Page 32 of Homecoming

Luna immediately stalks back. Her fur glistens in the fading light of the moon, and her eyes glint with rage as she stares at the bleeding body on the ground by Mikah’s feet. Lifting her head, her eyes meet with him and she howls loudly.

Mikah takes a deep breath and backs away. “Take his clan brand—I’ll deal with him after. You can’t let her kill him though, only the clan can decide on whether he lives.”

Darius swallows apprehensively and takes a step back as he stares at Luna. “She heard you, but I can’t make any promises.”

The cool night air is suddenly filled with blood-curdling screams and the sound of flesh tearing. The smell of fresh blood wafts across the lawn and Darius puts a hand to his mouth as he gags on the stench.

Marco’s face contorts as he too watches the wolf; her claws and fur covered in wet red blood as she tears into the flesh of vermin beneath her, removing the branded mark burned deep into the skin of his chest.

“That’s enough!” Mikah looks at Marco, who summons Darius to act.

“Shit…” Darius hurriedly steps forward. “Kat… Kat,stop!” He calls and desperately pleading with her, he places a hand on the wolf’s shoulder. As he does, the wolf shifts and the naked woman drops to the ground.

Kat’s curvaceous body is covered in blood and as she scrambles to her feet, her lip curled in anger, she looksdownwatching the man as he groans in pain.

Barely able to move, he lies on the ground at her feet, the blood spilling from his chest wound onto the grass. The pain is intense,andhe struggles to breathe.

“Fuck you!” she spits, staring at Mikah. “You’re lucky she didn’t kill him. But let him be a warning. You even think to come near me, my house, or my pups… I willlether kill you—all of you. Do you understand me? Any of yourstinkin’clan come within a hundred feet of this house and I’ll make you watch as I kill every last one of them. Now you need to pack up and leave—tonight. I don’t want you here.”

“As I told your man there. I can’t do that. Road’s closed. We have to wait until daylight before we can get packed up now. Besides, it was your pack leader who said we could stay… you need to take it up with him.”

“Pack leader,” Kat laughs. “Digby will do as I say. He’ll tell you to leave.”

“Ooo… You really are one feisty bitch, aren’t you?” Mikah steps closer to Kat’sfacelooking her over.

“Hey, Boss…” a voice calls from across the lawn, and Seth strides towards them. “What the hell’s going on? Boss, are you okay? Do you need the clan?”

“No. I’m fine.” As he turns, there’s a swoosh in the air, and Kat’s fist lands smack on the side of Mikah’s face. Catching his nose, blood splatters below on his lips. He reels, fist ready to hit back, but Darius immediately steps up in front of Kat offering protection.

“You bitch,” Mikah snarls. “She’s gonna pay for that. I let her take retribution. That should have been an end to the matter.”

“Fuck you,” Kat responds. “I warned you. I can’t believe Digby let you stay here. Keep away from me and my pups or I swear, the next time I won’t hold back.” With a deliberate twist on her heels, she storms away and striding quickly back towards the house, her naked ass sashays its way up the incline of the lawn.

“Fuck.” Darius folds his arms across his chest and closes his eyes. He laughs and turns back to Mikah. “What did I say…” he smirks. “I warned you she was pissed. Now maybe you’ll listen and get your dumbass’sout of here.”

“Fuck you, Darius! I want an apology. I want you to make her come back and apologize. Since when does a pack let a bitch get away withcallin’the shots?”

“Since now.” Marco sneers as he steps closer behind Darius. “Times have changed, Mikah. You heard her. Leave or you might regret it.”

“Marco, that’s enough. Go back to the house and check on Kat.” Darius orders as he turns his attention again on Mikah. “This matter is concludedbutshe’s right, you should pack up your shit and leave tonight.”

“Oh, we’ll go, but we’ll go when I’m ready.” Mikah sneers, wiping the blood from under his nose. He takes a breath and watches as Darius follows Marco back to the house.

“Seth,” he turns to his second in command and points to the bleeding man on the ground. “Get rid of this garbage. But between us, before you dump him, find out who his trafficker contact was. Go back to the bar and find out exactly how much one of these wolf pups is worth. I mean, as we’re here, it’d be stupid not to at least check out the facts.”

“Sure thing Boss, but Boss… we’re not really gonna take her pups, right? I mean, she seems hellishly pissed off. I’m not sure I wanna get on the wrong side of her. Plus that wolf vamp, he’s a bigfuckin’dude—you really wanna take that on?”

“Just do as I said. Find out what the deal’s worth—if not hers,” Mikah grins, “then I’m sure there are plenty of other pups around here.”

Digbycallsoutashe and Zak fall through the front door and hestaggers,bumping against the wall of the hallway. His dirt-covered body marks a stripe of mud along thegraypaintwork before he eventually crumples into a heap on theceramictiled floor. “Hey… Hey where the hell is everyone?”

Zak drops naked onto the chaise lounge by the wall. “Shit man,” he laughs as he stretches out, “I am so fucked. That was one hell of a party. They might stink but they sure as hell know how to have a good time.”

“Hey, will you keep it down? I think they must all be asleep.Shh…” Digby finds his feet and laughs. “Shhh!”

Zak suddenly sits up as QT appears out of the dark, and with his arms folded leans against the door frame with a snarl of disgust.

Noah peers over the banister rail of the landing at the top of the stairs, watching them. “Hey, will you two keep it down?” His hushed voice echoes down the staircase. “I only just got Lukas to sleep.”

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