Page 112 of A Wolf's Heart

“What was it like,” Weylin said without looking at me, “consuming your own father’s heart?”

I knew what he was doing, however he would be greatly disappointed. “Empowering,” I said flatly. “Even if my emotions were flipped on, I would have had the same response.”

“She’s right, you are a monster.”

“And when have any of us claimed to be otherwise?” Weylin didn’t respond. “Turn it off, Weylin. Just like my father taught us—it’s for the better.”

Lila

I satin front of my computer at the precinct, staring at the screen. There was a file open, and I thought I was reading it. My mind was completely numb, though.

It was well into the night, and only a couple of night-shift officers remained in the building, while a few were making their rounds through town.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, completely baffled how I was still able to produce them, I leaned forward and took my notebook and pen in hand. I had to figure out where I was going to go from here. I kept tapping the ball point of the pen on the paper as I tried to force my mind to move, come up with anything.

“Hey, sweetheart!” I jumped at the sound of Rodney’s voice, spinning around in my chair. “You sure look like you could use some coffee.”

“Thanks.” I politely took the cup of coffee he held out for me. His eyes fell on my face, and I could only imagine the mess I looked.

“Now I don’t have any donuts to go with it, but I can always make a run down to the drive-thru on second street. Mind you, those donuts ought to be stale by now. However, I bet they’d just give them to us. I reckon they are making a new batch before the morning rush.”

I held back a smile. I’d never understood how Rodney came into the position of chief acting the way he did, so unprofessional. Yet it was a reminder of days not long ago, before I’d been cornered in an alley by three shifters.

“Thanks, this is fine. I’m not hungry.”

“Yes, well, burning the midnight oil and such, eh?”

“What about you? Why are you here?”

“Oh, just wrapping up a few loose ends.” He leaned against my desk, his scent throwing me off. I frowned a little. Rodney was a human. I could smell human on him, but after being with the guys and refining my sense of smell, I swore I could smell… wolf.

“Have a drink,” he encouraged. “It will help you get through the night.”

I looked down at my coffee, a slight film settling on the top. I raised my eyes to Rodney, staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Did he really just hand me a spiked coffee?

Rodney’s face distorted into a snarl as he grabbed a laptop sitting on the desk next to him and smashed it across my face. The force of the hit caused my chair to spin, my hand shooting out to brace myself on the desk, dropping the hot coffee on my lap.

My brain rattled inside my skull, my face hot and tingling as liquid dripped down my lap. The scent of copper, my own blood being spilled, mixed with the pain had me seeing red.

My claws came out and, moving faster than I had ever moved before, my hand fisted in Rodney’s shirt, pinning him up against the wall.

“You know what I am?” I snarled, the blood now dripping down my chin. “Why attack me?” He might have a slight scent of wolf on him, but he was still human. I could kill him easily. There wasn’t anything he could physically do that would ever overpower me.

Rodney looked petrified as he stared back into my eyes.

I heard the whistle through the air before I felt the sting in my neck. Still, it happened so quickly, I couldn’t react. Letting go of Rodney’s shirt, I reached for the sting in my neck and pulled out the dart.

My vision began to move in and out of focus. My body swayed drunkenly. I forced myself to move, but the best I could manage was to turn around.

I watched a man with black hair and demon eyes walk towards me. His smile was not only evil, it was sadistic as he watched me struggle.

“Ms. Evans. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He stuck his hand out for me to shake, but suddenly, with a loud and uncontrolled thump, I was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m Markus, alpha of the Ophidian pack. But you can call me Alpha.”

My mouth couldn’t move. My muscles twitched but were useless and uncoordinated. But what scared me most of all was my eyes going in and out of focus as I fought consciousness.

I had to stay awake. I had to. There was no way of knowing what they would do to me once I was unaware. I fought my eyelids as hard as I could. I attempted to twist and turn and getup until Markus’s eyes narrowed. He pulled a small dart out of his pocket and stuck it into my arm.

The last thing I remembered before succumbing to the terrifying darkness was reaching out into the bond and feeling the slightest brush of Weylin with me.

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