Page 203 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

Rosemary shook her head, and her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t use magic—"

“Yes, I would. I have witch friends—” She paused, pursed her lips for a second, and giggled. “Okay, ‘friends’ is a stretch. Nonetheless, I have witches who will do my bidding because I have leverage over them, but that’s a whole different story.”

I stayed still, afraid to move. Her ramblings were filling in some serious holes and giving Bart and the others time to get closer before I had to fight. Silver wolves were strong, but I couldn’t take on nine men by myself, especially when they were armed.

“God, this feels so good.” She strolled closer to me, placing a hand on her chest. “I mean…despite all the bullshit, here I stand, in charge like I should’ve been all along. Dick wanted to work with Azbogah, but I should be the real leader of Shadow City. I can do things no man could do.”

Tilting my head, I tried to look fascinated to encourage her to keep going. It wasn’t like I could ask her questions in animal form.

“You’re crazier than your mate.” Rosemary snorted. “Was it the same witch who found the silver wolves that stole Sterlyn’s brother?”

“Yes, I stumbled upon her granddaughter and used her as leverage. To get her granddaughter back, she had to steal the alpha heir. He was meant to be Luna’s breeding partner so we could take over the entire wolf race, but your dumbass brother couldn’t shift,” she said, turning her attention to me. She sighed and rolled her eyes as if it had been a mere nuisance. Like he’d put her out instead of her actions trapping him in his human body. “And I couldn’t risk your pack desperately searching for their alive, kidnapped alpha heir. So I killed them, making sure I could start over with you.”

The woman was insane. The way she talked about my pack’s death as if it were nothing and why she’d pushed Luna so hard at Griffin. Since she couldn’t breed with the silver wolf, she needed to get her child angled as alpha mate.

The guard with a scar appeared beside her with the tranq gun in hand.

Shit, the others should be there at any second.

Rosemary’s eyes flicked toward me, and she nodded slightly. She was trying to buy time for the others to catch up to us. “But then why kill Atticus and Sterlyn’s pack?”

“I pushed Luna toward Griffin and used Julius to train my warriors. When Griffin hit puberty, his attention strayed to every other girl but her.” She pointed at Luna and sneered. “She obviously needed a helping hand, so I invited Atticus and Ulva over for dinner one night and poisoned Atticus’s food. I was nervous that someone would figure out that his death was abnormal, but the herbs the witch gave me weren’t detected, so his death was documented as natural causes. Just an abnormality.” Her nose wrinkled, and she glared at her daughter, who whined and cringed back. “And yet, Lunastillcouldn’t capture the attention of a man mourning his father.”

Luna whimpered and pawed at the ground.

She’d killed Atticus so that Griffin would be stricken with grief, allowing her daughter to finally lock him down. All the hate I felt for the girl was now replaced with pity.

But after Atticus died, Dick was also spiraling, and Saga was able to get him involved in her plan. A growl escaped before I could clamp it down. I had never hated anyone as much as I did her.

“Oh, shush. You’ve caused a lot of problems.” Saga shook her head. “If it weren’t for you, Griffin would still be an unfocused mess, and Dick would still be alive, but I guess it’s all worth it now. I found someone who still wants you and will make anexcellent mating partner for you.” She pursed her lips and tilted her head. “Well, time’s up.” She glanced over at the guards. “Catch her now, and kill the angel. It’s time to go.”

The man with a scar lifted his gun, aiming at my shoulder. It wasn’t a kill shot—they wanted to injure me so I couldn’t fight.

No, I had to figure a way out of this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

My heart pounded so loudlythat my ears rang. I didn’t see an escape. I tore my gaze from the guards and scanned the area for anything that could help me out of this mess. Bart, Julius, and Darrell were so close that I could smell their floral musky scents, but I was on my own.

Every bad situation I’d experienced had been caused by this bitch, and I let the pain and rage build inside me. Normally, I would attempt to calm the beast, but I needed to channel her strength to get myself out of this situation. Even if I had only a nebulous idea of what that solution might look like—at the moment, nothing was coming to me.

Rosemary took to the sky, spinning round and round like a tornado as I glanced frantically from side to side, knowing that the seconds were counting down. If I even wanted a slight chance of coming out of this unscathed, I had to make a move.

A few trees covered me, but the men ran from the boats. I couldn’t turn my back on them or run off because they could stumble upon the silver wolves that would be here at any moment. I needed to buy time. I tried scooting backward, deeper into thicker trees, but a bullet could travel faster than I could move.

Still, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

I refused to give up. I wouldn’t give Saga that pleasure. It would make her victory that much sweeter, knowing she’d broken me. I’d go down fighting, even if it was futile.

My side twinged with pain, but I’d take it. The sharp throbbing had diminished to an ache, which made it easier to move…for now. Unless I was injured again.

As I leaped for the protection of the tree, I heard the cock of the tranq gun Scarface prepared to fire. A sinister chuckle escaped him. Assholes like him enjoyed being the predator with its rush of power. Unfortunately, my life was in his hands.

“Donotkill her,” Saga commanded, obviously picking up on the guy’s intent. “You have the tranq gun for a reason.”

It would have been nice if she’d said that because she cared, but she didn’t. She wanted me for something worse than death, and I’d do everything I could to escape or die trying. Being her captive wasn’t an option for me.

Dying would be the better alternative.

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