He snorts in derision. “You want me to spare these pieces of shit?”
I can’t nod with the knife to my throat. “Yes.” I send my answer through the bond, too, so he knows it’s not because I’m afraid.
“Why?”
It’s so hard to say. The idea is new in my head. I struggle for a moment to find the words. “Because you’re the alpha. And I’m your mate. This is my pack. They’re my pack. Even the dumbasses. Not the Byrnes though. Fuck them.”
Lochlan begins to speak, and Killian roars him down. Leaves high in the tree tops flutter.
“You’re my mate?” His temple twitches, and he finally stops in his tracks. There’s a surge of pure, sparkling energy through the bond.
“You know I am.”
“You forgive me?”
“If you’re sorry, yes.”
“I said I was.”
“Because I have a knife at my throat.”
“You’re not nearly worried enough for a female in your position.” Killian is smirking now. Finn and Alfie exchange nervous glances.
“It’s because I know something Lochlan here doesn’t.”
“Yeah?” Killian’s smiling so wide, his eyes crinkle. His muscles are ready. We’re in tune now. The bond is flowing both ways. He knows my mind, and I know his.
Lochlan clears his throat, but I say my line before he can ruin it. “I know exactly how little pressure it takes to buckle a fucked-up knee.”
I slam my heel into his calf at the same time I shift, using the energy flowing through the bond to do it quicker than I have yet. Lochlan jabs with the knife, but my wolf is small. She’s not there anymore. She’s wriggling loose, tearing at him with her small but sharp fangs.
There’s a bone sticking out from Lochlan’s leg. I don’t know where I found the strength to land a blow that sharp. It must’ve come from the bond. Lochlan barely balances upright on the other one, and his gaze darts around the clearing in pure panic.
The instant Killian knew I was safe, he went on a rampage. He leapt—his body rippling as it became his wolf. He tore out Eamon’s throat in one bite, and he kept the bloody meat in his mouth as he dashed from male to male, ripping with claws in a frenetic blur, until each one lies groaning in the dirt, hands pressed to gaping flesh and gushing wounds.
The Last Pack wolves flee. Justus throws a Quarry male into Killian’s mouth so he has time to shift and bolt.
When it’s over, the dirt is red with blood, and the screams still ring in the foothills. Only Fallon is spared with nothing but a claw mark across his hairless cheek. He’s still plopped on his ass and crying.
Lochlan raises his knife. I sink my teeth into his good leg and shake. The knife thuds to the ground. Killian’s wolf lands on his chest and snaps his jaws around Lochlan’s head, crushing his skull with a horrible crunch. Things squirt.
The wolf grins at me. Blood and brain matter drip from his fangs as he wags his tail.
I sink to my butt. My wolf hangs her tongue out as far as it’ll go. She’d spit if she could. She doesn’t like the taste of viscera.
Killian’s wolf pads closer.
My wolf ducks her head. She hasn’t forgiven him for trying to dominate us in our nest. She’s pleased that he smote our enemies and spared Fallon and the lower ranking males. She’s protective of the pack in a way I’m not. The males’ lives are precious to her, even if she thinks they could use a little more roughing up to put them firmly back in their place.
Based on the amount of blood and moaning, they’re good.
Killian’s wolf noses mine. She nips at him. He lays down on his belly. Even like that, he’s three times our height. She’s not appeased.
My wolf lets out a long series of snarls, yips, and growls.
He bares his neck.
She growls more emphatically. I think she means something like “you’d like that, wouldn’t you.”
I test her, see if she’s ready to give up our skin. I have the urge to be in human form again.
She gives me an equivalent of the “wait a minute” finger, and then she launches into a fierce diatribe that makes Killian’s wolf slink backward and lower his muzzle. He looks like a very sorry killer wolf.
And then she gives a sniff, and she lets me take over again. Now I’m sitting in the dirt, naked, covered in blood. None of it is my own.
Killian immediately shifts to male form.
“Shirt,” he barks at the field of moaning males. Some have managed to get themselves upright. Not a single one has dared try to leave.
The nearest male peels off a blood-stained polo shirt and holds it out.
Killian and I both stare at it in disgust.
“I won’t wear it,” I say at the same time Killian throws it back at the male.
He leaps to his feet and stands in front of me, shielding me from view.
He coughs. Every pair of eyes are glued on him. A fog of dread hangs in the air. They know the moment of judgement is here.
“All of you. Go back to camp. And decide. If you stay here, you’re Z-roster. You’re trash crew. You’re the asshole I call when we gotta drain the sewage tank. Got that?”
He waits for every male to grunt assent before he continues.
“You aren’t allowed within fifty feet of any female. I don’t give a shit if you’re mated. You lost the privilege. Or get the fuck out. Maybe Last Pack will take you. If I find you in our hills, though, I’ll kill you.”
He glances back at me. “Okay by you?”
I’m caught by surprise, so I nod.
“We clear, Z-roster?”
There’s a general muttering. The males who’ve made it to their feet help the others.
And that’s when Tye, Ivo, and Gael—magnificent in their wolf forms—race into the clearing. Tye goes straight to Kennedy. His wolf is at her eye level. His wolf blinks at her. She glares back. He nudges her shoulder with his snout. Kennedy’s wolf growls. Tye ducks his head, ever so slightly.
And then Annie and Mari are running to me, and I’m hugging them, and Kennedy is joining us, and there’s a great hullabaloo. Mari and Annie cry. I wipe their cheeks, but all I do is mix dirt in with the tears.
“W-we th-thought we were gonna be traded to Last Pack,” Annie says.
“I thought you were gonna die.” Mari clings to my neck.
“They blew up all our stuff,” Kennedy says. Mari and Annie crowd close to her, covering her nakedness as best they can. Kennedy puts up a good front, but she’s not comfortable around other packmates in her bare human skin.
“W-where are we going to live?” Annie breaks down in fresh sobs.
“Whichever of those asshole’s cabins that you want. How about Alfie’s? His is catty-corner from mine and Una’s.” The girls fall silent and look up at Killian.
He attempts a smile.
Annie sniffles.
“Is that okay?” he asks.
One by one, the girls nod.
“Can Ivo and Tye take you back? Help you get it set up?” Killian is trying to speak gently, and it makes my insides warm.
“Ivo, yes. Tye, no,” Mari answers.
Killian raises an eyebrow, but Mari doesn’t elaborate. Kennedy stares at the ground. Mari is an excellent friend.
“Okay, then. I’ll bring Una over later. All right?”