Page 69 of The Alpha's Sin
The blast is deafening. I dive sideways but a spray of burning pellets tears across my shoulder, searing through skin. The pain is white-hot, shocking—and it’s the last straw. The Wolf I’ve been fighting to cage rips free.
Bone cracks, fur explodes from my skin. The silver wound sizzles against my shifting flesh, but it only drives my Wolf harder. I hear Poppy scream inside the shack, her voice high and terrified. It’s all I need.
With a snarl that shakes the night, my Wolf launches himself into the air.
Dirk’s eyes go wide as he tries to backpedal, his body already jerking, starting the Shift—but he’s too damn slow. My Wolf’s jaws close around his throat. Flesh, cartilage, bone—everything gives in one sickening crunch.
Hot blood sprays the doorway, steaming in the cold night air. Dirk’s shotgun clatters to the floor, useless.
Behind him, Poppy screams again.
And I stand over my brother’s body, the copper tang of his blood thick on my tongue, my Wolf growling in savage triumph even as my human heart lurches with horror.
Oh God, I killed him—I really killed him!
58
POPPY
I can’t move.
Dirk’s body lies sprawled across the shack’s dirty wooden floor, his throat a ragged mess, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. The smell of blood is sharp and metallic, and my stomach lurches, threatening to give up every last disgusting chunk of the Chef Boyardee ravioli I forced into it earlier.
Logan’s Wolf looms over the body—massive, gray fur bristling, muzzle slick with crimson. My heart stutters in my chest. I’ve never been afraid of him before… but right now, I am.
That Wolf is huge—terrifying—and he just tore out my husband’s throat.
I press myself back against the headboard, the chain rattling at my wrist. My breath comes in shallow gasps.
Then the Wolf shudders—bones snapping, fur vanishing—and Logan is standing there, naked, human, and clean, as though the blood vanished in the Shift. His pale eyes lock on mine, filled with fear… fear for me.
“Poppy, baby…” His voice breaks low and rough, pleading as he holds out a hand to me.
I flinch anyway. My body doesn’t understand the difference yet. It’s too much—too frightening.
“Please, kitten,” he says again, softer. “You know I’d never hurt you.”
Something in his voice undoes me. My chest shakes and suddenly the dam inside me breaks. I want him—I need him. I push off the headboard, but the chain bites my wrist, jerking me short before I can reach him.
Logan’s face darkens. He growls low, dangerous.
“That fucker! I can’t believe he chained you up.” His gaze sweeps the room, then lands on Dirk’s corpse. “Where’s the key?”
“In his pocket,” I whisper, shivering. “He always kept it with him.”
He kneels beside the body, rifling through Dirk’s filthy jeans until he finds the little silver key. The cuff pops open and he throws it aside. Then he pulls me straight into his arms.
The moment I breathe him in, my whole body goes wild. His scent—warm, spicy, Alpha—fills my head until I’m dizzy. The Heat that’s been gnawing at me for days ignites like fire.
I cling to him, shaking, my body overloading with need.
“Logan… please. I feel so empty inside.”
The words tumble out of me, desperate and humiliating, but true.
He understands instantly. His big hands frame my face, his golden eyes fierce and tender all at once. “I know what you need, baby,” he rumbles. “I’m going to give it to you. Come on.”
He leads me to the bed—the same bed Dirk made me sleep in—and I don’t care. Not anymore. I just need him.
