Ian lunged, grabbed the back of his head, and slammed it against the edge of the freezer so fast Miller couldn’t even finish the curse. He shoved his bowed body onto the dirt and gritted out, “You laid a hand on her today. Choked her, so I heard.”
Miller was crawling away, one hand gripping his forehead as dark streams dripped through his fingers. “She’s marked.”
“By me now. Your shit brother’s mark is covered up, and even if it wasn’t, even if she bore his scar, that wouldn’t make her yours or any other McCall’s, and it wouldn’t justify you stealing her meat.”
“Ian?” Elyse’s voice was high-pitched and scared as she flew around the corner, flashlight beam bouncing across the ground in front of her. When it illuminated Miller, she skidded to a stop, her white nightgown billowing around her knees. “What are you doing here?”
Miller scrambled upward and jammed a finger at Ian. “What’s he doing here? Do you know who he is? Do you know what kind of monster you’re fucking, Elyse?”
The flashlight beam shook in Elyse’s hand, but her voice didn’t sound scared at all. It sounded like steel. “The only monster I see here is you. Get off our land.”
“Our land.”
“Yes, our land! You are trespassing on our property, and for what, Miller? To steal from me again? To clean me out because you aren’t man enough to fend for yourself? You’re too lazy to provide for yourself so you have to prey on other people? Well, fuck you. You’re not welcome here, and let’s face it. You never really were.”
“He killed my brother!” Miller screamed. Half of his face was covered in red now, but he was a fast healer. He probably wouldn’t bleed out from the head wound. Pity. “Did you hear me? You’re sleeping with your mate’s murderer, you stupid bitch!”
Elyse’s eyebrows arched primly like she gave exactly zero fucks. “Cole who killed that trapper? Cole who killed that little girl? Cole who cheated on me, stole from me, hurt me, and nearly fucking starved me because he didn’t want to work when he could drain someone who loved him instead? Ian did the world a favor. Your brother was shit. Just. Like. You. Get out of here before my mate kills you.”
Miller rocked back on his heels and looked back and forth between the two of them.
Ian clenched his hands. They tingled to strangle the life out of him, but Clayton hadn’t given the order for Miller, and killing a shifter un-sanctioned was against their laws and would bring punishment on him and Elyse both.
Miller huffed a laugh that echoed through the clearing, followed by an insane giggle that toppled from his lips as he hunched forward. Hands on his knees, he laughed from his belly, louder and louder until the air shook. “You stupid fucks.” Miller spat red, but the crazy smile still lingered on his lips. White eyes, red blood, yellow teeth. “Do you feel that?” Miller inhaled loudly and lowered his voice. “Can you smell it? Winter is almost here, and you,” he murmured, locking his inhuman eyes on Ian, “you’re gonna go to sleep for a long time. I told you I was gonna hunt you slow. I told you I was gonna hurt the people you loved.” He backed toward the woods, step by careful step. “Sleep tight, Silver, ’cause when winter comes, I’ll be hunting your girl.”
“Clayton will put a kill order on you,” Ian warned. All he wanted to do was kill Miller now. Rip him limb from limb. Maul him because Miller didn’t deserve the honorable death he’d given Cole. He didn’t want to wait, but he had to. Clayton gave the orders. Clayton was judge and jury.
“Nah, he won’t get to me in time, and some things are just worth it, you know? Like with you. I told you I’d hunt you and anyone you loved if you killed my brother and what did you fucking do? You tracked him down. Did you think I was joking, Silver? Did you think I was talking to hear myself speak? You aren’t untouchable!” Miller’s voice pitched high and shaky, and he shook his head hard and gripped his hair. “Not untouchable,” he muttered to himself through gritted teeth, slapping the side of his bloody face. Crazy wolf. Miller dragged his narrowed, blazing eyes to Elyse and jammed a finger at her. “I’ll see you soon, pretty bitch.” With one last empty smile, Miller disappeared into the thick grove of trees.
“Ian,” Elyse said in a frightened voice.
“I know,” he said, pacing the tree line.
“Ian!”
“Get inside,” he gritted out, right before he sprinted for the trees.