Page 59 of Knot Dead Yet

“Kienna’s hurt. She might have been taken. We need to find her. Come on!” I motioned to him as the Alphas continued down the corridor.

Ewan groaned loudly. “Oh my fucking God. That stupid Omega can go fuck herself. If she’s gone, good riddance.” All four of the Alphas stopped and turned like one deadly unit. “We need to concentrate on what’s best for the team, and that’s gettingmeback on the line-up.”

“Ewan, how can you say that?” He knew that Kienna was important to us, but he’d been against having her around the whole time. I’d thought maybe his ego couldn’t handle the fact that she didn’t click with him, and even more so, that she bonded with me rather than him. All the puck bunnies usually flocked to Ewan, and with me being a little shyer, I’d only ever had two girlfriends compared to his million one-night stands. “She could be in trouble.”

“Then let her be. She finally listened to my good advice. One less distraction for the best team in the league.” Ewan hollered with that last statement as if expecting us to answer it with a cheer of our own.

Maddox pushed past me and grabbed the front of Ewan’s jersey. “What the fuck did you say, Cyr?”

“That we’re the best team—” Ewan was cut off by a vicious shake from Maddox. He tried to pry the Alpha’s hand off, but when he couldn’t, he huffed. “What? I told her to take the fuck off. She’s taking your focus off the game. We fucking lost yesterday because of her. The whole team suffers because she’s here.”

“We do not.” Maddox snarled and pushed Ewan against the wall, lifting him off his feet. I thought for a second he might punch him, but Maddox froze and snatched Ewan’s sleeve with his free hand. He brought it to his nose and sniffed. His face went red and tight. “Why is Kienna’s blood on your jersey?”

“What the fuck?” Tiergan, as well as Casimir, crowded in, rage burning in their eyes. Yet Kane kept back and the look on his face promised death for my cousin.

Part of me wanted to protect Ewan. He was not just part of the pack, but he was family. We’d been like brothers since we were babies. We did everything together. But even without the Alpha hormones driving my actions, I still wanted to strangle Ewan for his attitude towards Kienna.

“Tell us, Ewan.” Kane’s command could not be ignored.

Ewan yanked his sleeve free and at least had the sense to look a little afraid. “It was nothing. She and I had a chat. I told her she was screwing over the whole team by distracting you guys from your job. She told me to fuck off.”

I smiled at that. That was our bold and brave Kienna. I was proud of her for not taking any of Ewan’s bullshit.

“The blood?” Casimir nodded toward Ewan’s sleeve.

“Like any stubborn bitch, I had to slap some sense into her.”

Ewan just signed his own death warrant.

Maddox slammed Ewan against the wall and wrapped his hands around his throat. There was nothing but pure fury burning in Maddox’s eyes as he choked my cousin. Ewan kicked and scratched and wheezed, but he couldn’t get free.

Tiergan and Casimir said nothing as they stood by like guards at Death’s door. Even Kane remained silent.

Dammit. I was furious with my cousin, but I couldn’t let Maddox kill him. “Maddox.” I didn’t dare touch the Alpha, but tried to use my peacemaker’s tone. “Maddox, let him go. We need to find Kienna.”

No response. Ewan’s kicks grew weaker.

I turned swiftly to our pack leader. “Kane, you need to stop this. If Maddox murders Ewan…” No, I couldn’t go there. That was a dark path. “Kienna has to be our first priority.”

Kane hissed out an exhale between his teeth and then nodded once. “Drop him, Mad. You have the best nose. We need you to track Kienna.”

At first, Maddox didn’t respond, but just as Ewan’s eyes started to roll back, he dropped him to the floor. Casimir gave Ewan a kick and started down the corridor. Tiergan followed right behind.

“If I see you again, Cyr, you’re dead.” Maddox turned and marched away, taking in deep breaths.

Kane crouched down beside Ewan. No pity in his gaze. “This was the last straw. There has been too many times when you’ve caused trouble and we’ve had to bail you out of it. You’re out of the pack. Get your shit packed and be gone from the house before we leave for Chicago. If anything has happened to Kienna, Iwilllet Maddox kill you.”

It was like a blade to my gut. My own flesh and blood kicked out of the pack. What was even worse was that Ewan deserved it. How could he be so horrible?

Without another word, Kane turned and hurried down the hall to follow the others.

“Al…” Ewan croaked and reached for me.

My cousin and my best friend. I didn’t know him anymore. Maybe I never had, because I hadn’t realized this sort of awful behavior resided in him. Yes, he was trouble, but he was mostly fun about it. So many people adored him, but they didn’t know what lurked underneath the charismatic grin.

I turned from him, wanting to rage, wanting to cry. Mostly I just wanted Kienna to be alright.

As I walked away from him, Ewan made a small pleading noise.

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