“I’m afraid this is as close as we get, love,” he says, easily holding me to him as I struggle in vain.
“The hell is she doing here?” I hear Damien snap. “She was in bed when I left.”
Arion releases me when Damien glares at him, but before I can even attempt to go find Emit, Damien becomes the new man holding me still.
Several bursts of fire all explode in unison, and Vance narrows his eyes on us as he approaches.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he tells Arion, and then gestures to me. “And she really shouldn’t be here.”
“I didn’t bring her here,” Arion tells him, eyes cold and assessing. “And I’m sticking around to see what happens to Ian. Try to stop me, Van Helsing. Let’s see how it goes this time around.”
The trees out here are so thick, despite the cold, that the slight canopy they provide the forest has blocked a large portion of the snowfall. Still, the few inches of it are burning against my bare feet.
It’s now that I realize I’m just wearing one of Damien’s shirts that hits me mid-thigh, and nothing else at all. That means the blood flow has finally restarted and I’m feeling more and more.
Awesome timing.
I just need to get to Emit, convince him not to tell anyone else about me, and then prove to him I’m not a real threat. Maybe he’ll be understanding, and then it’ll all be worth it.
A sinking sensation fills in my chest as the impossible task becomes all the more impossible when I hear it play out in my mind.
Movement to the right draws my attention and brings me out of my tragic reverie. Three men are dragging a gagged Ian toward a very familiar barn that becomes visible when more fires light all around the clearing just below.
Arion moves closer, putting his jacket over me, and Damien’s grip tightens on me as I move to stand on top of his shoes, hissing out a breath of pain when the cold starts to finally sting my feet.
“Do not do anything stupid,” Vance says threateningly to Arion, as he moves his body to cut off his view from Ian.
Arion’s dark grin spreads. “Careful, Van Helsing. Tonight’s not the night to push me more than I’ve already been pushed.”
Damien removes his longer coat that looks refined and elegant, but feels like a small oven when he puts it on me and takes Arion’s jacket for himself.
I don’t argue. The trade is much better, since my legs get a lot of wind blockage.
Vance glares at Arion, and I get worried they’re about to fight, but that’s when the wolves start pacing restlessly, both in fur and in flesh.
“Calm your fucking selves. You’re stirring them,” Damien says quietly.
“That’s not because of us,” Vance says, eyebrows furrowing as the salt around the barn starts flitting away in the wind, and all three of them sniff the air.
No one says anything as those barn doors push open, two wolves using their heads to do so.
“He’s going to say he killed enough and spared Ian if he’s bringing us here to see that,” Arion states with a very chilling tone.
But I lose interest in their words when I have to lock my knees in place to stay upright, my eyes glued to the gory scene ahead of me.
“Would you kill Shera or Isiah?” Damien asks.
“For this level of betrayal? Yes, I would. And I wouldn’t hesitate,” Arion grinds out somewhere over my head as I continue to gape at all the blood and death caused by me.
The wolves below all whimper and whine, and my stomach twists as tears fill up in my eyes.
Emit’s going to tell them. He’s going to tell them all I’m a monster. They’ll all hunt me after that.
“Fucking hell, he really did rip them to shreds,” Damien says under his breath when more light is shed, illuminating the barn in full.
The front row take a big step back from the entrance up ahead.
I turn quickly, burying my face in Damien’s chest, but he makes no move to hug me or shield me in any way.
“It isn’t enough. Ian orchestrated this. You know it, and I know it. He’s likely been itching to pull the trigger since before I even rose,” Arion snaps.
“If he says it’s enough, you’ll have no choice but to walk away. Just as they had to do when he said it was enough punishment for you,” Vance is arguing, even as he pulls me out of Damien’s arms, and drags me against his chest in an unusual show of affection.
Not allowing myself to fall into that trap again—the one where I think we’re friends—I turn back just as everything below us grows into a hushed silence.
My eyes dart over as naked Emit steps out of the barn, and behind him he drags two bodies too intact for me to have killed. He drops them as everyone remains silent.
“Things are about to change,” Emit says coldly.
“Those are the wolves I found for him. He found Ian before I could,” Vance says very quietly.
“It’s still not eno—”
Arion’s words cut off when Emit looks over at Ian. “Shift,” he bites out.
He gestures to two men just as Ian starts shaking, like he’s been somehow forced to comply with the order. They quickly cut away the bindings on his hands and feet, as his clothes begin shredding with the change.
The gag on his mouth snaps when his snout grows. Emit drops to the ground, fur bursting forth as he shifts like it’s as easy as pulling off a shirt. Normally, I’d be a little more awed. Right now, I feel like an angsty teenager.
It takes Ian longer, and it sounds more painful as he cries out in an animalistic tone.
The peanut gallery around me has stopped giving any commentary, so I have no idea what is going on.
“It’s been a while since there was a demonstration for these overly aggressive pups,” another man says from the ground far below, naked and casually lounging next to several other men, none of whom look old, but I’m not sure who’s what age around here.
“This looks like a good un’,” another says around a yawn. “That’s what they get for trying to put him under. Ian won’t make that mistake again now. Still, this is the maddest I’ve seen Alpha since the dark days.”
“An ass kicking to put the pups in line isn’t enough either,” Arion says before disappearing, talking over whatever the other man says in return.
I was already straining to hear, since they’re so far below.
Vance curses, looking around as he runs a frustrated hand through his hair and holds me tighter to him.
I sink against his chest as a tear rolls down my cheek, the suspense killing me.
What if Ian saw me?
My eyes thoroughly assess as much as I can see of the scene ahead. Emit’s wolf is huge in comparison to Ian’s, and Ian’s wolf is much bigger than the fox-size wolves most of the omegas I know turn into.
“You okay?” Vance asks me as he cups the back of my head.
“No, she’s not okay, and she really shouldn’t be here,” Damien says in an annoyed tone.
“Why? Because you’re siding with Arion on this and you want to kill every wolf in attendance?” Vance asks in such a muted tone that I barely hear it.
My eyes swing toward Damien, who just glares at Vance before looking away without answering.
Ian’s canines extend, and his lips curl back to make them even bigger, as he growls at Emit’s wolf. My attention doesn’t stray again.
The large, dark, beautiful wolf that is Emit just stands there, not making any move at first.
The second Ian lunges, the crowd scatters to the sides, because Emit moves quickly, slamming into the gray wolf before Ian even lands.
The dirt sprays into the air, and Ian flops around before leaping back up. The air is filled with snarls, the sound of gnashing teeth, and yelps of pain as the two tumble all over each other, snapping hard and moving too fast for me to see what’s really going on.
I’m not sure how long it goes on, but I do know those yelps of pain never come from Emit. Ian is taking a brutal version of a wolf ass-kicking.