Page 49 of The Kill

“Hurry up. This place gives me the fucking creeps.” Grabbing me roughly by the arm, he tugs me away, walking quickly toward the cover of the trees. “And don’t try anything or I’ll burn the place to the ground with them in it.”

He’s confident that fear is enough to keep me compliant. I bristle at his cockiness, but reluctantly trudge after him. The last thing I want is him going back to the house. He knows hurting the boys is the one thing that could make me talk. I’m surprised he didn’t. I need to draw him away from the boys. Then I can think about trying to get away.

“What did he promise to give you?” I ask a few minutes later, breaking the painful silence we’ve been sharing since we left Tyson’s mansion behind. I'm not in the mood for chatting, but anything is better than the black thoughts pouring through my mind.

“He’s not giving me anything. He’s keeping his mouth shut.” Weston doesn’t exactly sound thrilled to be caught up in this, but I know how Wilson operates. Once he has something on you, there’s no getting out from beneath him.

“Blake.”

It’s a statement, not a question, but Weston nods in response anyway. My old alpha knows it was Weston who helped Jenna poison Blake; if anyone found out, he’d lose everything.

“That, and I let his rogues cross my land to attack the Steel pack sixteen years ago.” To his credit, he sounds ashamed. “I had no idea he was going to attack the pack. I thought he was only after Tyson. But then, after… I was already complicit. There was no way I could admit to knowingly allowing it to happen.”

“This might be a crazy idea, but you could always come clean, tell the council what you did and what he’s planning on doing to me and my son. If you were a witness, I’m sure they’d be more

lenient.”

Weston looks at me like I’m trying to convince him that the grass is purple. Blake is his alpha after all. There’s only one punishment for treachery like that.

“I doubt that, not after attempting to harm their beloved Blake.” Then with his usual self-satisfied smile, he turns away, resuming his trek through the dense forest. “And not when I’m so close to getting the head alpha job. When you turn up dead – sorry – and Tyson gets the blame, conveniently missing again after another murder, Blake’s reputation as the golden boy of the region will be in tatters. Who would allow an already vulnerable woman to leave the safety of their pack with a deranged, violent man?”

He waves a hand over his shoulder in the general direction of where we’ve come from. “Of course, we’ll have to send someone back to deal with those two, but at least for now we know they won’t leave the house.”

“Leave them alone,” I growl, worry already building inside me that someone else could be on the way to attack Seth and Lucian.

Weston rolls his eyes. “No can do. There can be no witnesses. That’s how these things work. I thought you, of all people, would get that.” With an exaggerated sigh, he pauses and turns to me, his relief palpable now that we’re a good distance away from the house and firmly back on his main territory. “Now, tell me where your kid is, and let’s get this over and done with.”

30

TYSON

“What is he?”

A shaky voice murmurs the question, and I watch with smug satisfaction as Wilson’s enforcers take a step back, realising I’m not the average garden-variety deranged wolf. Alpha Wilson doesn’t say anything, but the flutter of his heartbeat tells me he’s just as nervous as his guards.

Just like his son: he’s a bully and a coward.

“Bloodsucker, vampire hybrid, freak of nature. Pick whatever you will, but Not-to-be-fucked-with, is the nickname I prefer most.”

Keeping my tone extra bored, I’m hoping we can all move past the oh my god, he’s a vampire portion of the evening and on to the how to make sure this alpha never comes after my mate again part.

Staring them down, I let my powerful aura trickle out; its weight settles slowly around each of them, warning them of exactly who they’re dealing with. The tension in the air is stifling, and the enforcer’s shift uncomfortably. They’re visibly trying to maintain an illusion of strength and bravery while battling the urge to dip their heads in submission. Already an extremely strong wolf in life, and the first born son of an alpha, the added enhancements I could have now as a vampire mean I’m an unknown entity to them.

They’re wondering just what am I capable of.

Regarding me with suspicion, Wilson moves his weight from one foot to the other, trying to get a better look at my face.

“You weren’t like this when you killed Lee, because you didn’t bleed him dry.” He sniffs the air and looks at me curiously. “I’ll never forget the scent I picked up that day. You were just a wolf then.”

Rolling my eyes at the lazy stereotype, I sigh.

“That’s not normally what we do, vampires are far more civilised than you think, most of the time. But yes, I had not been turned yet when I had my encounter with Lee. But after your charming rogues attacked our pack and left me for dead, a passing vampire intervened… and voila.”

I’m making it sound like they committed a charitable act, but it would have been kinder of them to leave me in the dirt to die. Or that’s what I thought until I found Mandy again.

With a flourish, I give them my best evil vampire smile, sharp fangs and cut cheekbones on display. Allowing some of my wolf coat to appear simultaneously, and my face to partially lengthen into my snout, I’m aware that my appearance is grotesque. I’ve mastered the art of the partial shift, learned while hiding away from civilisation when I had far too much time and aggression on my hands, trying not to go on a bloodlust-fuelled rampage.

As one of the enforcers struggles not to gape at me, I remember why this is one party trick I only bring out for special occasions. It’s distracting.

---