Page 3 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“You should have saved her,” Logan said as he thought about the moment when he realized that everything that he knew about this world was a lie.

“I made a choice,” Kale said as Logan stood there, staring down at the ground as he thought about everything that he’d lost that night.

He would never see Elizabeth again.

He would never hold her again, kiss her, or finally take her into his bed. They would never marry, never raise a family on the land that he’d worked so hard for, and they would never grow old together and it was all because of the man that never should have lied to him.

“I couldn’t give them what they wanted,” Kale said on a soft groan seconds before he was stumbling past him with his handpressed against his stomach while Logan stood there wondering how long her screams would haunt him.

“No, you couldn’t, could you?” Logan murmured as he watched Kale drop to his knees on the spot where Elizabeth had fallen with a pained grunt. When he tried to get up a moment later, his legs gave out, dropping him back down on the ground.

There was a time when the thought of hurting someone would have turned his stomach, but now…

Logan watched blood trickle down the bastard’s chin as he struggled to breathe. “Wh-What...” Kale asked in a daze as silver eyes searched his.

“Silphium,” Logan said on a bored murmur as he watched Kale’s arms give out, dropping him to the ground with a weak groan.

“What’s that?” Kale asked in a daze.

“The reason why you can’t shift,” Logan said as he leaned down and ripped the silver coin he’d sewn into his trouser cuffs free with a sigh.

“I was protecting you!” Kale growled as his hands fisted in mud.

“I didn’t need your protection,” Logan said, absently flipping the silver coin between his fingertips as he watched Kale struggle to shift so that he could destroy the herb that was working its way through his body.

“She wasn’t who you thought she was,” Kale bit out between clenched teeth.

“She was everything to me,” Logan said as he reached down and yanked Kale’s tunic aside and placed the silver coin between his large shoulders. “And you were my brother,” Logan said with a sigh as he reached down and grabbed a handful of mud and placed it on top of the coin to stop it from moving and ending this too soon.

“I still am,” Kale bit out as he struggled to reach back and push the coin off his back, only to give up with a pained groan when his arm refused to cooperate.

“Did you know that silphium is the only plant that can mimic the effects of silver? It’s sweet and blends in well with ale, making it difficult for even a shifter to scent,” Logan drawled as he stood up and took his time walking around Kale as the shifter struggled to breathe through the pain that was most likely tearing his body apart.

“Don’t do this,” Kale managed to get out on a pained groan, but Logan simply ignored him as he knelt down by his side.

“I’ve learned a lot since that night,” Logan murmured absently as he wrapped his hand around Kale’s throat, “like how far I can take this before killing you.”

CHAPTER 1

Boston, MA

Present Day

“They’re moving her,” came the three words that he’d been waiting for.

For a moment, Logan sat there debating ignoring the minion, but…

“Has she been spotted?” Logan asked as he stood up, only to pause long enough to close his laptop before he stepped away from his desk and made his way to the door.

“No, but the Sentinels have started the final sweep,” the minion that he hadn’t decided whether he was worth keeping around yet said as Logan made his way down the backstairs of the large brownstone he’d purchased after he’d confirmed that they’d brought her to the Boston compound.

“And my men?” Logan asked as he stepped into the gutted kitchen that had been under renovation when he bought the house and made his way past the stacks of two-by-fours, cans of paint, and tools that had been abandoned by the previous ownerand made his way to the reason why he’d purchased this house in the first place.

“They’re keeping the shifters and demons waiting for her by the south and west sides of the compound busy,” the minion said as Logan paused by the basement door and typed his code into the security panel he had installed along with the door. A moment later, two small beeps were followed by a click as the thick security door swung open, revealing the pitch-black basement below.

“In five minutes, send the rest of my men to the east and south sides, and when they send in more reinforcements, send men to the west side,” Logan said as he moved to head downstairs when the minion’s next words stopped him.

“Do you want us to grab her?”

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