Page 85 of Shaken Knot Stirred

“You are a dumb fuck.” I wiped at the blood on my neck.

“You’re fucking delicious. I’m going to love tearing you apart in heat.” All the color drained from his face, turning his lips green.

“Oh yeah?” I took in a huge lungful of air and shouted at the top of my lungs so that the universe could hear me. “I challenge for pack lead.”

“You, you can’t,” Beg stuttered. Shocked was a measly word to describe how his very aura disintegrated into confusion. “you’re an omega. You can’t challenge for pack lead!”

“No? What’s your fucking aura feeling like right now?” I didn’t actually know if I had simply blown up all his confidence or if something mystical was happening with my words of challenge. It didn’t matter. I could feel him lose his grip on Nico, on the pack itself. It was that grip and domination that made pack lead.“You feel it, don’t you? I’m going to rip pack lead away from you and make you my bitch.”

He lunged for me, but his body was slowed and sloppy. I darted under his arm and picked up a length of pipe from the broken fence. He shifted direction to come at me again. I stepped into him, swinging the pipe at his knee. It hit with a satisfying crack.

Lana

“MOXIE! NO!” I screamed, seeing Beg bite her.

Then I felt her like she exploded around us. A faint taste of peaches touched my lips. I got my leg up between me and the fence, hoping to create enough space to wiggle out. I moved six inches, but that was as far as the chain would let me go.

“I got you. I got you. Stay still.” Ethan jumped on the stage with another tall, beefy alpha that I didn’t know. “Houston, hold up the fence.”

Ethan ducked into the space, trying to maneuver a set of bolt cutters between my skin and the handcuff.

“Cut the chain!” I shouted.

Beg went for Moxie.

I kicked at the fencing to get free. The link gave way with a pop. My skirt caught on the fence and tore as I rolled out from under it. I stepped over Star, who was pushing himself up weakly. I heaved the back of a broken chair high, crashing it down onBeg’s head, but caught him on the shoulder. He bellowed in rage and backhanded me across the ring.

Moxie

Beg sent Lana flying. As he turned back, he weaved on his feet. I saw his eyes roll back in his head. He leaned to the side and puked up neon yellow sludge. I sidestepped, making Beg follow me, so his back was to Nico, who was slowly getting to his feet. I swung the pipe again, connecting with Beg’s knee. Pain dumped adrenaline into him, and he surged forward, his fingers curling around my neck.

“How was that Lemon Drop?” I spat.

“What?” He shook his head like that would make this all make sense.

“Sweet?” I asked. “Too sweet. That’s the thing about antifreeze. Goes really well with lemon.”

Fear, actual fear, shot through him. His fingers around my neck weakened.

“What dumb fuck leaves poison around in the garage for any old bartender to find?”

“Poison?” His voice shook. His aura was pure white now.

“Antifreeze is slow. Eats you from the inside out.”

I lied like the con artist I was. I had no idea what drinking antifreeze did. It didn’t matter; Beg didn’t know either. Beg’s knee gave out, and he brought us both to the ground. I wrenchedto the side to shield Nico from his view. Beg held on to my neck. In a burst of speed, he got a fistful of my hair with his other hand.

“It will be slow. I’m going to love watching it tear you apart,” I said, venom dripping from my words, echoing his.

He turned his head and spat, giving Nico the perfect angle for his punch.

Nico

Beg rocked back from the force of the blow, losing his grip on Moxie. She scuttled back on her butt, scrambled to her feet, and went for Lana.

“Down!” Beg’s alpha bark felt like ice picks coated in pine sap to my gut.

I gritted my teeth, pushing off Beg’s dominance. I brought my arm up just in time to block Beg’s punch.

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