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I WAS RESTLESS. THE minutes ticked by. With every passing minute, I was terrified Decker would come for me. He was going to assume I’d balked on my end of the deal. He was probably out there right now, lining up his little army. I pretended to sleep, but it was impossible. I listened to Hawk breathing, praying he would drift off to sleep. The man was stalwart and refused to succumb to the exhaustion I knew he felt.
I waited until it was shift change and then I finally saw an opportunity. Hawk was exhausted when Radolf came in to relieve him. I pretended to be half-asleep. “I need some water,” I murmured.
Hawk and Radolf were talking in the hall. I got up, wearing nothing but a T-shirt and underwear. Radolf took one look at my outfit and moved out of my way. I walked downstairs to the kitchen and turned on the water. I left it running and made my break for it. I raced up the hill and pulled on the shorts I always kept in the cabin before slipping my shoes on. I had stashed the gun in the cabin, which I now had in my hand. Wolves didn’t have hands or fingers which meant I had to stay in human form. I kept running. I knew it was only a matter of time before they realized I was gone.
I took a different route to the Ironclaw territory. I was about to embark down the hill when an arm reached out and grabbed me. “I’ll take that,” Decker said and ripped the gun from my hand.
Two of his men grabbed hold of my arms. I struggled against them, but it was futile. “This wasn’t the deal,” I hissed at Decker.
“You were supposed to be here earlier. You balked.”
“I didn’t balk. I’m here now.”
“And how many of your crew did you bring?”
“None.”
“Bullshit.”
“Do you see anyone, Decker?”
His evil smile made me sick. “It doesn’t matter. You are mine now.”
“Then let’s do this. You said you would make it fast. I’m holding you to it.”
“I’m not sure I want to hold up that end of our bargain. That’s no fun.”
“Don’t be a bitch, Decker. You got everything you wanted. I’m here.”
“You know I don’t trust you. I don’t trust your little buddies either. I have to protect myself.”
“Yeah, because you are in such danger.”
“When they realize I’ve killed you, they will come for me. I have to strike first.”
My blood ran cold. “You said you would not attack my pack.”
“Azalea, you cannot be that stupid.”
“I trusted your word.”
“That was dumb.”
“Just leave them be. You have me. You kill the alpha, and you take the pack. That’s what you wanted. My pack will either leave or accept you as their alpha. That is what we agreed.”
“I don’t trust you,” he said. “I never trusted you to show up. That’s how a real alpha thinks. You trust no one.”
I realized what he was saying. “What did you do?”
“I put some contingencies in place.”
I’d fucked up. He was going to kill them. He was never going to let me live. He wasn’t going to let any of us live. I should have listened to my guys. I should have listened to their warnings. I was a fool to believe Decker. I didn’t deserve to be alpha.
“Decker, just let them live. They’ve never done anything to you. You were part of our pack. You’ve lived with these people for decades. They’ve fed you and laughed with you. You’ve buried members of our pack and mourned their losses. How can you turn your back on them?”
“Those people never looked at me like I was anything. They saw right through me. They saw your father. Then they saw you.”
I stomped my foot with frustration. “You could have been alpha! It was yours for the taking! Why didn’t you just take the job?”
“Because there would have been challengers. No one would have accepted me. It’s just like what they did to my father. I should have been alpha because it was my right, not because I had to fight for it.”
“I didn’t want the job. I told you to take it.”
“Enough!”
I stopped talking and then decided I couldn’t give up. “Please, Decker.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” he warned. “One whistle from me and it all goes down. The Evencrest pack will be destroyed. There will be no survivors.”
“So what now?” I asked.
“Check the path,” Decker said to the two men holding me. “If you hear the signal, you know what to do.”
The men dropped my arms and quietly went off to do his bidding. The odds were looking better. I could take Decker. “Are you going to do it here?” I asked him.
“Why do you care?”
“Will you leave my body for my pack to find? To give a proper burial?”
He made a big show of laughing and rolling his eyes. “Are you really so insipid? Do you think it matters what happens to your body?”
“Yes, I do. Do not disrespect our traditions. You can be a monster, but you are still a wolf. You have the blood running through your veins.”
He didn’t care. Some part of him had shut down. He wasn’t the man I knew. Rather, the man I thought I knew. This man was evil through and through. I noticed him look to the left. He was nervous. He pretended to be a stone-cold killer, but he wasn’t quite as confident as he pretended to be.
There was a split-second for me to decide what to do. He had the gun I’d brought. It was tucked into the back of his jeans. I could get it. I remembered what Ares told me. Hit to hurt. Don’t be a pussy. Don’t try to hurt him a little. I had to break bones and hurt him bad.
“It will only take a single alert,” Decker said as if he had read my mind.
“Can we just get this done?” I snapped. “The deal was for you to kill me. Torturing me with your company was not part of our arrangement.”
“You have always been a smart mouth.”
“Yes, I suppose I have.”
“It’s a very unattractive quality.”
“Gee, I’ll remember that. I would hate to be unattractive.”
He turned again, and I sprang into action. I launched the full weight of my body at him. Unfortunately, my bodyweight was about half of his. I knocked him off balance, but I didn’t knock him to the ground like I hoped. I reached around and tried to grab the gun. He managed to push me off just far enough to take a swing at me. The blow made me see stars.
I stumbled backwards, and just when I thought I could keep my balance, he hit me again. I fell to the ground. I could taste blood in my mouth. I knew I was about to die. I prayed Hawk didn’t have to see it again when it happened. His visions were enough. I took a deep breath and pushed myself up, holding the rock I’d picked up while I was down. I was going to fight until I was dead.
“How does it feel to hit girls?” I sneered. “What do you think about girls that hit back? Is that unattractive?”
I lunged at him and swung. I managed to connect the rock against the side of his head. My glory was short-lived. He lunged again, pushing me so hard I fell flat on my back. The air was knocked out of my lungs. I couldn’t move. I felt like I was going to pass out.
Real panic flooded through me.
