Page 21 of Wicked Vengeance

My feet travel on their own volition, moving towards her in a daze. I can hear her shrill voice as she jolts in her confinement, but I can’t make out what she’s saying with my blood whooshing in my ears on repeat.

Like the first time, I’m naked, my body on display without my consent. Unlike the first time, I want her to see. I want every scar, every mark, every horrific memory that’s carved into my skin to etch its way into her tormented mind. She should get to see what she’s done. King might have wielded the blade that carved chunks from my soul, but Ava… my mother, handed him the knife.

Crimson mist once again fills my vision as a cloak of warmth settles against my skin like a comforting blanket. I can’t focus on that. Not when the memories– my living nightmares– assault me. Like home movies on a broken projector screen, crackling and popping as they reel through my mind. Every cut slashing into my skin as if it’s happening again.

Every touch…every word, slams into me at once.

Until the soulless organ squishes beneath my blade, pulsing one last time before it stills.

Until all the pretty shades of red fade away, and I’m ripped back to reality.

Chapter 16

King

“Find. Her.”

My men grimace at the threat in my voice lingering in the air like the fragrance of death. They don’t stick around, scrambling out of my office like roaches as I stand propped against my desk. It’s been three days since I got my Little Wolf back– and lost my heir in the process.

To say I’ve been less than patient is an understatement. I’ve already put a bullet in two of my men's skulls for their fuck up. I’ve kept Raena sedated the whole time, but the last round of drugs I injected her with was a mixture of my own making, meant to stimulate her body but keep her out of it. She won’t remember begging me as she shattered on my cock, but her mother will.

I’ve kept her in the cells until this morning when I had her tied up in my room with Raena. I’m not convinced Ava isn’t responsible for my missing heir. So I made her watch me take her daughter, knowing the jealousy would drive her mad– hopefully, enough to make her spill her guts about what she knows. I left her there to think about her actions, knowing the drugs would keep my Little Wolf knocked out for a while longer.

Pushing off the desk, I stride from my office to the east wing– my living quarters. I had every intention of putting Raena back in her old cell, but when Jackson told me what happened, I couldn’t risk losing her, too. I just got her back. I won’t allow my men to control anything regarding her this time. They will only touch her in my presence, with my permission. She escaped last time because my idiot guard got too cocky trying to get his cock wet– and ended up losing it.

She won’t get that opportunity here…in my home.

She’s different than before. I broke her– molding her into the perfect woman for me. Then she ran. Taking all my hard work with her.

My phone vibrating in my pocket pulls me from my thoughts on my way up the stairs. Digging it out, I swipe to answer before seeing who it is.

“Boss, she’s– uh– awake. You told us not to go in, but…” One of the guards I left outside the room says, panic clear in his voice. I can hear her screams through the speaker.

“Do. Not. Enter. I’m coming.”

“But, Boss…”

“I’ll put a bullet in your skull if you disobey me,” I growl into the line, close enough now that he can hear it through the phone and down the hallway, before hanging up and picking up my pace. I hear her screams echoing as soon as my feet hit the landing at the top of the stairs, seeing my two guards pace in front of the door. Cursing under my breath, I pull the key from my pocket and push past them, swinging the door open as soon as the lock clicks.

I rush inside, only to stop dead in my tracks at the sight before me. My guards halt their movements as well, stopping behind me in silence as we take in the gruesome scene before us.

My Little Wolf is still as naked as I left her, but her entire body is painted the most beautiful shade of red I’ve ever seen. The fiery curls she changed on her little ‘vacation’ are drenched, turning them a deeper shade of red to match the blood slicking her perfect, scarred skin– my marks. She wears them so beautifully, making my cock ache to slice into her again and make new ones so she doesn’t forget who gave them to her.

My feet find their way over to her, straddling the overturned chair her mother is tied to– or what’s left of her mother. The dagger that usually sits on my dresser is digging a large ‘X’ into Ava’s bare chest. But that’s not what surprises me. No, the large hole on the left side of her chest, where her heart once lived, is caved in on itself, the detached organ discarded next to her matted hair and lifeless eyes that stare sightlessly into her daughters.

One of the guards starts gagging, running from the room and retching in the hallway.

What a pussy.

I can’t see her face, but I know I have to get the dagger from her before I can get control of this situation. She doesn’t seem to be aware of us in the room with her, so I back away, speaking low to my guard.

“Get bitch boy out of here and bring some fucking men up here.”

“Yes, boss,” he mutters, his wide eyes never leaving my Little Wolf. Finally, his feet decide to work, and he darts out of the room, grabbing the fucker outside and dragging him along behind him.

Turning back to Raena, her body is completely still. She’s pulled the blade from the gaping hole in Ava’s chest, with her head cocked as if she’s admiring her handiwork. The blade is still gripped tightly in her hand as I inch closer to her, anger boiling inside me that she killed her before I got answers from her. If she knew anything about my missing heir, that knowledge died when her heart was ripped from her chest.

I let the anger fester, pushing me forward to rip her away from the mess she’s made. My hands tangle in her blood-soaked hair, and, like a live wire hitting her, she twists around, trying to sink her blade into my side. Not a single sound escapes her as her vacant eyes stare blankly at me when I knock the blade out of her hand, not even flinching when it clatters to the floor at our feet.

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