Page 7 of The Kill

From a powerful pack, Lee’s father is not going to take his son’s death lying down. Especially not with a mate on the run.

Ideally, I’d kill him immediately and get rid of the evidence before his pack comes looking for him, but Lee’s mate is already weak. His death will sever their bond, and the pain that follows will stop her in her tracks.

Which means I need to keep this dickhead alive as long as I can so she can keep running.

“Well, this is far from ideal. I had plans today, you know.” Pressing my foot down a little harder on his neck, I lean closer to watch his eyes come in and out of focus. He groans, unsuccessfully trying to shove my leg away as he fights to remain conscious. The stench of his blood fills the air, but he’s a strong wolf, and stubborn.

Fully healed, he’ll be dangerous. I have no doubt that if I show him mercy, he’ll return to cause his pretty mate, and me, all kinds of problems. That just won’t do.

I have plans, big plans.

“You and I are going to hang out for a little while, Lee. Give that gorgeous mate of yours a head start before I put you out of your misery.”

Struggling underneath me, he bears his teeth when I mention his mate. This guy has got to be kidding.

“Don’t you growl at me. It’s not my fault you’re in this mess. Any other wolf would be worshipping the ground that woman walks on, not beating her like a savage.”

Rage burns inside me as I recall the welts on her back and the purple bruises marbling her pale skin. This was not a one-off incident. Distracted by my anger, I hear gurgling sounds from below my foot and realise that I’m putting more and more weight on his neck. Reluctantly, I ease the pressure so he doesn’t choke on the mud under this face. Yet.

“Mine,” he snarls, his wolf still showing some spirit despite the beating he’s taken. The beast inside me bristles.

“Oh, shut up,” I snap, frustrated at the unfairness of it all. How does an asshole like this get such a perfect mate, and not me? “She’s only yours if she wants to be yours. And that woman wants nothing to do with you.”

Her grateful expression, those big brown eyes looking at me like I hung the moon, will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life. Raising my arm to my nose, I breathe in her scent from where she touched me. My chest expands when the tantalising smell swirls around inside my brain and lights my senses on fire.

“Smells good doesn’t she,” Lee jeers, coughing and twisting onto his side to look up at me. “I’ll let you have a go if you help me bring her back.”

It takes a lot to shock me, but that’s the vilest thing I’ve ever heard a wolf say. If I had any doubts about what to do with him next, that comment sealed his fate. I won’t allow that beautiful she-wolf and her pup to fall into his hands again.

I crouch and look into his eyes, smirking when I see a glimmer of hope. He thinks I’m going to accept his offer, that I’m as disgusting as he is.

Instead, I reach down and grab the ankle of his broken leg and twist it. When he screams and screams, vomiting into the dirt from the pain, I grin, thinking how this is at least a small bit of payback for the deep cuts he left on his mates' flesh.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re in no position to negotiate anything.” With a firm grip, I use the mangled limb to drag him across the ground. His shouts echo through the forest as I pull him behind me, happy in the knowledge that his sweet little mate is racing further and further away from this monster with each passing second.

“You’re going to fucking regret this,” he wheezes as we come to a stop, his nails torn and bloody from clawing at the ground, trying to get purchase on the earth underneath him.

When I let go, letting his damaged leg fall to the ground with a thud. Lee drags himself backward to lean against a tree, trying to avoid me moving him deeper into the dark shadows of the forest. As if that’s going to save him.

“Somehow, I doubt that,” I sneer. Sweat pours off Lee as he tries not to pass out, the large wound on his side no longer bleeding but still open. Confident he can’t get to his feet in his condition, I leave him to find the spot I’m looking for. It’s a deep gorge, almost inaccessible by foot and rarely visited due to the unstable sides which tend to give way when there’s a deluge of rain.

When I return to Lee, his face is pale and his skin clammy. He knows his time to heal and escape is over.

“I’ll give you money. My family has lots of it. Or a pack. You’re clearly alpha material. There’s a small pack near ours where the vampires recently took out the alpha. You can have it.”

“Sounds swell.” Rolling my eyes, I give him a withering look. Why anyone would want to tangle with vampires is beyond me. They’re a notoriously vicious race. And I haven’t given up on becoming the alpha of my own pack. Not completely.

“Anything. Whatever you want, consider it done.”

What I want is for my own father to acknowledge my existence and my claim as his eldest heir, but I won’t be airing my family’s dirty laundry to this piece of shit.

“What I want is to go home. I just finished alpha school. I was supposed to be going out to celebrate when you rudely interrupted my evening.”

Lee snarls at me. “You’re a fucking dead man. My father will gut you like a fish. You won’t get away with this.”

He’s probably right, but I had no choice. Something pulled me deep into the forest tonight, and I have to believe it was because I was meant to save that wolf. Whatever happens next is meant to be.

“Maybe, but your mate will. She’s gone, and she’ll never have to suffer at your hands ever again. And you’ll never get to lay eyes on the pup she carries.”

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