“I think that makeup might need removing,” said Roni. Instantly, Shaya opened her bottle of water and splashed it all over the screaming jackal, paying particular attention to her face. Then she scrubbed at it with a dirty cloth she found on the tool bench.
“Those shoes look kind of uncomfortable, don’t they?” Taryn and Jaime each took a stiletto and slammed them against the wall, breaking the heels and totally wrecking them. “Her clothes look a little tight too.” They then slashed at the top and skirt over and over with their claws.
Shaya fingered the Pandora bracelet. “Maybe we should take this off so it get doesn’t scratched or anything.” Using her shifter strength, she snapped it off and trampled all over it before making her way over to Roni. “Let me have a turn. I am a hairstylist, after all.” Looking the ultimate professional as she worked, Shaya did some snipping of her own before handing the shears to a very eager Taryn.
The Alpha female hummed a song as she moved, looking like a kid at Christmas. All the while, the jackal cursed and screeched. “Take it like a woman.” Snip, snip, snip, snip.
“Ooh, can I have a turn? That looks fun.” Happily taking the shears, Jaime then proceeded to cut even bigger chunks from the jackal’s hair. “This is kind of therapeutic.”
As the males all watched in morbid fascination, Trey quietly spoke. “I have to say, I did not see this coming.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much glee on Jaime’s face.” Dante shook his head in both wonder and amusement.
Eli chuckled. “As unbelievable as it seems, it looks like what they’re doing is working; the jackal’s close to breaking.”
Marcus nodded. “They found her weak spot, and they pounced on it.”
“Do you think we should hide those shears when they’re done?” asked Nick. “They seem a little too fond of them.”
Trey thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Probably for the best.”
“Yep,” agreed Dante. “One thing we can learn from this is to never underestimate our females.”
“You know, looking at them right now,” began Marcus, “it’s safe to say they’re all a little crazy and vicious.” Nick, Trey, and Dante all nodded in agreement, looking proud.
“Yeah,” said Trey. “We lucked out.”
The four females stood back and took a long look at their handiwork. The jackal’s makeup was smudged all over her face, making her look like the masked figure from Sinister. Her expensive clothes were now so stained and tattered she resembled a hurricane survivor. In addition, her hair looked like it had been attacked by a lawn mower. She was actually sobbing.
Taryn tilted her head. “Looks kind of pitiful, doesn’t she?”
Jaime nodded. “Bless her little black heart.”
“Heart?” snorted Shaya.
“Well, the hole where her heart should be.”
Taryn stepped forward. “Who created snm.com?”
The jackal didn’t lift her head as she sniffled, “My pack did.”
“Be more specific.”
Her shoulders shook with her sobs. “My Alpha, Lyle Browne.”
“Anyone else involved?”
“No.” Her voice was low, sad, and sluggish—she sounded defeated. “Sometimes people hire him to get rid of someone, and he uses them for the vids. But the website is his. It’s his baby.”
“Speaking of babies, why did you go after my son?”
The jackal shrugged, like it was simple. “The more notorious the pack, the more credit people receive if they manage to get their hands on one of them.”
“Is that why you went after Roni?”
“One of the reasons. I mean, she’s an enforcer, a powerful Alpha’s sister, and she’s fucking a Phoenix enforcer.”
“And the second reason?”
“She pissed someone off.”
Roni snorted. “That’s a regular occurrence. Who was it this time?”
“Lola McGee.”
Jaime frowned. “Quinn’s mate?”
“Motherfucker,” Roni bit out as all the wolves growled.
Marcus came forward then, equally enraged. “How involved is Quinn? Does he know Lola sent you after Roni?”
“I don’t know. She spoke to Lyle when he made his monthly call. I don’t know exactly what she said.”
Marcus turned to Dante, his voice like ice. “Quinn had to have known.”
“Not necessarily,” said the Beta male. “Lola didn’t go through Quinn; she spoke directly to Lyle—that might mean that she knew Quinn wouldn’t allow it so she went around him.”
Nick came to stand beside Roni. “Where’s your pack?”
The jackal looked up then. “Would you give up your pack? Nothing’s worth that kind of betrayal.”
“They left you behind,” Roni pointed out. “When they saw a human was coming, they scampered. They didn’t try to fight me to get to you. They must know I’ve got you and that I brought you here, but they haven’t come for you. What does that say about them?”
Taryn squatted in front of the jackal. “It says they have no loyalty to you. So why should you have any loyalty to them?”
“Why should I have any loyalty to you?” the blonde retorted. “You’re going to kill me. You want to do it so badly, don’t you? I can see it in your eyes. You want to give in to the basic urges we all have. You’re like me. We’re the same.”
“I’d never hurt a child. That makes us very, very different.”
The jackal gestured at Roni. “She’s not different. I saw you in one of the videos. You were terrified, weren’t you? But I’ve got to give you points for one thing: you didn’t beg. No matter how much he threatened you, how much he screamed at you and ordered you to beg him to let you go, you just wouldn’t. You even spat in his face. I enjoyed that part.”
Roni didn’t give the bitch the reaction she wanted. “So glad I entertained you.”
“Your pack has a kill site,” rumbled Marcus. “Where is it?”
“Ooh, well done. Lyle would be pissed if he knew you’d figured out that our attacks happen in one spot.”
“The site. Where is it?” repeated Marcus.
“I told you, I won’t betray my pack.”
“For you to say that, the kill site must also be where your pack is hiding out,” concluded Jaime.