Page 56 of Queen of Vengeance

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull out the pain from within him. “Why? Such a harsh sentence… I don’t understand. I was doing everything I could to get her out. Why did she give up?”

“I know you’re hurting, but we can’t do anything for her. You have to let this go and move on with your life.” Jax turned away, having grown tired of the conversation.

“You never cared about her.” Zane’s voice was much deeper now as all the rage in his body pulled into his throat.

Jax turned around slowly, glaring at his friend. He pressed his lips together in a hard line.

“I’m not sure you can care about anything. I have stuck up for you my entire life, and you’ve never once thanked me. Do you know why that is?”

“Because you’re a selfish bastard. You don’t love anything as much as you love yourself. Not me, not Chika—nothing. I’ve tried to make excuses for you, but I’m done with that now. From here on out, you’re on your own.” Despite Zane’s words, he spoke in a low tone. He never raised his voice once, which made it all the more intimidating.

“You’re going to destroy our friendship over some nobody girl who would have never loved you in a million years?” Jax turned around completely, balling up his fists and baring his teeth. His eyes flickered, showing that he was ready to shift at a moment’s notice.

“That’s what you don’t get! It isn’t about her loving me back. I’m not thinking about what I can get from her. I care about her, and I’m willing to go to the ends of the earth. You wouldn’t understand something like that.” Although he tried to hold back, Zane was also on the verge of shifting. His attacking Jax and his uncle’s territory wouldn't end well. “I break our pact. I break our friendship. From now on, I want nothing to do with you.”

Jax was silent for a long time as Zane turned his back to him. He waited until Zane started walking away to say his final piece. “I slept with her.”

Zane’s heavy footfalls stopped suddenly.

“And you know what? You may be on to something. For a plain-looking nobody, she was a pretty good lay.”

Zane could hear the smile in Jax’s voice as he mocked him.

That was the last straw.

Every modicum of friendship and decorum shattered in that moment.

Zane’s skin ripped apart, revealing the fiery red and deep brown fur beneath.

His teeth turned into sharp daggers and his claws ripped into the stone floor.

Zane lunged at Jax, throwing him off his feet in the blink of an eye.

Jax had held off shifting until his friend attacked him. There was no holding back after that.

Zane bit into Jax’s shoulder, and Jax dug his claws into Zane’s chest.

They both held in pain before Jax was able to kick Zane off of him.

Blood from Zane’s chest dripped onto the floor as he circled Jax.

“After all this time… It’s like I’m looking at a stranger now. I don’t know the werewolf standing before me.”

Zane lifted his head to the ceiling and let out a heartbreaking howl before leaving. He swore to himself he would never return there.

His best friend was now dead to him. There was no going back after this—no undoing the damage that had been done.

Zane didn’t stop running until he reached Dask.

By now, everyone was indoors for supper—everyone except Lea’s grandma.

She sat on the front doorstep in a rocking chair, waiting for Lea to come home.

Out of everyone he knew, the only other person who understood his pain was her.

She was the only person that missed Lea, possibly more than he did. By now, she would have already heard the news. So why was she still waiting?

Zane approached her slowly so as not to frighten her, but she didn’t appear to be phased by the presence of a shifted werewolf.

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