Page 129 of Scorned

Pure hatred zoomed through my veins at lightning speed and I clenched my fists. “You’re my uncle! My blood! How the hell could you do this to me?”

“To you?” Ben clicked his tongue and sneered. “It’s always been about you since you were born. You took everything from me!”

Confusion filled me and I shook my head profusely. “I’ve taken nothing from you.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like being born two years after the person who inherits everything, Sage? I’ve been second place to him my whole life.” Ben tightened his hold on my father’s neck, making him groan. “I was promised I would become the president once he retired, but it would only give me a short time to be in power. You can’t turn an entire society around in two years. I was going to kill him in his early thirties, giving me enough time to take Venom to the next level. Then you were born only one year before, leaving you as the heir to Venom, ending my plans for any future career.” Ben’s lips curled into a scowl, his four fangs showing. “I should have suffocated you when you were a baby instead of waiting until you became a bitch!”

Luka growled, stepping forward. I tightened my grip onto his shirt sleeve, as I drew deep breaths, my own anger threatening to consume me. “You’d kill me for Venom?”

Ben cocked his head, his gleaming smile filled with arrogance and malice. “Venom is worth much more than your pathetic life would ever be.”

The anger took hold and the trauma of everything I’d been through in my entire life consumed me. “I know how much it’s worth,” I spat, taking a step forward, my fists clenched. “I’ve repeatedly paid the price for being born into this society! My childhood was nothing but begging for your and my dad’s acceptance. I have lost my family, my home, my life, my friends, and all because I paid the price over and over and over! All because you wanted to be the president! You can fucking have it. I don’t want a tainted society filled with hate and lies!”

“I don’t need to take it because I already have it. I only need to kill all of them,” he nodded his head toward the Venom members, then to my dad, “him,” then his cold eyes locked on me, “and you.”

My dad scowled, pulling on Ben’s arm. “The hell you—”

A gunshot rang through the night sky, echoing through the woods, making me wince and my mother scream. I stared wide eyed as my father’s limp body tumbled to the ground, blood oozing from his skull.

The howls of the three alpha wolves covered the sounds of my mother’s horrific screams as they commanded their packs to attack.

The world in front of me darkened and every feeling that once threatened to consume me unleashed, a primal need to kill taking over my every move.

With my gaze narrowed on my uncle, I yanked the gun from my holster, aimed it toward him, and pulled the trigger twice. Two bullets landed dead in the center of his chest. One of his hands went over the wound and the other lifted his gun at me.

With no time to move, I squeezed my trigger again, aiming for his head, and a force slammed into me, sending my bullet on a wayward trajectory. My side smashed into the rocky parking lot, and one of the hybrids landed on top of me. I lifted my fist and punched him twice and he didn’t even flinch.

Luka snarled, forcefully yanking him off me and hurling him ten feet away. In an instant, another hybrid charged at him with incredible strength.

By the time I jumped up from the ground, people were shooting, throwing fists, snapping necks, snarling, scratching, and biting.

Finneas’ scream rang through the night as Peach ripped him to shreds.

Suddenly, my attention was diverted as a Venom woman lunged at me from the side. I swung a right hook into her face, then lifted my leg, kicking my boot into her chest, causing her to fly backwards.

“Ahh!” my mother screamed, and when I looked toward her, she was being shoved into the Cadillac by a hybrid . . . and my uncle.

Fast shallow breaths left me, my body now propelled by pure hatred and a need for vengeance. I yanked my gun from the ground and sprinted toward them, shooting the hybrid in the back twice.

He let go of my mom and she fell to her knees crawling away. I plowed into him from the side, slamming him into the car door.

My actions were fast as I pushed off on my feet, hurling myself toward my uncle. My nails caught his face and a deafening noise resonated in my ears, sending vibrations throughout my head . . . and my heart raced.

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

Chapter 36

Luka

Fear was more than just an emotion. Fear was a villain, cunning and wicked, always prepared to dominate the unsuspecting, stripping them of their strength and savoring in its victory.

There were only a few times in my life that I’d faced the relentless power fear possessed.

And tonight was one of them . . .

After beating the last guy that touched me to a bloody pulp, I glanced around to find Sage running toward a car, shooting a hybrid in his back before hurling herself at her uncle.

Ben raised his gun at the same exact time I used all my strength to get to her in one second.

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