Page 87 of Deadly Wolf Bite

“What are you doing?” he asks, rearing away from me as his entire body shudders. He looks stricken now, bordering on panic. “Why?—”

“Dutch, Razor, get some zip ties from the kitchen drawer,” I order without breaking eye contact.

I let him go, and Ramsey backs away, looking past me at the others with mounting fear. “What are you doing?” he demands. “I told you the truth.”

“I know,” I say, because even if the hex blade hadn’t broken the compulsion, the moment he pledged himself to me as his alpha, my wolf could sense it on him. Even without the full oath, our connection is that strong. But it’s not enough to erase what he’s done.

“Then why are you doing this?” He keeps moving back until he hits the wall.

Crow crowds in on my other side, probably to make sure he doesn’t run for it. Not that there’s anywhere for him to go. We’d be on him in a second.

“Because in this pack, we don’t tolerate rats,” I tell him.

The fear in his eyes burns bright with acceptance. “I didn’t hurt you.”

“Yeah,” I snap, grabbing his shirt and jerking him forward before shoving him down, “you did.”

He stumbles, landing hard on his ass. Still, he hasn’t tried to fight me. Part of me hopes he will, but if he does, I’ll kill him, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Not after the night I’ve had.

Dutch and Razor appear with zip ties in their hands.

“Wrists and ankles,” I say, nodding at Ramsey on the ground.

He doesn’t even struggle as they bind him.

When they’re finished, Mia comes up next to me. She looks down at Ramsey then over at me. I wait, wondering if she’s going to advocate for the asshole. For all her shit-talking, she has a huge heart.

“You’re dead to me,” she tells him viciously. Then she turns away.

“Put him in my room,” I say. “Turn music on maximum volume so he can’t hear us. And someone needs to stay with him to guard him.”

“I’ve got it,” Crow says, stepping past Dutch and Razor. He grabs Ramsey by his shirt and hauls him up. Then he shoves Ramsey toward the master bedroom.

I whirl and head for the fridge, snagging a bottle of water and chugging the entire thing. By the time the bottle is empty, my bedroom door is shut and music’s blaring from inside.

I return to the living room where Razor, Dutch, and Mia are all watching me with concern. For a moment, I think it’s about Ramsey’s confession.

“Where’s Lexi?” Mia asks. “Does your dad know she was spying? Did he do something to her?”

My chest tightens. Ramsey and Lexi’s betrayals are a double-blow that has me barely hanging on. I don’t want to care about either one of them. Still, I ball my hands into fists as I think about her locked up at my dad’s estate. “No. He doesn’t know. But after what I did to Dom, he’s keeping Lexi at his place until the wedding.”

“Hell no,” Dutch says, shoving off from where he’d leaned against the back of the couch. “I don’t care what Franco forced her to do. She can’t stay there.”

“Dutch is right,” Mia says. “Lexi deserves a chance to explain.”

The two of them look ready to storm the estate with or without me, so I hold up a hand. “She already confirmed it.”

“Wait.” Mia blinks. “You knew she was spying already?”

“Dom told me.”

No one says anything as my words sink in.

“No wonder you fucking snapped,” Razor mutters finally.

Mia looks at me with an intensity that’s hard to bear. “She’s still your mate,” she says. “And she’s in danger with him.”

“My father wants this wedding to happen, so it’s in his best interests to keep her alive.”

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