Page 107 of Fated to be Enemies

There were plenty of reasons to bring him down. But the action that put that final nail in his coffin was when he tried to murder my mate.

She was right that he would never stop coming for her. Hunting her. If not for what she was to me, if not because she was Scott Kingston’s sole heir, then because she was simply a loose end to tie up.

Mathis stepped into the trees, half his face hidden in shadow. He had a wild look in his eyes, like a madman. My hands clenched at my sides. Dannika wrapped her fingers around my forearm, giving me a reassuring squeeze.

“Markus,” Mathis called. His voice boomed, making the branches rustle. True to his word, the boy froze as if in surprise. Fear. He turned toward his father, and I suspected it wasn’t all fake. “My son. My heir.” He smiled cruelly. “Such a disappointment. Still waiting here. Licking your wounds because you refused to mount the bitch?—”

I started to take a step forward and Dannika stopped me. Her head tilted, a small frown playing at her lips. I lifted an eyebrow in question.

“I didn’t deserve Dannika. I still don’t,” Markus said quietly. Even in the face of his own personal nightmare, the boy was starting to stand up like a man.

Mathis doubled at the waist, letting out a raucous laugh. “I’d say she must have a tight snatch to have you both so pussy whipped, but I know the vampire never let you near her. At least in that, he had the balls to lay a claim. Unlike you.”

Magic gathered in the palm of my hand. An axe. I was going to butcher the bastard for this.

Dannika gave her head a sharp jerk, shaking it once. I frowned.

What is she trying to tell me? Danni couldn’t possibly have been trying to save Mathis.

She jutted her chin to the east. Toward the forest. Trees.

I might’ve been a master vampire, but I wasn’t a mind reader. It was only when the wind changed that I caught the scent. For all my strength and speed, my sense of smell and hearing were not nearly as strong as a shifter’s, so while I knew he had shifters lurking behind him in the trees, I’d missed the dozens who were sneaking through the forest.

It was more than we’d expected.

Markus gave his father a look of disgust. “I never knew how much of a sick fuck you were until she showed me. I knew the beatings weren’t right, but the rest of it? The emotional abuse, the way you pitted me against everyone—my brother, my pack, my mate—I should have challenged you a long time ago.”

Mathis’s laughing stopped, but he kept the leering smile.

“You couldn’t win a challenge against me even if I tied a hand behind my back.” Mathis scoffed. “You’re weak. A poor excuse for an alpha. It’s the reason fate tied you to a broken shifter. It’s a shame it took that for me to finally see it.” He surveyed his son, as if evaluating a stud that wasn’t up to par. “Better I know now. There’s still time to fix Triton. If I can break your mother, I can do it to him. He’ll suffice.”

Markus turned rigid. “I won’t let you touch him. You’re not going to fuck up my brother like you did me.”

Mathis lifted his eyebrows. “And who’s going to stop me? You?”

Glancing over his shoulder, Mathis made a movement with his head, likely motioning for someone to grab Markus. Shade, his second, stepped out—followed by Andreas.

It seemed Mathis had thrown discretion out the window and was coming in full force. I’d expected warriors. Soldiers. But his second and third in command surprised me.

No matter. It worked to my advantage, and I’d slaughter them all the same.

Shade and Andreas both grabbed Markus, each taking an arm to hold him in place. The kid let out a roar, fur erupting along his arms and spine. “I won’t have to!”

Mathis continued smiling, unfazed. His eyes lifted from his son, staring straight at Danni and me despite the trees, branches, or distance.

“Hello, Elias,” he sneered. Snapping his fingers, the wolves Danni had sniffed out sprang from the trees, forming a circle around us.

In the distance, a wolf yelped, and its muffled anguish was silenced before Nova let out a howl that the gods themselves must’ve heard.

As her call echoed to the heavens, clouds drifted across the sky. A harvest moon peeked through, casting us in a crimson glow, foreshadowing what I already knew.

Blood would be spilled on this night.

CHAPTER 35

Dannika

An onslaught of rage was eating at me. I knew it wasn’t my own, but that didn’t stop my blood from racing. My face warmed, heat rushing up my neck and into my cheeks. A headache erupted, threatening to split my skull.

---