Page 21 of Psycho Pack

"Oh yes," he drawls, his accent thicker than usual. Must be all the blood in his mouth. It'll be dirt, too, when I get a moment with him. "I had my suspicions from the moment I saw him. Takes one to know one, after all. It seems we are brothers, too."

Thane curls his lip, but doesn't reply.

Wait.

What?

"You're from a fuckinglab?" I blurt out, my brain struggling to process this shit. I rake a hand through my hair. "Fuck, that explains a lot."

Valek's silver eyes flash. "That is not the insult you think it is just because your favorite cheese comes from a lab."

Fucker thinks he's so clever. "Bro, that doesn't make sense even for you. You're just jealous that shit's banned here."

Fucker thinks he's so clever.

His eyes narrow, but before he can shoot back another smartass comment, Wraith's already moving. His massive frame prowls toward the dark corridor where the Knight disappeared, following the trail of black blood.

"Hold the fuck up," Thane bellows. "So, what, you take orders from her now?"

Wraith stops and turns, but only to fix his brother with those intense blue eyes. A low growl rumbles from his ruined throat, his sharp teeth flashing in the strobing light. The guy's scary as fuck, I'll give him that. Even Thane hesitates like he's not sure it's worth the fight they're about to get into if he pushes it.

"Holy shit," I mutter.

She really does have him wrapped around her little finger.

"The rest of you need to help too," Ivy demands, her voice carrying that tone that makes my inner alpha want to roll over and show my belly. What the actual fuck. "We can't leave him here. We'renotleaving him here."

"Can't he escape on his own?" I try one last time. "I mean, he's a ten-foot-tall killing machine?—"

Ivy cuts me off. "He's hurt."

I want to argue with her, but I know it won't go anywhere good. One look at the iron rods laying in pools of black blood on the floor and it's pretty damn clear she's gonna win this one.

Thane throws his hands up in exasperation. "I guess you're the leader of the Ghosts now," he mutters, already moving to follow his brother.

I can't help but grin. "You haven't figured that out yet?"

The look he shoots me could curdle milk. But I notice he doesn't deny it as we fall in behind Wraith, following the trail of destruction and black blood deeper into this hellhole.

Probably the stupidest thing we've ever done, but if our little wildcat wants us to save the giant murder machine monster, then that's what we're gonna do. At least watching her boss around a pack of alphas three or four times her size is entertaining as hell.

And seeing Thane's face when she does it?

Priceless.

Chapter

Five

PLAGUE

The stench of rot and stagnant water makes me want to retch. Without my mask and its filters, every breath fills my lungs with countless bacteria and spores. My stolen lab coat clings to my skin, damp with sweat and filthy water and blood. I trail behind the others, watching Ivy perched on Wraith's broad back as he stalks through the tunnels.

I feel guilty.

Not just because I'm jealous, and I have no right to be. No right whatsoever. I'm not normally a jealous alpha, and I understand on a logical level that it's ridiculous to feel that way in the first place. My pack brothers have as much right to bond with Ivy—in every way—as I do.

If she wants them, if she chooses them, that is her right.

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