Page 61 of Pack Nightmare

I bristle, and a low growl rumbles in the chests of my fated. They close ranks around me, all them of them close enough I can feel their body heat. “You’re a bitter man, and I’m sorry I can’t help you. Why don’t you go home and find something better to do with your time than harassing teenagers going to a dance?”

With my nose in the air, I turn, preparing to ignore any additional insults, and head into the building.

However, a crackle of power in the air is my only warning before something solid and invisible stops me in my tracks.

My lungs refuse to draw in air as if they’ve been stunned. There’s nothing between me and the stairs that I can see, but I can’t move forward. Every hair on my arms stands at attention, and I know the prickling sensation on my skin.

Turning slowly, I spot Azalea slinking out of the shadows behind the group of older men. She’s in the same all-black getup she wore the last time we saw her.

“Witch,” I spit. “You are not welcome here. Leave, now.” My voice instinctively takes on the alpha double timbre, and she laughs with delight.

“Oh, little Harridan, you have no power over me, have you forgotten?”

Fury shoots through my veins like lightning, my wolf clawing to come out and attack her. “You may be right, but you’re the only one. Take this-”

I begin to address all the pack members around me, both my fated and the other men, but my air is abruptly cut off as if an invisible hand is squeezing my windpipe. I claw at my throat, but there’s nothing to grab.

Azalea makes a lazy hand gesture with a wicked grin on her blood-red lips, and the pressure on my throat tightens.

Peter and his cronies laugh with evil delight, and after realizing there’s nothing they can do to help me, my fated turn as one toward Azalea.

“Now, now boys, play nice,” she taunts them, and the older men step between my fated and the witch. There’s three times as many of the bad guys as my fated. They don’t really stand a chance. The boys try to fight their way through and they land a few good punches, but in a matter of seconds, the larger group has them restrained.

At this point, the need for air is becoming painful. If I’m very still, I can draw in a tiny amount, just enough to keep me from suffocating, but it’s like dying of thirst and receiving only one drop of water at a time—not nearly enough.

“What is wrong with you?” Jared shouts at the older men. “This is your alpha! Your duty is to protect her. How could you invite this witch into our territory?”

Four of the older men are keeping him at bay, pinning his arms behind him and forcing him to kneel in the filthy parking lot. I spare a thought for his white tux that is certainly ruined now.

“She’s no alpha to me,” Peter snarls. “She’s born of a line that abandoned the pack—I don’t care what you believe about the blood magic, there are ways to get around any spell. And we just happen to have one,” he hitches a thumb at Azalea.

“Dad?” Amber’s frightened voice calls out from behind me.

Unbeknownst to me, other people have arrived to attend the ball and discovered this bizarre scene. Me, bent backward awkwardly on my toes, barely able to breathe. The Montrose Pack Witch magically suffocating me, and my fated bloodied and forced to kneel at the feet of these traitors.

“It’s time, Princess!” Peter calls to her delightedly. “Once Azalea here uses the Harridan girl’s blood to break the curse, you’ll finally be able to claim your place as alpha. I promised you’d have it.”

Azalea’s eyes dart nervously behind me. “Perhaps we ought to get this show on the road. There’s more of them coming.”

I reach out with my alpha senses, trying to gauge how many people have arrived and how they feel. If we have enough people who are loyal, we can overwhelm Peter’s little gang.

And while it’s not many yet, all of them are furious.

“No, Dad, I told you I don’t want this! Layla is the alpha. Let her go!” Amber steps up behind me, and I feel her small hands touch my shoulder as if searching for some way to help me.

“Uh-uh, back away from her or I’ll crush her throat completely. Right now she can breathe, if just barely.” Azalea’s warning is clear and threatening, and Amber takes her seriously, stepping away.

“Smart girl. Now, come along, Harridan, we have somewhere to be.” The pressure on my throat eases just slightly, and a second force pushes me forward as Azalea turns to walk back into the trees.. My fated mates thrash against the men holding them, but can’t break free. Every moment more members of my pack join the crowd behind me, and soon I know we’ll have enough to overwhelm the group of troublemakers. It doesn’t solve for the witch, but it’s a start…

“That’s far enough, Azalea.” A male voice rings out from behind me, and the sound of it sets my pulse racing even faster.

Azalea turns to look at the new arrival, and her darkly delighted grin returns. “Cousin! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

My fated stare with wide eyes and slack jaws, but I can’t turn to look. However, knowing that Derrek is here, that he’s come back to help, gives me heart. I know he doesn’t have much magic, but if he can help me just enough that I can issue an alpha command…

“Clearly,” Derrek answers in a sarcastically flat voice. “Although I suppose Lex might say the same. What are you doing here, Azalea?”

“I’m just here to finish what our grandmother started,” she answers in a baby voice. “The complete eradication of the Harridan line, the freedom from oppression for all these wolves. I was invited.” Her tone changes to a snarl at the last word. “Somehow, I doubt you can say the same.”

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