I can't end this until the murdering bastard knows exactly who killed him and why. I reach for the man inside me and shove the wolf down. The shift convulses through me with waves of sharp agony as it knits my open wounds back together in the process. Rett starts to shift too, no doubt to heal his own wounds, but I'm faster. By the time he finishes his transformation, I've picked up my sword and already have it unsheathed and in hand. I step closer to stand over him with blood still trickling down my arm and leg from my healing wounds. He lifts his head to glance briefly at the pendant around my neck with a look of bitter realization, then meets my penetrating gaze. Rett glares up at me in defiance for a moment, cradling his still healing arm against his chest as he kneels on the ground, before his eyes suddenly widen in shocked recognition.
"Will?" he asks quietly, his brows furrowing in complete bafflement.
"Yes," I say, my voice a deep and vicious snarl. "And this is for my father."
And after all these years of pain and guilt and sorrow, I'm finally going to take the head of the man who destroyed my family and my life. At long last, I'll have my vengeance. I grip the well-worn hilt of the sword in both my hands, then draw it back and bring the gleaming blade down toward his neck in a swift and deadly arc.
29
LYRIC
I come to an abrupt stop on the other side of the small stream I just splashed across and growl as I realize Ronan's scent has disappeared. Of course, the man is hiding his trail this way; he's here to kill somebody after all. I lift my muzzle and sift the slight breeze, hoping to catch any trace of him, but sense nothing. Damn it. This stream meanders its way through a huge chunk of the south end of the preserve, and he could've emerged from it anywhere along its bank. I've already spent too much time tracking Ronan from his car into the preserve. Trying to pick up his scent again could cost me time that I don't have if I want to stop him from killing my father, if I even can.
I snarl out my frustration as I pace around for a few moments considering my next move, then stop in my tracks as the pack's rallying howls for the hunt suddenly rise up from the north. Well shit, if I can't track Ronan, then I sure as hell can track my father instead. I take off at a dead run in the direction of the raucous howling.
I'm the fastest and nimblest wolf in our pack, so I make good time dashing through the trees and underbrush in my haste to get to Dad before it's too late. When I reach an area of smashed down grass thick with the scent of the pack, I stop to search out my dad's trail. I'm disturbed but unsurprised to find that Ronan has been here too and that his scent follows my father's lone trail off into the forest. Son of a bitch. I streak off through the trees again, driven by raw fear and desperation, not even sure what I'll do when I catch up with them. I don't want to hurt either of them, but I can't allow one to kill the other either.
I hear the ferocious growls and snarls of a fight up ahead of me and run even faster. Then I hear the crunch of bone and my father's yelp of pain as I draw closer with terror driving me onward. I finally reach a small clearing and pause at the edge of the trees when I see them. Ronan is in human form and liberally covered in blood, standing over my equally bloodied and kneeling father.
"Will?" my father says as he gapes up at Ronan. Who the fuck is Will?
"Yes," Ronan replies in a low murderous voice that is utterly and completely chilling. "And this is for my father."
Then his sword rises ominously toward the sky, and without a thought, I charge straight across the open space as the sword swings down toward Dad's neck. At the last second, I leap up into the air and slam shoulder first into Ronan's side with a loud bone-jarring thump of impact.
My sudden and unexpected attack knocks the sword from Ronan's hands and sends him tumbling away from my father to sprawl across the ground. By the time he has a chance to rise to his feet and collect his weapon, I've already thrown myself protectively in front of Dad, snarling violently at Ronan with hackles raised and my body coiled for a fight. He turns to face me, his eyes flashing cobalt with rage and his sword at the ready again, then immediately stills to stare at me in stunned shock and confusion.
"Lyric?" he asks in a whisper as his arm drops to his side, the blade now held loosely in his right hand as if he's forgotten it's there.
If not for our mating bond, I might have entertained the idea that Ronan was using me to get to my father for more than a fleeting moment, but his shocked reaction to seeing me here now would have put an end to those irrational thoughts. It also makes my next move less of a risk as I make myself vulnerable and shift back to my human form, so I can talk to him and my father. I need to know what's going on since they obviously know each other.
"Please," I say when I'm capable of speech again, my voice soft and pleading as I stand between them. "Please don't kill my dad."
Ronan's expression turns horrified as he flicks a quick glance behind me, then returns his gaze to mine. "Sugar," he says, his eyes swimming with pain and anguish. His voice starts to tremble. "He's the one I'm here for."
"He...he can't be."
"He is," Ronan says, his face morphing into a mask of hate and rage. His jaw muscles clench and unclench. "He fucking butchered my father."
My breathing turns into panicked gasps as I violently shake my head repeatedly. I don't want to believe it, I don't. "You're making a mistake."
"Get out of my way," Ronan says as he steps closer, his eyes growing cold and stony, and nothing like the man I love. "I don't want to hurt you."
"No!" I stand my ground, prepared to do the unthinkable and fight my mate, my love. "I won't let you do this...I won't."
"Lyric, honey," Dad says softly behind me as he places a gentle hand on my shoulder. "He's telling the truth about his father."
I gasp and whirl to gawk at my father, who's standing behind me now. "What?"
"It's true." Dad's expression is haunted, fraught with deep pain and sadness, and I know immediately that he's telling the truth, no matter how much I don't want him to be. "I killed him."
"See?" Ronan says sharply. "He's needs to die for what he did."
"I didn't want to do it, but I had no choice." Dad's eyes flick behind me to Ronan with a pleading expression. "Will, your father was-"
"Liar!" Ronan cuts Dad off as he presses closer behind me, his hand landing on my shoulder and shoving me roughly to the side before I can react.
I land so hard on my ass that it sends a whoosh of air out of my lungs. I look up to see Ronan swinging his sword at my father as I struggle to suck in a breath again. Dad ducks and backpedals away from the blade.
"Will, stop," Dad says as he evades Ronan's sword again. "Listen to me."
Ronan's response is a ferocious snarl as he attacks my father with a violent barrage of flashing silver. Dad barely avoids them, dodging and sidestepping each sword stroke, but never retaliating. He doesn't want to hurt Ronan, and though that gives me hope that Dad isn't the monster Ronan said he is, I know Dad can't keep this up forever. Ronan's attack lacks the finesse I know he's capable of thanks to his blinding rage, but it's only a matter of time before one of his strikes hits home. I need to do something.
I rise to my feet readying to throw myself on Ronan's back in an attempt to stop him, when movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I glance over to see a massive black wolf barreling silently toward Ronan's unprotected back. It's Wyatt. Shit. Things just went from bad to worse, and if Wyatt's here, the rest of the pack won't be far behind, and that will be very very bad for Ronan.
"Ronan, behind you!" I cry out just as my brother launches himself at Ronan.
Ronan spins around at the last second, and it's enough to turn Wyatt's charge into a glancing blow that sends Ronan staggering to the side and down on one knee. Wyatt pivots before Ronan has a chance to retaliate, insanely fast for a wolf his size, and lunges in with fangs bared at my mate's face. Ronan jerks backward at the last second and just barely avoids having his face bitten off. Then he whips his sword around in a defensive s
troke that has Wyatt dancing out of the weapon's reach. The two begin circling each other looking for an opening with Wyatt's flaming golden eyes locked on Ronan's fiery cobalt ones.
"Wyatt!" Dad calls out just as the two tense for another clash. "That's enough!"
Wyatt flicks a confused glance at my father, but holds his attack. Ronan on the other hand, growls and presses forward with his sword at the ready.
I rush forward to place myself between Ronan and my brother. "Stop!" I give Ronan a pleading expression with my hands out in a staying gesture. "Please, stop."
He hesitates with his brows furrowing, his sword dropping into a defensive position. "I can't, sugar," he says his voice harsh and his face set in stubborn determination. "I have to end this." He shoots a brief glance at my brother and father. "No matter what."
Desperate, I take in a breath to plead with him again, when the forest around us suddenly erupts with loud ferocious snarls. I glance around to see gold, amber, silver, and cobalt eyes glowing in the darkness all around us as Beckett, Harmony, Cooper, Emmett, and Raven emerge from the trees to surround us. He'll never survive if he continues fighting now, and God only knows who he might take with him before they take him out. Shit. I turn back to Ronan. He has his sword gripped with both hands, prepared to take on the entire pack with a single-minded madness in his eyes that says he doesn't even care if he dies, and my fear for Ronan suddenly turns into absolute terror.
30
RONAN
I have my sword raised and at the ready as the pack slowly converges on me. My eyes flick to the wolf closest to me. His eyes are alight in silver bloodlust, his dark-gray fur bristling and body taut with an imminent attack. I know from his scent that he's Lyric's brother Emmett, my sister's mate. The slender she-wolf next to him is jet-black with blazing cobalt eyes, just like my own wolf. I catch her scent and recognize her as my sister, Raven. From their angry demeanors, I'm sure they both recognize me from the bar last night. God only knows what they're thinking about my presence here, but I'm sure it's nothing good from the way they're looking at me. I have no intention of hurting my sister in any way, or her mate for her sake, which makes the chances of me surviving this fight even lower. So be it.
Lyric spins and puts her back to me in a defensive stance, and I tense to shove her out of the way. I'm not about to let her fight her own pack to defend me. I was completely blindsided to learn that she's the daughter of the man I'm here to kill, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. I never asked her for her full name, didn't ask about her family or her pack. It didn't matter when we didn't have a future together, and after I kill her father, that sure as fuck won't even be a remote possibility. I know she'll never forgive me for it, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't see this through.
"Everyone stand the fuck down now!" Rett calls out furiously. Silence instantly cloaks the clearing as the pack obeys their Alpha. He stalks closer, his face fiercely determined as he stares over Lyric's shoulder at me. "We're at an impasse now, so you're going to listen to what I have to fucking say. Then if you still want to fight me afterwords, you have my word it will be just between you and me with no pack interference." A low growl of dissent goes through the wolves, but Rett puts an end to it with baleful glances at each of them.
I make a scoffing noise. "Like your word means anything," I say, my tone harsh and bitter. "What lies have you fed them all to keep them from seeing the monster you really are?"
The pack bristles, the snarls and growls starting up again until Rett puts a stop to it with another angry rebuke.
"Like you've been honest," Rett says, then points at the pendant around my neck. "Hiding yourself with a spelled stone to get to me doesn't exactly make you trustworthy." The growling and snarling begins again, particularly from Emmett and Raven this time.
"I'm not the one with something to hide," I say, then yank forcibly on the necklace, snapping the chain before I toss it to the ground with a snarl. "Do any of them know what you did to my father, your own best friend? Do they know that their happy carefree life here cost me everything?" I lift my sword to point the tip at Weylin as I stare daggers at him, noting the stricken guilty expression on his face. "You're a fucking murderer, and I'm not going to stand here and listen to your lies. Nothing you ever say can change the fact that you deserve to fucking die for what you did." I take a menacing step forward as the pack moves in closer. I assess the distance between Weylin and me, and hope I'm fast enough to get to him before they can converge on me.
"Stop!" Lyric suddenly screams in a frantic voice. "Everyone fucking stop!" She whirls and places herself directly in front of me, putting her hands on my bare chest to halt me. I'm immediately inundated with her near panicked fear and worry. "Ronan, please stop and listen to him...please." Her pleading eyes meet mine, and I'm wrecked with guilt over what this is doing to her. "I need to hear what my father has to say as much as you do."
"Sugar," I say roughly. "I don't want to hear any of his lies."
"My lies?" Rett asks. "What about the ones you used to seduce my daughter and use her to get to me?"
She glances briefly over her shoulder at Rett. "Dad, I wasn't seduced or used by him. He didn't even know I was related to you." She turns back to place her hand on my cheek. "We're bonded; he's my mate." Her declaration is met with abrupt silence all around us, but I couldn't care less as her love rises up and gushes into me in a warm soothing tide that pushes its way past the raging bloodlust churning inside me. "Please," she whispers, "for me."
Her love, and her gentle words and touch crumble my resistance in an instant. I place a hand on the soft skin of her hip and drop my forehead to hers in acceptance. It's the least I owe her before I turn her love for me into hate. "For you, sugar."
After a moment of enjoying what I'm certain will be some of the last few times I get to touch her, I look up and turn a scowl on Rett, who's still gaping at Lyric and me, along with the rest of the pack staring at us with wide startled eyes.
"Now talk," I say in a near snarling tone. Lyric tenses with more fear that probably has just as much to do with what her father might say next as it has to do with what will happen between him and me afterwords.
"Will-" Rett began.
"Don't call me that," I say through gritted teeth. "I don't go by that name anymore." I don't deserve to share that name with the father I failed.
"Fine." He drew in a slow measured breath before speaking again. "For years, the pack that your father and I belonged to was a stable one. There was the usual jockeying for position and the occasional infighting, but our Alpha was fair and for the most part, kept the peace and life was good. At least until his human son became the pack's mage, and had delusions of running the pack himself."
I nod, his words lining up with what little I knew of my father's pack, and from the tiny bits of my parent's conversation that I remember from the night we fled.
Rett sighed and shook his head. "It was subtle at first, the psychological and magical influence he used on his father, but over time, our Alpha began to act more and more erratic and unpredictable. He'd turn a blind eye on behavior that he never let slide in the past, then he'd come down hard on another for some minor or imagined infraction that never mattered to him before. Eventually, he even banished some of them from the pack. Suddenly, we all found ourselves walking on eggshells, wondering when we'd be the one to piss off the Alpha and get kicked out."
I stifled a growl, not giving a shit about any of his bullshit back story, but I'd promised Lyric I'd listen. I really just wanted him to tell me what despicable reason he had for murdering my father before I killed him. Lyric sidled closer to me, feeling my impatience and irritation, and trying to soothe me with through our bond. I tighten my fingers around her hip, grateful for her presence.
"Eventually, things went from bad to worse." Rett's face twists into a disgusted expression. "The Alpha decided that we weren't using our resources to our best advantage. He demanded that the wild blood women in our p
ack be bred with the strongest members to bolster our numbers." His eyes hardened. "That included my mate."
Shit. I felt Lyric's disgust and horror at that revelation. I got the sense that she already knew about it, but that didn't make it anymore palatable to her. If someone wanted to do that to her, I'd fucking kill them.
Rett shook his head vehemently. "I couldn't let that happen, so I convinced Bill and another friend we trusted, Cob Rollins, to go talk to the Alpha with me, to reason with him and convince him that his son was manipulating him and using him." Rett looked down at the ground for a second, then looked up again with a pained expression. "It was a mistake. Our Alpha was too far gone to listen to us. He called his son out from where he and some of his brainwashed lackeys had been listening in on our entire conversation. Our loyalty to the pack was questioned, and our lives and the lives of our families were threatened if we didn't fall in line with the rest of the pack."
His face twisted in chagrin. "I lost my temper at that point and started to shift. I went after the Alpha's son, only managing to claw up the bastard's face a few times before Bill pulled me off him to keep me from ripping his throat out. If it wasn't for your father, I'd have gotten all of us killed right then and there. He calmed me down, then somehow talked the Alpha into letting my lapse in judgment go and smoothed things over enough for us to get out of there in one piece. But I knew it was merely a temporary reprieve since all we'd managed to do was paint targets on our backs. That was when I realized that our only option to protect our families was to flee."
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