Slater laughed, the sound ominous. “Doesn’t matter. Clint’s going to kill you, you pathetic coward.”
Axel lunged to Clint’s side, apparently intending another run at Slater.
Clint reached out, snagging the wounded arm, twisting it behind his back as he kicked forward. The sickeningly wet pop echoed with a grunt from Axel.
He let go of the arm and sent him face-first into the mat.
Axel didn’t stay down. He rolled, shooting to his feet. Clint ducked out of the way, slashing his claws out, catching Axel at the far hip, ripping down to the opposite thigh, destroying the asshole’s junk with the brutal force of the movement.
A scream ripped from his mouth as he crashed to his knees. Furious, he spun, slamming the silver blade into Clint’s thigh, but he’d dealt with silver enough, and pain always increased his adrenaline. Already shifted, he would now be forced to stay that way until the blade came out, but he’d wanted the extra size to put Axel in his place. In this form, he was huge, but Clint also had speed and agility on his side.
Clint took Axel’s bicep with one hand and his shoulder with the other, kicking out the joint.
Axel fell back, wailing, “You can’t have Ava.”
“Don’t want the bitch. Never did, you sick fuck.” Clint took the knife from his thigh, landed on Axel’s chest, and slammed the blade through his throat, severing the spinal column in one blow. Gripping his face, he twisted Axel’s head clean from his body and tossed it across the mat.
Someone pulled him to his feet. “Shit, can you stand?” Mark asked.
Clint pushed his weight on the damaged leg and nodded. “Yeah. It’s fine.”
“The hell it is,” Emily snapped, pushing into his space.
He winced, wondering how much she’d seen.
“You can heal me after you take care of Slater. Not sure what that piece of shit threw on him, but…” He sniffed the air. Singed skin and hair, something reptilian, and noxious. “It’s bad.”
Emily looked behind him, and Clint turned to see for himself what had happened to his alpha.
Slater sat against the wall, his hand plastered to the side of his face. Elias sat under his other arm, eyes hidden against Slater’s shoulder.
“Is he… is Axel de-dead?” the kid stammered.
“Yeah, he’s gone. You okay? You hurt?”
“No,” he squeaked, staying put next to Slater.
“Calm down, Elias,” Slater grunted. “We’re all okay. Right, Clint?” He gave Clint’s leg a dubious look with one working eye. “Right, Clint?”
“Yeah, we are.” Clint turned to Emily. “Please help him first. I’m fine, I promise.”
Her eyes narrowed but she nodded. “Only because you asked nicely, and he’s worse off.”
Slater snorted. “You do realize your mate is a badass who lives for pain, right?”
“Doesn’t mean I like watching him bleed,” she snipped as she moved to Slater.
Mark gripped Clint’s bicep too tight and dragged him to a chair, before pushing him into it with a glare.
Clint opened his mouth to protest. Mark’s brow arched. He sighed and shrugged.
At a loss for words, he watched Emily, hoping he hadn’t pissed her off too badly.
* * * *
Emily shot a glare at Clint as she knelt beside Slater. “Stupid ass could have really gotten hurt,” she muttered under her breath.
Slater laughed, but pain laced the sound. His voice was quiet. “Give him a break. I didn’t tell him about expecting Axel until after he got here. Then I took his phone away so he couldn’t tell you. I trusted you’d be here when you were needed.”
“Why?”
“We get protective of our mates. Had you been here sooner, he might not have focused as well.”
“That door swings both ways, Slater. I’m the one who saved him in the woods.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, I was told by a top-notch clairvoyant that you couldn’t be here before the fight started.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Who?”
“Your son.”
She blinked, trying to formulate a response.
“You’re pissed, but you can’t blame him when I am the one who manipulated the situation. Besides, you’ll get make up sex now, so it’s a win-win.”
“How would you even begin to presume?”
His brow arched. “I have a stubborn mate. We butt heads, then we…” He glanced down at Elias who sat cowered under his arm. Slater cleared his throat. “Making up is the best part of fighting.”
Emily couldn’t resist a smile. Changing the subject for Elias’ sake, she said, “Let’s see the damage.”
Slater pulled his hand away and she held back the wince. Large blisters covered half his face. His eyeball was so full of blood it was hard to discern the iris from the dilated pupil. Beyond the burned skin, a singed beard and hair were lesser concerns.
Closing her eyes, she focused on her sight and opened her eyes again. The damage seeped deeper by the second. If she didn’t find an antidote for the corrosive concoction, quickly, Slater wouldn’t live through the night.
“You have a couple options,” she told him, staring at the skin and eye. “I can slice out the damage, like I would silver, and hope it doesn’t keep spreading. Or I could attempt to find something to counter the properties in whatever he threw at you.”
Mark came over. “There’re fragments of a vial over there. You could take the shards to a lab and study them.”
“Not sure how much time we have. It’s already burning through layers of skin and tissue.”
“Cut it out,” Slater answered stoically, teeth gritted.
“Wait,” Brody shouted. “We may have a better solution.” He carried a frail woman, her wrists and ankles bound with silver. He placed her on the floor in front of Slater and Emily. “Hear her out.”
The woman curled onto her knees, arms pulled to her chest. Her eyes ping-ponged from one wolf to the next, avoiding Emily altogether.
Slater’s brow wrinkled, one of the blisters split and oozed. “Who are you?” Emily noted, even in grave pain, his voice held authority.
“Kristin. One of…” She cast a brief glance at the decapitated body. “Ava’s enforcers. I have an antidote.”
Emily shook her head. “How?”
Her dark eyes locked on Emily. “Ava wants to take the pack, move them far away. Prove she wants nothing more to do with Clint, or the rest of the Edenton Pack. That she’s no longer a threat. She knew Axel had the toxin, and what he likely planned. This is her peace offering.”
Slowly, hands bound, she reached into her shirt and pulled out a vial of green liquid.
“And why should we trust this?” Slater asked.
“Don’t have to. I can test it easily enough.” Emily took the vial, standing to make her way to the shattered mess across the mill.
Steeling herself against the pain, she uncorked the vial and placed the cap in her pocket, then touched the toxin with her pinky finger.
The burn was instant, and Clint shouted, “No! Don’t!”
“Give her a damned chance,” Mark growled, pushing him back in the chair.
Her fingertip blistered, the skin melting. She dribbled a drop of the antidote. The heat of her skin plummeted as slivers of burning orange liquid pushed out. They froze in a crystal drop before falling away, shattering on the concrete floor.
“Chimera poison. How did they extract that? It’s supposed to be found in the teeth, and excrete only when puncturing skin.”
“Not sure,” Kristin answered.
Emily hurried back to Slater’s side. “When this works, release her.”
Slater looked to Kristin. “Are you going back to Elm Wood?”
“No. Never. I don’t trust Ava much more than I trusted Axel, but at least she didn’t relish other people’s pain.”
Slater nodded to Brody. “Let her go.”
Kristin’s brows drew together. “That’s it?”
�
�What did you expect? A beating?” Slater asked.
Her head dipped in a slow nod. “Then death.”
“We aren’t like that. You don’t want to go back, then don’t go. If you’re interested in trying a real pack, you could stay.”
She shook her head. “I’d like to see what happened to my family. If they’re all right.” Tears filled her eyes.
Slater looked to the doors. “Simons, can you get her a car? Send her off with money if she needs a ticket somewhere.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
Kristin gave him a hopeful smile. “If my family won’t have me, I’ll come back. Try a real pack.”
Slater managed to dig out a card. “Here. Call if you need us.”
She nodded, taking the card before backing out the door.
Chapter 31
Slater felt bad for Clint. He was going to have his hide chewed for sending Emily away. At the same time, he had no doubt he was going to be hearing it from Jess too. He’d convinced her they needed a guy’s day, and she’d grudgingly let him go.
Shit, she probably knew. She’s going to lay into me…
“Hey, Slater,” Emily interrupted his thoughts. “Need you to lay back. Do I need to help you?”
He shook his head, and let go of Elias. “Son, go sit with Clint, please.”
The boy nodded, wiped at his tear-stained face, and moved over to a fuming Clint, still in the chair thanks to Mark’s hand holding his shoulder.
His anger at Emily touching the substance was justified. Hell, if he’d known she would do that, he would have stopped her himself.
Slater managed to get horizontal. The burning had gone from bad, to agonizing, to completely numb in minutes.
He drew a slow breath and looked into Emily’s eyes.
She didn’t flinch, didn’t wince, no reaction other than a penetrating stare. “Brace yourself. This part hurts.”
“Ready as I’m going to get,” he answered.
Emily dripped the substance over his skin, using the end of the vial to rub it into the affected area. “Trust me?” she asked.
He nodded slightly. She poured a few drops into his eye socket. Cold, freezing instantly. He couldn’t blink, couldn’t move his eye. Liquid seeped from his eyeball. She rolled him onto his damaged side.
“Once the poison seeps out, I’ll heal what I can here. We might have been fast enough that I won’t have to cut into you, but your eye… I’m not sure.”
His nerves came alive again. Ice froze deep inside, pushing out the poison. Beads of liquid formed on his skin, then fell away as they froze, shattering in an iridescent mist.
He let out a sigh of relief. “Chimera, huh?”
“Yeah. Bad if you are stabbed with it. A topical wound, apparently not so horrible. Though I’ve never heard of an antidote being administered this way.”
“How did you know what it was?”
She grimaced. “Part of my training. The instructors wanted to make sure we remembered the symptoms of things we were likely to encounter, and how to reverse the damage.”
Clint growled. “I have a feeling I don’t want to hear the details about that type of training.”
“Doubtful. And next time I tell you I should stick with you, don’t argue.”
Slater cleared his throat. “Already told you, not his fault.”
She snarled at him. He rolled further to hide his smile.
“Okay to sit up?” he asked.
She nodded, looking at his face. “Not as much damage as I expected. How’s your eye?”
Slater pushed himself to his hands and knees, then sat back.
He managed to blink. “Dry.”
Her eyes closed briefly. They’d faded to molten bronze when she opened them again. She reached out, her hand hovering over his face as she whispered words.
Layers of dried skin sloughed as new ones grew. An odd sensation, hair pushing through his face and scalp where the follicles had been burned away. When she pulled her hand back, she smiled slightly.
“You’ll need to trim your facial hair, but it should grow normally.”
Slater blinked, reaching up to touch his face. His beard was longer in patches, but complete. He was amazed she’d spent the energy to fix a vanity item. “Damn, woman. You truly have talent.”
She smiled. “Thank you. Thought you knew about my skills.”
He shrugged. “My wolves made you nervous once. Calling on you for help seemed cruel.”
“I’m stronger now. Besides, Clint can protect me.”
Her eyes shot to Clint, while Elias met his gaze.
“Come here, son. I’m okay. We don’t have to worry about Axel any longer.”
“And Ava?” Elias asked softly.
“Preston assures me they’ll be tracked. For now, as long as they stay across the country, and stop targeting the innocent, we’ll let them go. The Silver Council will intervene if they step outside the laws.”
Clint shook his head. “You knew that Ava would escape?”
“I’m not asking you to forgive, or forget. I’m asking you to trust the Council to deal with them. This way, they may be able to take out a part of HARP as well. You tell me what’s better. Taking Ava out of the equation? Or taking out the bigger group?”
“Fuck, I hate this.”
“Me too. In the long run, though, it’s better this way.” He looked around the room. “Hey, Brody, can you take Elias and me home?”
Brody walked over and offered his hand. Slater pushed himself to his feet without help, mostly to instill some confidence in Elias.
Elias slowly moved toward Slater. “You still want me? Even though I cowered instead of fighting?”
“How old are you?” Slater asked softly.
He frowned and rubbed at his head. “What’s the date?”
Brody told him.
Elias took a slow breath. “Eleven, next month.”
“Shit. Elias, you did what any kid would do. Unless you want to leave, you’re coming home with me.”
He nodded. “I want to be here. With you.”
“Then come home.”
Brody patted the kid on the back. “Come on.”
* * * *
As soon as Slater, Elias, and Brody left, Mark let Clint up. Standing, Clint turned to him. “Thanks for keeping me from doing something stupid.”
“No problem.” He walked outside, leaving Clint alone with Emily.
Clint had shifted back to man while Emily healed Slater. He reached out to caress her face. “You okay?” he whispered.
Her bronzed eyes dropped as her hand covered the stab wound on his thigh. His skin mended, the dull pain fading while his dick became painfully hard.
“Shit, Em.” He covered himself. “Can you forgive me?”
One corner of her mouth twitched. “For?”
“Sending you away.”
“You didn’t know the whole plan. Slater said it had to be this way. You’re forgiven.” She leaned up to nip his ear. “Now let’s get home, and in the shower, so I can reward you for tearing that asshole apart.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Did you think I’d be upset watching you destroy someone who deserves it?”
“Maybe.” He frowned. “You don’t like watching me spar.”
“Different. Watching you trade blows with someone you call a friend? Not so easy. Axel needed to die. He deserved a slower, more painful death, but I don’t support torture. You did the right thing.”
He put his lips to hers and kissed slowly. Pulling back, he groaned, “Better get me home before I do something less than appropriate.”
* * * *
Emily watched Clint grab gray sweats from one of the cabinets. He pulled the too-big pants up and cinched the waist before rolling them down. Then he rolled the bottoms up and nodded to the door.
She took his hand and led him to her car. Robert stood by with Preston and Mark. “How long have you been here?” Emily asked with a raised brow.
Preston chuckled. “Long enough to take the other wolves in for questioning. We allowed Brody to bring the woman in because she claimed to have an antidote.”
Robert gripped her shoulder. “I wanted to give you a chance to do your thing without our interruption.”
She hugged Robert. “Thank you.” Shooting a dirty look at Clint, she added, “Someone gets it.”
Robert chuckled. “Give him time. I can think of plenty of instances where I wanted to drag Liz out of a situation, kicking and screaming, because I couldn’t stand her in danger. Took time to learn I needed to let her do her thing.”
Clint cleared his throat. “I’m trying, Em. I’ll get there.”
She stepped back and nodded to the car. “Come on. I want to get home and clean you up. Then I’ll do a thorough exam and make sure there’s nothing else wrong.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Mark, are you going back with Robert?” she asked him directly.
He nodded. “I am. My car is at headquarters.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
“Hey, thank you for taking care of Slater, and Clint.”
“Of course,” she answered, before moving around to the driver’s side and climbing in.
Watching Clint fight had been eye opening. Sparring was different. More calculated, controlled, to cause less damage. Clint’s battle with Axel had been based on pure power and speed, intended to stop Axel from pushing the fight further.
Emily hadn’t felt any remorse, or fear. Axel’s death had been clean and simple. Clint didn’t drag it out like he could have. He was efficient, but waited for his opponent to screw up.
Now seeing the difference, she figured watching him spar may be more worthwhile than she initially believed. She could fix whatever damage for both parties, and learn by watching.
“I plan to watch next time you spar.” She gave him a smile.
His brow wrinkled. “You don’t have to.”
“Remember how I learned the arm bar by watching MMA? I can learn a lot as long as I look at it objectively. Watching you take down Axel shifted my perspective. I didn’t really get sparring until I watched how you approached the fight, and realized the difference.”
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