“Blood. Death. He comes for justice and will settle for nothing less than vengeance for what you’ve done. Hurt for hurt. Pain for pain.”
My shoulders jerked back, forcing my hands to fall behind me as my body leaned back. It was as if electricity coursed through me. It was a vision but so much more. It was as if the man I saw was seeing me also. As if he looked through my eyes.
I moved my gaze around, sharing as much as I could of where I was. I stopped and focused on things I thought might help with location. I let my gaze touch Benji, still holding Cammy by her hair as she knelt before him begging. I zeroed in on Hutch then on to the two others with Benji. I wanted the man I was connecting with to know who was with me. Then I skimmed back to Benji’s face, holding his gaze.
“I’m coming for you. You sealed your fate when you took her. I’m going to bruise you. Break you. Make you bleed. Isn’t that what you told my mate?”
Benji’s gaze flared wide, and my heart beat like a jackrabbit in my chest. The man I’d connected with was inside me. Speaking through me. That had never happened. Never had a vision consumed me as this one did.
“No one can save you now. I’m coming for you. Coming for you.”
I wasn’t sure if the last was meant for Benji as a warning or for me as a promise, so I’d hold on. Fuck! These damn visions left me weak and disoriented. This one? It would leave me on my ass, scrambling to gain some control over my body and senses.
Only it didn’t. It was as if a cord were severed between me and the man. It clicked in place a moment too late for me to share awareness along the link. He was my mate. I’d made a connection with my mate, who I’d yet to even meet. He was gone as quickly as he’d arrived.
I blinked my eyes several times before focusing on Benji again. “Beware the enraged beast. He fights for love, and all will fall before him.”
I stood as a wave of energy restored me. I had no idea what had just occurred, but I swear my mate had shared some of his vitality with me.
Cammy took advantage of Benji’s distraction. She managed to jerk free, took two long strides and shifted mid-run. Hutch and one of the others were on her immediately. I screamed when her bones crunched. A startled yelp followed by a weak whimper and she was back in human skin, curled on her side with blood trickling from her mouth. I couldn’t see her face, but she was still. Too still. Had they broken her neck?
“No!” I screamed, jerking at the chain as I strained toward her. “Leave her alone. Come get me! I’m the one you want. Killing her won’t punish my brother. It won’t punish Taylor for taking Rebel.”
Her name snapped Benji out of whatever thoughts had held him still. He ran toward me, hitting me like a freight train and taking us both to the ground. I’d been prepared for him to come at me, but I’d expected some type of finesse to it. My mistake. Big mistake. My head slammed against the concrete, and he was on me before I caught my breath. Claws dug into my sides, bruising and drawing blood as he raked them over my skin. I threw my elbows up and out, working to break his hold as a scream of rage tore up my throat.
I kicked and clawed, giving as good as I got. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the cement again. Still, I fought. Fought as dizziness and nausea tried to suck me under. He ripped my shirt down the middle then bent lower and bit, narrowly missing my breast as I jerked to the side. I felt the puncture of his teeth and screamed as he ripped them free, taking my flesh with him. I used my elbow again, banging it against his jaw and the side of his face in a bid to shove him away. We rolled and fought, and somehow, I forgot about the damn chain until he had it in his hands, using it to bend my leg at an impossible angle.
“Die, you fucking bitch!” he screamed. I heard the snap seconds before I felt the excruciating pain rip through my body.
The sounds I made then were guttural, more animal than human as my wolf fought to be let free. I couldn’t now, though. The broken bone would make her weak as she tried to repair muscle, tendon, and bone. Weak and vulnerable. She’d be easy to kill, and I couldn’t allow that. My mate was coming for me.
After all my waiting, the planning and preparing for his arrival. This was how it would happen. He’d see me at my worst. At my weakest. His first view of me would be of a broken wolf. One who hadn’t been able to protect and defend herself. He’d see me as weak. I was many things. Freak. Weirdo. Crazy. But I wasn’t weak. I would never be weak.
Benji grabbed the chain, jerking a length of it up to try to pin down my arms. Maybe, he planned to use it to break one of them, too. I didn’t know. All I knew was, somehow in all of this, it had remained just the two of us. I didn’t know where his buddies were and why they weren’t jumping in to help him kill me. I would worry about them when they were in front of me.
I managed to get my good leg up and used it along with my hands to jerk at the chain in his hands. I heard the pop, followed by his growl as his shoulder dislocated. Knowing that, I added more force. This was life or death, and I planned to live.
Benji retaliated by grabbing my leg and digging in his claws before using his hold to twist the already broken bone. I screamed, my vision dimming as pain threatened to rob me of breath.
I heard a snarl followed by screams, and I laughed when Benji rose over me again. He plowed his fist into my cheek then quickly wrapped his hands in my hair and slammed my head against the floor again.
My vision faded quickly. My brain desperately tried to stay engaged. I needed to hold on just a bit longer. It couldn’t end like this. My mate was here. I knew he was here. I saw Benji raise the fist of his good arm, and I laughed. The sound was mad, crazy, and it gave him pause as he stared down at me.
“He’s here for you. You’re going to die, Benji. You’re going to die.”
“Then I better make sure you go first,” he snarled. He slammed my head down one more time before cranking it back so that my throat was exposed. I knew what he was going to do. I’d already seen his plan, had fought like hell to make sure it didn’t happen. Not like this was a mantra in my head. I was so close. So close to having the mate I’d been waiting for.
“No!” I yelled, shoving at him, kicking at him with my good leg. I fought like the wolf I was, fueled by the alpha blood in my veins and the promise of my greatest dream. I would not let this piece of trash rob me of my future.
I reached up and pressed my fingers into his eyes. I used every ounce of force I had and didn’t stop as he yelled and thrashed above me. Twice more he bashed my head. Each hit weakened me more, draining the strength from my hands. Still, I clawed, unwilling to stop my bid for survival.
Benji managed to grip one of my hands and bent it until the wrist snapped then tossed it away to reach for the other. I clawed, but there was no coordination to my movement. I was motion with no control. I was exactly how he’d promised I would be. Bruised. Broken. And bloody. My only solace was that he was all that, as well.
I took a blow to the ribcage that robbed me of air, and this time, I couldn’t get my lungs to work on the inhale. I gasped, desperate to suck in oxygen I couldn’t seem to find. What had I done that would force Benji’s face to be the last thing I saw? I caught a flash of light brown fur, and the largest wolf I’d ever seen loomed beside me. His massive jaws caught Benji’s useless arm and yanked, and as darkness pulled me under the last thing I heard was Benji’s scream.
Chapter Four
~Hannibal~