Page 26 of The Demon's Pet

He turned to walk into the church, and I noticed Bran standing to the side, shaking his head.

“You’re just going to watch?” I yelled at him. “Fuck you!” I grabbed another rock and threw it at him, but unfortunately, he caught it.

I grabbed another stone and threw it at my teacher, who’d already thrown several my way, and it bounced off her head, leaving her in shock with a significant bruise.

Good.

Let them all feel the rocks they were sending my way. Until I died, I would be throwing them too.

I wasn’t fast enough, though. For every rock I threw, three came my way, and it increased as everyone got angrier, more emotionally involved in the moment.

But I was the angriest, and I began throwing stones as fast as I could, using what strength I had since I was collared and my wolf was restrained.

“Stop this!” the priest yelled as I lobbed a rock at him that he somehow managed to dodge. “This is blasphemy!”

“What are you going to do, stone me?” I lobbed another, hitting him in the shin as he nearly tripped over his fancy robes while trying to dodge.

I flung more stones at those who’d hit me, and the priest stepped forward, holding a particularly large rock.

“You no longer deserve salvation or any forgiveness or blessing. All of your pack will now reject you, and may you forever burn in hell.”

He held the rock aloft as he walked closer to me, then threw it in a way that there was no way to dodge given my position and shackles.

It hit me in the thigh super painfully. I gave him an acidic glare.

“I reject you.” Bran’s deep voice echoed in the clearing as he threw the rock he’d caught back at me.

It hit me in the cheek.

“I reject you,” a small boy-child said, throwing his rock as well.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of everyone reciting their rejection, and rocks started flying as never before.

It felt like being caught in the worst kind of hailstorm, pain exploding all over my body in every place I could be hit.

I let out a howl as a large rock hit my head, making everything go dark for a second. Another large rock knocked me forward onto my face. I covered my head as they continued to fly, pelting my legs, my arms, my back, my ass, and the back of my head.

I’d never felt so much pain before, like being punched from so many directions. Emotionally, I was a wreck. At first, I’d felt pain at this betrayal, this utter rejection.

But right now, white-hot rage was all that built inside me, and it felt like my blood was beginning to literally boil.

I began to pant, heat rising within me as rock after rock dented my body. The rocks were getting bigger, thrown harder, and I wondered how much longer I could go. How would I die? What would crush me?

A giant stone was lobbed, crushing my lower leg, and I felt the bones snap. I screamed and rolled over to check it and caught a rock right in the face, knocking me back.

They were coming in a flurry now, and I felt a bone in my cheek shatter with another hit, and then my orbital bone snapped. Lightning-sharp pain rocketed through me, and all I could do was lie on the ground on my face as I felt my body continue to be broken.

I hate this. Just let me kill them. Let me live so I can kill them all.

Anyone who would do this to anyone, for any reason.

This stupid mob.

Something was burning inside me now, and I wondered if my body was releasing some kind of hormone to usher me into death.

But it kept getting hotter. It was hard to breathe, almost so distracting I couldn’t feel the stones.

“Fire!” someone yelled. “I smell smoke!”

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