Page 34 of No Harm No Howl

The thought that these assholes had gone after his mate made Russ want to rip Brady’s throat out all over again. He’d have to temper his anger and rage when it came to dealing with Colton if he wanted answers. Especially when all he wanted to do was kill first and ask questions later.That just wouldn’t work. Not only that, his wolf wanted nothing to do with diplomacy … nothing at all.

In less than a minute, Russ was sneaking up behind Colton. Climbing up the side of a large rock formation in wolf form while remaining perfectly quiet had been a challenge, but it hadn’t been impossible. Once Russ was at the top, he saw Colton lying on his stomach, watching everything that happened in the valley below. The man continued to look through his scope, completely unaware that Russ was behind him.

“Damn it, Brady. Come in. Where the hell are you? This isn’t even funny, man. I’m going to kick you in the balls if you’re punking me again.”

Russ needed to move fast to disable this asshat and keep him from trying to get a shot off or running away. He didn’t put either past the man. He would fight, or he would run. Russ was betting the guy would run. He could smell the fear surrounding him.

Without giving it a second thought, Russ sprang, taking a bite out of the man’s calf.

“Fuck!” he screamed, dropping the rifle and rolling over to grab his now blood-soaked leg.

Russ quickly shifted into his human form to confront the dirtbag. “Why are you here?” he growled.

“To kill you. Where’s Brady?” the man asked with a tremble in his voice.

“Dead. I’ll kill you too if you don’t tell me who sent you,” Russ snarled.

“I can’t. He’ll kill me if I say anything.”

“That’s what you’re going to go with? You’re so afraid of someone who isn’t here, you’re going to try to protect them?”

“You don’t get it, man. He’ll kill me and … my family,” Colton shrieked.

“And you think I won’t? I’ll end you here and go after everyone related to you for generations to come. I will wipe out your entire fucking line if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

As far as threats went, it was probably the strongest and fakest one Russ had ever issued. But then again, no one had ever had the audacity to go after his mate before. So there was that.

“I … I,” the man stammered.

“Tell me!” Russ shouted.

“Damon Merkle. He’s the one who hired me.”

“Motherfucker,” Russ growled.

“I told you. You’ll let me live now, right?” Colton begged.

“Who went after my mate? Who is Mags?” he demanded.

“Damon found out that you had found your mate. He wants both of you dead for what you did to him. He’s not gonna stop until both of you are dead,” Colton said.

Russ knew Damon well. He’d been one of his best employees until he’d started stalking one of their high-profile clients. Damon had fallen in love with her. Head-over-heels type of shit. Yet she wasn’t his fated mate. The woman had become an obsession. A dangerous one at that. Every thought Damon had was about the woman.

He wasn’t sleeping unless it was in his car in front of her house. Yet, he'd hidden it well until a series of complaints had trickled in from others in the office who had been assigned to work with him.

One of Damon’s partners had to keep him from jumping a date the woman had one night. Jealousy raged through Damon when he saw her with another man. That was when Russ had to step in. After Russ had learned all that Damon had done to stalk and harass the woman, Russ knew there was no other option.

He turned Damon into his local pack master and fired him from his position at WSI. Damon had left him no choice. His behavior had become erratic and unstable. He couldn’t be trusted to do the right thing. He had to go.

Of course, it hadn’t been that easy. Damon had pitched a fit, sworn retribution, and all that bullshit, but it didn’t matter to Russ. In his line of business, he had to be able to trust the people working for him. Period. Once that trust was gone, it was gone. There was no earning it back. The serious character flaws that Damon had shown should have been realized sooner. But they had somehow been missed until it was too late, and the damage had already been done.

Russ glanced down at the man on the ground, wondering what the hell he should do with him. “What will you do if I grant you the gift of life, Colton? Will your first phone call be to Damon to tell him that I’m still alive?”

“Fuck that guy. I needed the money, but this shit isn’t worth it. I gotta kid at home. I was just tryin’ to make money to support my son.”

Russ wanted to stay angry at the douchebag, but he couldn’t. He’d grown up poor as fuck and knew what it was like to feel helpless. Like the world was out to get you when you couldn’t afford to put food on the table or keep the damn lights on. None of it was a good feeling, and it all pretty much sucked a pair of dirty, rank-ass balls.

“How old is your son?” Russ asked.

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