Page 92 of Rhett
Quietly, we crept into the dark cave. Using our sharp shifter eyesight and senses, we avoided Sam’s half-assed attempt to booby-trap his lair. It didn’t take us long to find him snoring in the corner, his belly bulging from the half-eaten carcass of a moose tucked beside him like a lover.
I almost gagged from the cloying scent of damp earth, blood, and body odor that hung thickly in the air.
Quinn signaled for us to take our positions around Sam.
“Wakey, wakey, motherfucker,” Quinn called out.
Sam’s eyes snapped open, and he jumped into a crouching, doglike position. “You think you got me, but you don’t.” His eyes were crazed and bloodshot. Glaring at me, he threatened, “Protector, you’re the first one that will die.”
He leaped at me, half shifted into his wolf form, but I was ready. With one punch, I knocked him against the cave wall. Sam bounced against it, then rolled to the ground. He shifted back into his human form. Then he stumbled to his feet, dazed. The three of us pounded his ass, knocking him completely out.
Opening my backpack, I pulled out the handcuffs and shackles that were infused with Freya’s magic. While wearing the cuffs and shackles, Sam’s ability to shift would be suppressed and his strength would be significantly diminished. In essence, the cuffs and shackles would enable us to keep him under control.
Quinn yanked Sam’s arms behind his back while I handcuffed his hands and shackled his ankles. It took the three of us to hoist his body out of the cave and through the forest.
Halfway into our trek, Sam awoke and tried to wrestle his way out of our clutches but failed. Then he tried to bite Quinn, who cuffed him behind his head. “Do that again, and I’m knocking you out.”
“Is this how you treat a king?” Sam blustered.
“When we meet one, we’ll let you know,” I barked.
“It takes three of you bastards to take on the king,” Sam snarled as we continued hoisting him—Quinn on one side, and Jasper and me on the other—through the forest. “Why don’t you take these cuffs off me and fight me like a shifter, one-on-one.”
“Like you did with Henry?” I snapped.
“The horse-shifter was a means to an end,” Sam boasted.
“What do you mean by that?” Jasper asked.
“I needed the town to believe that the Hunter did it. No one would ever be looking for me. Like I said, a pawn in a big game of chess, and I’m the king.” Sam cackled. “King. King. King.”
“Please,” I begged. “Let me knock him the fuck out.”
“Drop him,” Quinn ordered. When we did, he reached into his backpack, pulling out a roll of duct tape. “I have something even better.” When Quinn finished taping up Sam’s mouth, we picked him up and continued on our way.
“I’m telling you now if I ever turn feral, just put me out of my damn misery,” Jasper asked.
When we finally arrived at my cruiser, we shoved Sam in the back, sandwiched between Quinn and Jasper. Then I took off.
“Come on, Rhett.” Jasper sniffed loudly. “Stop fucking around. Roll down all the windows. He smells like shit, blood, piss, and ass.”
I agreed. Sam smelled and looked like he hadn’t taken a bath in weeks, and his hair was a matted mess. Dirt and grime were so thick on his body that you could barely see his true skin color beneath. And his clothes had streaks of gore—that smelled like a potent combination of both his victims and animal blood.
The whole ride back to town, we had to put up with Sam mumbling shit beneath the tape on his mouth.
When we arrived back at the station, the mob was larger and divided into two groups. One led by Gertrude and Shane, the other by Piper, June, Freya, Bonnie, Imani, Nyx, Isabella, Izzy, and Rose, with Emmett, Mack, and Brody in the middle of the two groups, keeping them apart.
After I parked my cruiser, Quinn dragged Sam out. When Jasper and I got out, Quinn handed Sam to me, and I ripped off the tape on his mouth. Sam darted forward, attempting to bite me. I dipped back in time to avoid his teeth.
“That’s what you get when you mess with the king.” Sam cackled.
“I meant it. Do that one more time, and I’ll knock you out,” I promised.
Quinn glared at the mob. “Get back. Sam’s not right in the head.”
The crowd looked stunned at Sam’s disheveled appearance as Mack, Emmett, and Brody herded the mob back. We dragged Sam toward the station with Quinn leading the way and Jasper and me behind.
“Oh my God, look at Sam!” Gertrude shouted. “He’s plumb crazy.”
