Page 27 of Wicked Prince of Carnage
He shouldn’t be doing this. Shouldn’t be here, searching forher. The prince belonged on top of the wall, watching with his pack, as Red Riding Hood met her fate, but the waiting grew tiresome. And that scream… He needed to see her. Alive? Dead? He wasn’t sure which he hoped to find as long as he put an end to the unknown.
Bracing himself, Winter sniffed the air again. Death, death, and … apples.
The faintest hint of Sterling but also …wolf. A female whose scent called to Winter’s inner beast—a bitch who wasn’t supposed to be here.
The prince wasn’t the only pack member in this enclosure, and he knew exactly which wolf it was. “That fucking cunt,” he snarled.
She was the one other wolf he loathed as much as his father. Talia hadnoright coming in here to fuck with his plans. If it were up to him, she would’ve been cast out and shunned. Maybe even murdered. But his father blocked all Winter’s attempts at getting rid of her.
Forgetting about Red Riding Hood, Winter followed the scent of his rejected mate. He tailed the sharp peppery scent toward the very center of the enclosure where it mingled with the sweetness of apples.
He moved faster between the trees, crashing through brush and jumping over fallen trunks. A short shout rang out overhead and he halted against the soft dirt. Winter looked up into the yellow and orange foliage just in time to see Sterling fall from one of the tallest branches.
The red cloak billowed around her as she soared through the air. She landed on her back with a pained cry, only a moment before a large wolf dropped on top of her. Talia’s light gray fur shone bright even in the darkness, her yellow eyes glowing. Bits of tattered clothing fluttered around them as if she had shifted just before leaping after Sterling.
A dull blade glinted in Red Riding Hood’s hand, directed straight up at Talia’s chest. A split moment of panic drove Winter forward, knowing his ex-mate wouldn’t be taken down that easily. His shoulder slammed into Talia’s side, and they both rolled sideways.
Talia leapt to her feet with a snarl, then froze when her gaze met the prince’s vicious stare. Winter tensed, fighting the urge to tear her limb from limb. She deserved it for many reasons, and he might’ve done it already if she hadn’t wisely avoided him. But now he had something more important to worry about.
The prince whirled around and grabbed Sterling by the wrists, hauling her to her feet. She bared her dull, human teethat him as he passed both wrists to one hand and plucked the dagger from her grip.
“You made this game unfair,” she snapped.
Winter rolled his eyes and tossed the dagger over his shoulder.
“I thought this was meant to be a fight againsthumans. That”—she scowled past Winter—“is a wolf. A bitch at that.”
“Shut your mouth,” Talia growled, now shifted out of wolf form. “You don’t deserve the chance to make it out of here alive after whatyou’vedone to the pack!”
Winter rounded on Talia without releasing his hold of Sterling. Rage twisted in his chest as he forced himself not to lash out. There was a crowd of wolves still spectating, and he didn’t want them to interfere with the game too.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” he demanded.
Though Talia was now bare before him, Winter kept his eyes firmly locked on hers. He didn’t need to see what fate had dangled in front of him—only for it all to be ripped away when his perfect mate had been fucking someone else. The night before their mating ceremony.
“Killing her,” Talia answered.
A muscle ticked in the prince’s jaw. “If I wanted to simplykill her, I would’ve done that already.”
Talia huffed. “I was just—”
“Count your days,” Winter warned. “The moment my father is dead, your place in this pack is gone unless I decide to have you dealt with morepermanently.”
“Winter,” she pleaded, her voice dropping to a more submissive tone. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
Sterling cleared her throat. “May I finish the game, so I can free my brother?”
Winter tugged her close to his side and used his free hand to cover her mouth. “Hush. Your betters are speaking, human,” he hissed in her ear. Not that he considered Talia better than anyone, but he didn’t need to get into that with his enemy.
Talia crossed her arms and hesitated. “The pack is gossiping about how you keep her in your room,” she said, half accusatory, half questioning.
“You lost the privilege of knowing who’s in my bed when you fucked someone else,” he spat. “Now, get out of the damn enclosure so the game can continue.”
“It’s over,” Talia said, lifting her chin. “You killed the last two. I smell them on you.”
“Then it looks like I won theprince’sgame.” Sterling smiled.
