and bleeding, yet he continued to strangle me like a rag doll. This would be one time when being a vampire would be beneficial. Strangling can’t kill you when you don’t need to breathe.
I struggled against him, trying anything to loosen his hold on me. I would have felt ill at the touching of our naked bodies if I hadn’t been trying so hard not to black out.
“Girls like you and Zoey, you are nothing. Not fit to be Alpha. No better than a warm body to fuck and then dispose of.” Dylan continued to rant and rave into my face as he choked the life out of me.
Those words spun around in my brain, playing over and over. He was sick. He was mentally fucked. And, my ill ease quickly turned to the need to wretch violently when I felt him grow hard against me. No fucking way. I’d die first.
In my mind, I couldn’t help but flash back in time. To another time and place, when I was so young and at the mercy of a much older male wolf that was determined to make me his play thing whether I was willing or not. Raoul had stopped him before he could force me. Then, Raoul had beaten the shit out of him. Now, there was no chance of Raoul coming to my rescue.
I hit Dylan. I clawed him and even tried to gouge out his damn eyes. Still, he held firm. His eyes held no semblance of human. He was all monster. As he tried to work his knee in between my legs, I was suddenly sure that what he was trying to do to me was something he had done to others, many times before.
The raw hate that quickly grew to overflowing was all I needed. It seared through me like a jolt of electricity, coming out in a storm of power. It actually hurt me as it moved from my body to his. Dylan let out a pained cry and released me. Bastard choked me twice, what a miserable excuse for a wolf.
He stumbled back, almost slipping in the snow. He continued to make agonized sounds. His chest was burnt, the flesh, literally smoking. I was astonished. I could have burned the fucker alive. Now that was encouraging.
I felt another wolf then. Expecting Shaz, I looked to the east. Except, I felt it to the north. Dylan looked around in confusion as he sensed it, too. He lunged forward, as if to shift forms, but he wasn’t fast enough. A black shape emerged from the forest, leaping through the air to hit him full on.
I stared in silent shock as Zoey Roberts took Dylan down on the forest floor and sunk fangs into his throat before he could utter a scream. The brown wolf locked inside my energy circle howled and yipped as he watched his Alpha die.
I took the opportunity to change forms, feeling more comfortable in my fur than standing naked in the forest. Watching Zoey make a bloody mess of Dylan, I knew that he had certainly done to her what he’d just tried to do to me. She deserved this vengeance.
I didn’t want to watch it though. It reminded me too much of watching her kill her father. The first man I’d ever loved. And hated.
Shaz’s arrival was a welcome relief. With his watchful eyes on Zoey and her kill, he came to me. If he knew what he’d just missed, he’d be sorry he didn’t get to kill Dylan himself.
I nuzzled Shaz lovingly before drawing his attention to the wolf freaking out inside my circle. Trotting over to it, I broke the circle with a simple touch. The brown wolf stared in horror at the three of us. I was braced for an attack. He turned tail and fled, kicking up snow as he went.
Shaz was after him like a bat out of hell. Letting him get away wasn’t an option. His pack needed to know what a mistake it was to take us on. If he made it back to them, who knew what move
they’d make next? Though, I figured the death of their Alpha might be enough to keep them away.
I wasn’t sure if I should go after the brown wolf with Shaz or stay. Zoey lifted a muzzle covered in Dylan’s blood, and I tensed. If she came for me…
Our eyes met, and time seemed to stop. I searched her enchanting blue eyes, looking for something more than the predator staring back at me. She’d been in wolf form for several months. It was entirely plausible that she may have lost whatever humanity she’d had left. Then I saw it, the spark of human that glinted from deep inside her.
The recognition in her gaze held no menace. I wasn’t sure how to approach her. Should I shift to human and try to talk to her? I felt pressured to communicate with her somehow.
Before I could decide, Zoey gave me one last lingering look and turned away to disappear into the night. I made no effort to go after her. Instinct told me to let her go, but compassion told me that I had to do something. I started to wonder, with all of the power Arys and I had, would it be possible to get Zoey Roberts back into her human body?
Chapter Fifteen
“I’m sorry, Alexa. I simply don’t have that kind of power.”
I stared at Lena, hating what I was hearing. I’d tried not to get my expectations up, but I couldn’t help but be hopeful. Lena hadn’t been spending as much time at the office lately since she’d recently been out of town, so I’d asked her if she would mind dropping by. I didn’t know whom else to talk to about Zoey.
“But, could it be done at all, if one had the right kind of power?” I knew I sounded desperate, but since the recent events with Zoey two nights ago, my mind had been constantly turning the situation over.
Lena gave her head a shake, her long braid moving like a snake against her back. “My dear, there is nothing that can’t be done if one has the right power. Of course, that doesn’t always mean it should be done. You have to use careful judgment and discretion.”
I sipped from the steaming mug of coffee sitting on the table before me. Rather than talk in my office, I’d opted to sit in the kitchen. The topic of conversation wasn’t exactly top secret, and just the act of walking into my office made my face flush.
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