He smiled. “Then carry on, kid. Carry on.”
I left the house, casual as I could. Teegan wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back here. He’d have to know Gavin would make him suffer. He’d make death look like a mercy. No. This was just my father’s way of twisting me. Making me worry. I was pretty sure if I checked, Andrew Givens, a wolf who’d been employed by Gavin for the last ten years, was safe and sound and still very much alive.
Just like Teegan…
I crossed the lawn between our place and Kensey’s and paused beneath the treehouse. The light in her room was on, but the rest of the house was dark. There was no way I could climb up and tap on her window without an entire house of wolves hearing me, so I pulled out my cell.
Outside, I texted. A few moments later, there was movement in the room. Her shadow passed in front of the window, and a few seconds later, a text came through.
Going to sleep. C U in the am
Yeah. Now I knew something was definitely up. Outside, I texted again. Or I’m coming in through the front door.
The light in her room flipped off, and her footsteps faded. By the time I made it to the front door, she was just coming outside. “You’re going to have to trust me on this, Slade. Stay ca—”
The entire right side of her face was a mix of blue and purple, and the corner of her lip was split. “What the fuck happened?”
“I walked into a wall.”
“If you think I’m going to buy that—”
“No, really. That’s what happened. We were at the movies, and some guy started hitting on me. I turned him down and he grabbed my ass. I turned around, and in my haste to get away, I slammed my face into the wall.” She folded her arms. “Then Carter, being the chivalrous chap we all know and love, came to my defense. He knocked the guy out, but not before my movie-theater-stalker got in one good crack to his head.”
Now I understood. That was what Carter had told everyone. The story he sold them to cover his own ass—because striking a pack daughter? That came with a stiff punishment. It wouldn’t be completely off kilter, either, because Kensey was the biggest klutz the wolf community had ever seen.
I breathed in deep and held it for five ticks. Calm. Had to maintain my calm.
Gonna rip his toes off one by one…
“And they believe that story?”
Then I’ll work on his fingers.
She relaxed a little. “Why wouldn’t they?”
Then move on to his ribs. Bet I could remove them one by one… Maybe feed them back to him.
Another deep breath. “Because anyone with half a fucking brain can see that bruise isn’t from a wall.”
She shrugged. “People see what they want to see.”
“I’m going to kill him. You know that, right?” My voice was even, but the storm brewing inside was furious and deadly.
“You’re sweet, but no, you won’t.” She held up her thumb. “One, that’s exactly what he wants. I mean, that’s not the reason he did it, but it’d be an added bonus.” Her pointer finger went up. “And two, I can take care of myself. I don’t need you or anyone else sweeping in to defend my honor.”
She could take care of herself. I knew that. But that didn’t change the fact I wanted to rip his head off. “What was his reason?”
“Um, because he’s crazy?”
Yeah. I was sure that was it.
“Look, I wasn’t lying. I really am beat.” She glanced back toward the house. “Swear to me that you’ll go home. Just leave this thing with Carter to settle. Please?”
It was the last thing I wanted to do, but the urge to do as she asked, to make her happy, was stronger. I was furious, and eventually I would kick the fucker’s teeth down his throat. But for now, I would give her what she wanted. I would let it be. I could prove to her—and myself—that I was more than just a McAlister temper.
For her—because of her—I would be more.
“Thank you,” she said. She smiled and carefully kissed me before heading back into the house. I waited until she was inside before heading home.
I was halfway back to the house when I smelled him. I’d promised not to hunt Carter down, but he’d be fair game if he was stupid enough to venture onto my territory. I got back to the house as Gavin let him in the front door.
“There’s no way you were stupid enough to come here,” I spat, slamming the door behind me. The glass in the window shattered, and the hinges snapped, leaving it hanging slightly off kilter. “You’re either insane or suicidal.”
Carter laughed. “I figured if you hadn’t tracked me down by now, then she must have told you to leave me alone. Leashed you up nice and tight.”
“Yet here you are…”
“This wolf comes into your home after striking your intended?” Gavin clucked his tongue. “Seems to me that you have only one course of action, kid.”
Every bone in my body, every nerve, was itching to attack. Be it the temper I’d inherited from Gavin, the true nature of the wolf, or just the fact that I hated Carter even more than I hated myself was more than enough of an excuse to get me to react. But I’d made a promise to Kensey. One I wanted desperately to keep. I wanted to prove to her, to all of them, that I wasn’t Gavin. I was somebody better.
I took a step back and, even though my fists were clenched tight and my blood was rushing, nodded to the door. “Get out before I do something I’ll regret.”
“Really? Just like that?” Carter shrugged. “Whatever, but first, I came here for a reason.” He squared his shoulders and looked me in the eye. A challenge. “Back off and let Deaton give her to me.”
I stared at him, sure he had to be high. “You really thought that would work?”
“Think about it. Do you really want to doom her to this life? No matter what you do, you’ll always be the bottom of our barrel. Nothing more than thieves and murderers. If you claim her, she’ll be trash by association.”
My blood began to boil. “Because with you she’d have a great life? She’s not a fucking piece of property. Sam Deaton can’t give her to you.”
“She is property, McAlister. A walking incubator for a stronger pack—one that would be wasted on you.”
1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
“Really, it doesn’t matter what you do. Deaton will never let you have her. He and my father have been talking. That bitch is as good as mine.”
6,7, 8…
His grin widened. “Back out now and save us all some time and aggravation, and I’ll owe you.” He winked. “Maybe I’ll let you borrow her once in a while.”
9…fuck it.
I sprang forward with a feral snarl on my lips and tackled him to the ground. He was surprised at first, but it didn’t last. Carter was a wheeler and dealer, but he was still a wolf—and wolves didn’t go down easy.
One of his blows landed at my temple, and everything swam for a second. It was just enough time to give him the advantage.
“I guess I’ll just kill you,” he huffed as another blow landed at my gut. “Self-defense.”
“I should have killed you years ago,” I roared as I blocked the next one and elbowed him in the neck. We separated and rolled away from each other. He sputtered and stumbled up, coughing and struggling for air. I righted myself, an electric hum pulsing through me. The wolf demanded blood as payment, and I was more than happy to oblige. “The first time you dared lay a fucking hand on her.”
Carter snickered. “Know the difference between us, McAlister?” He thumped his chest and thrust out his chin. “Emotion. I can separate myself from it. See the bigger picture. You? You’re ruled by it.”
“Bullshit,” I spat, even though I knew better. He was right. The anger that festered inside? The rage I held close? Those were the driving force behind most of my actions. Less so lately because of Kensey, but they were still there. Still squirming beneath the surface.
“Bullshit? So you’re not gonna lose your shit on our Claiming night? When I take her back to my place and throw her onto my
bed—”
Gavin let out a whistle. “I’d tread carefully, son.”
Carter laughed. “Nah. Who needs human comforts? We’re animals. I’ll just drag the bitch out back and—”
I let out a noise that reverberated throughout my entire body and launched myself at him.
“Come on, kid. You’re a McAlister,” Gavin said. He was lingering in the corner just watching this play out. “We don’t get beaten by punks like this.”
A small part of me knew he was only goading me to prove a point—that I was just like him—but another part didn’t care. It heard his words and agreed. I swung out, clipping the corner of Carter’s jaw. The blow rocked him off balance and sent him on his back. I was on him in a second.
“Don’t look at her.”
She’s mine…
I hit him.
“Don’t talk to her.”
I’m within my rights to kill him…
I hit him again, harder.
“Don’t even fucking think about her.”
It wouldn’t take much. Just a quick change…
In that moment, the feel of his blood, slick against my skin, was euphoric. The sight of him, broken, bleeding, and humiliated, was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. In the back of my mind, I registered the thoughts as wrong. Sick. Going against everything I wanted to be. But the pull of sensation was far too strong to ignore.
The itch bloomed, deep in my chest. An all-consuming primal whisper that demanded attention. I stood and stumbled away from Carter, and it was happening before I even realized. My muscles twitched, and there was a subtle ache in my bones. I fell to the floor as Carter stood. He stared at me with true fear in his eyes. It wasn’t until I tried to laugh, to speak, that I realized why.
I’d shifted.
The transition was seamless. Easy and virtually painless in a way I’d never imagined possible. It was simple, and I was powerful.
I was deadly.
I launched myself at him, chasing that euphoric feeling, determined to stretch it out. To claim the ultimate prize. He’d dropped to the floor in a feeble attempt to shift, but he was too slow. I latched onto his leg and pulled, dragging his body closer. Again and again I sank my teeth into him as he tried to fend me off. Flesh and blood and the best of all? Screaming. So much screaming.
I would have completely decimated him if it weren’t for Gavin. “Enough.”
The human parts of me wanted to ignore him, to keep right on tearing into my enemy. Unfortunately, the wolf was loyal and obedient. I froze and let go of my prey.
“I think you got your point across, kid,” he said with a satisfied snicker.
I backed away and forced the shift, still marveling at how easy it’d been. Gavin tossed a sheet at me from the pile of clean laundry on the table, and I wrapped it around my waist. Carter was a mess. Face and shirt covered in blood, left arm twisted at an odd angle. His heart still beat. He was alive—and I knew he’d be fine. We healed fast. But the weight of what I’d done—what I could have done—was suffocating. Worse than that? The feeling I got while doing it.
“If you hadn’t pulled me off him—”
“Then he would have gotten what he deserved,” Gavin finished. He let go and gave me a hard shove across the room. “You did good, kid.”
You did good, kid…
I wanted to throw up.
“If you’re worried about backlash, set your mind at ease.” He pointed to the small camera above the entryway. “You attacked him first, but technically, you were within your rights—according to their laws. You’re courting the Deaton girl. You can defend her as you see fit. Going by what he said, you were justified.”
It wasn’t about that. The fact that I might be in hot water for pummeling the son of another pack’s alpha never even entered my mind. It was what I’d done, how—with a thrill in my heart and a fucking spring in my step.
I’d loved every second.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kensey
The whole house buzzed with what had happened last night. Of course, it didn’t help that Michael Pennington had been here since around three a.m., demanding that an army march on the McAlister house in retribution.
Gavin had uncharacteristically come to his son’s aid, supplying proof Carter had shown up at their house unprovoked. The coalition leaders were behind closed doors hashing it out, but from the looks of it, things would go Slade’s way. We also came clean about my face and my history with Carter. I still wasn’t sure my dad bought it, but he listened to what I had to say, so that was an improvement.
“You’ve been quiet,” I said. We were under house arrest until this whole thing was sorted. Carter was healing in our guest bedroom upstairs, and I couldn’t tell if Slade was fuming because he was in the same house or if he was still edgy from the fight. I tried to grab his hand, but he pulled away. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing to say.”
“I’m not mad.” I tried again. “You don’t have to—”
“You’re not mad?” He threw up his hands and waggled his fingers. “Well, then all is right with my fucking world.”
“Whoa. Down boy.”
For a second, I thought he’d snap at me again. There was a spark of something I couldn’t quite pin, mixed with the anger in his eyes, but he slouched back in the chair and sighed. “I just—I need some air. I’ll be back.”
He stood so fast that the coffee table in front of us wobbled, almost tipping over. Before I could blink, he was through the kitchen and out the back door. I couldn’t really blame him for going off on Carter. I hadn’t seen the tape, but if he’d shown up on Slade’s doorstep, shooting his mouth off, even I would have lost my cool. He’d kept his word. He hadn’t gone looking for Carter. Carter had come looking for him.
“We’re finished here.” My father’s office door swung open. Turning to Michael Pennington, he said, “Please remove your son from my house. He is no longer welcomed here.”
Michael nodded and shuffled toward the stairs.
My father settled in his arm chair across from me. Folding his hands in his lap, he said, “You have never needed a boy—or anyone—to come to your aid.”
“Nope.”
“You hit him?”
“Damn right I did,” I said defensively.
I expected to be lectured about hitting the son of an alpha, but instead, he frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth last night?”
I shrugged. “You wouldn’t have believed me. There was no point.”
His lips twisted downward even farther. He wanted to argue, I saw it in his eyes, in the way his jaw clenched, but he sighed. I was right, and he couldn’t deny it. “Carter Pennington is no longer a suitable mate.”
“Thank God…”
“But neither is the McAlister boy.”
“How can you even say that? He did what he did tonight because he cares about me,” I argued. “He might not have passed your stupid little test the way you expected, but he did pass.”
My father studied me for the longest moment. “Perhaps, but it changes nothing. The McAlister bloodline embodies all the things we are trying to eradicate from our species. They’re blood thirsty, violent, and cruel. To survive in this world now, we have to blend with the humans. In this day and age, discovery would be the end of us. The McAlister pack is careless and unstructured. If given the power that lies dormant in your blood…”
“Ya know what? Enough,” I shouted. His mouth fell open, and his eyes got impossibly wide. “I am worth more than the blood in my veins. I’m not some damn commodity for you to use in an effort to increase your standing!”
For a moment, his eyes went wide. Stricken. It was the only way to describe the look in them. He reached across and trailed a finger over my cheek. “Of course you’re not,” he agreed. “You are worth so much more. But the law is the law. It is our turn to merge with another pack. I apologize for not seeing the truth about the Pennington boy, but I will choose more carefully next time. That
choice will not—cannot—be the McAlister wolf.”
God! He was so narrow minded sometimes. “You can’t judge one wolf by an entire pack.”
There was pity in his eyes. “Yes, I can, Kensey. A wolf is only as good as his alpha.”
“So, what now? Because we’re at an impasse here. Carter is out of the running, so you’ll be attempting to pimp me out to some other moron.”
“That’s not what this is.” My father was cool as ice. Put him under ten thousand pounds of pressure, and the guy wouldn’t crack. But right then, I saw a small chink in his armor. A gleam of regret in his eyes there and gone so fast, I might have imagined it if I didn’t know the man beneath the facade. We went back and forth, clashing over the tiniest details of our lives, but he loved me and I loved him. “You think I would have offered Carter up as a possibility if I’d known the truth?”
“I don’t know,” I said, which was a lie. He wouldn’t have. No. He would have found some other shlub—probably harmless and dull—who he thought would make a great protector and strong provider for me and my future children. Someone whose blood would be useful to the pack.
There was a spark of anger in his eyes. “I would never knowingly put you in danger.”
“Then don’t do this,” I countered. “Because whether you realize it or not, forcing me to be with someone I don’t love is dangerous. I’m not Mom. I’m not Amanda. I can’t live like that. I won’t.”
“We all must do things we don’t like. Things that make us uncomfortable—or hurt us.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Slade
The coalition leaders let me go with a firm warning about curbing my violent urges. After that, Gavin dragged me back to the house, saying he had a favor he needed.
And that’s where I was now. Doing him another favor.
I glanced into the rearview mirror. Kensey’s jacket was rolled in a ball behind the passenger’s seat next to an empty Kit Kat wrapper. I felt like an asshole for snapping at her earlier. None of this was her fault. I was the one who lost my temper. I was the one who couldn’t keep his shit together.
It’d been two hours now, and I was beginning to think I might get lucky. Gavin had sent me out here to get payment on another loan, but no one was here. I was about to start the engine, when the guy pulled into his driveway.