by M F Adele
Not his phone; Katie’s phone.
I raised a brow as he pressed her thumb to the home button, and he rolled his lapis eyes at me.
“She dropped it when you snatched her. There are text messages coming in from Anna, but we need her fingerprint to unlock it.”
I groaned, throwing my head back to glare at the innocuous clouds floating in the sky. “Can’t we just kill her already too? I should have done it at the party.”
He frowned, shoving the phone into my hand.
Anna: Is it done?
Anna: Is the mage dead?
Anna: We can’t kill the others if Lynch is still alive.
Anna: We could inject them, though. Then we wouldn’t have to kill them. It’d add an extra week to our timeline, but they wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
Anna: Why didn’t we think of that before?
Anna: Katie? Wtf?
Anna: On my way.
I wrapped my hand around Katie’s phone, squeezing until the screen cracked. Closing my eyes, I inhaled slowly as I wrestled with my control.
The past few weeks really had been testing my patience, and this was the last fucking straw.
The one that broke my back.
The one that showed me how far I was willing to go.
She would have to kill me before she got the chance to dose my mates with that fucking drug.
And she had no idea just how eternal I truly was.
16
Sloane
Friday, June 5th
Night
Performance anxiety was not something I was accustomed to, but gods… I was feeling it right now.
I glared around the lawn in front of the pack lodge, cursing myself for pretending like I was actually interested in going on a hunt to begin with. Deer and rabbits weren't the kind of animals I had an appetite for.
Briggs propped his chin on the top of my head, his hands encircling my waist as he and Baylor jested with each other.
No one approached us.
At first, I couldn’t help wondering if it was the intimidating size of the Elliott brothers or my resting bitch face.
Then I realized the faction alphas were all pissed. Not that I cared, but it was hard to block out their thoughts when they were practically screaming them at me.
They didn’t like that Briggs and I would lead the hunt with the Supreme Alpha. They were angry that he was passing his title on to such a young mated couple.
It was an outrage to them.
It didn’t matter that, prior to the last two decades, the Supreme Alpha position had been shared between a bonded pair. And though, technically, Charlie King had a mate, she’d not been present.
Every glance in our direction was laced with hostile thoughts, and I returned them all with a sneer of my own. Baylor positioned his body in front of me, blocking my view while Briggs watched his back.
I scowled at him, fully aware that he didn’t find my attitude frightening.
“This is bullshit,” I griped under my breath. “How did I go from terrifying and ignored to being treated like a fucking puppy? I can’t tell if they’re looking at me like I pissed on the floor or like I suddenly grew two extra heads.”
Briggs tightened his arms, pinning me more firmly against his chest. “Barbie—”
“Don’t Barbie me…” I sassed.
“Look, Barbs. You’re being prickly right now. Just relax a little bit. We’ll go run, kill some deer—”
I cut Baylor off. “Not interested. Don’t pet-name me.”
He chuckled, sounding too much like Briggs for comfort, and I shook my head. “Don’t do that. I don’t like that.”
Bay grinned. “You’re as grouchy as Big. I see how this relationship works now.”
“For the record, Bay, I’m not taking your side. I can only hold her back if she wants to be held.”
“If I lunge, let me go,” I whispered to Briggs while staring at his brother. “I won’t kill him, but I do need a few fingers for my bone throne.”
“Jack warned me about this,” Baylor confessed, leaning closer. “He said that if you sounded serious, then you were most likely joking. But if I thought that you were joking, then you probably weren’t.”
I felt Briggs’ chest vibrate against my back as he laughed silently. “And right now, do you think she’s being serious?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Word of advice; Jack was goading you. I don’t play when it comes to my collections. I really am missing a few finger bones. Yours are just the right size.”
Briggs chortled as Baylor wrapped his hands around his chest to tuck his fingers under his arms.
“I need these. I’ll be keeping them.”
I shrugged. “For now…”
He narrowed his eyes at me, and I kept my face carefully blank.
“I’m going to compel him,” I thought to Briggs, my mental voice full of amusement.
I blinked twice, relaxing my expression as I purred, “You don’t want them, Baylor. Give me your hands.”
He placed his hands in mine, and I pulled them close to my face to examine his fingers as I broke eye contact. He snatched them back quickly, and Briggs huffed at him.
“What the fuck was that?” Baylor asked.
“You should be careful who you tease.” I pursed my lips to fight a grin. “Some of us know the rules but still choose to not play fair.”
A scoff sounded from behind Baylor, and I knew who it was before I felt Briggs tense. I let the grin slip into place as she walked into view.
Baylor’s spine went rigid, and Briggs was a statue against my back, waiting for bloodshed or dreading her presence.
Probably both.
“One Elliott wasn’t enough for you?” Anna taunted. “How many men do you have in your bed now?”
“Six... No. Nine. Wait…” I squinted my eyes, rolling them in a circle as I counted. “Ten. Twelve? Are you asking about this month or last month?”
“What did your girlfriend do to Katie?” She sneered at me as she spoke to my mate.
“I didn’t do anything…” I trailed off, grimacing. “I mean, I saw her hanging around earlier today. Then she fell. I haven’t seen her since.”
She ignored me, glaring over my head at Briggs. “Where is she?”
I felt him shrug. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say that she’s probably dead, though.”
“You killed her?” she asked him.
“No. I didn’t kill her.”
I pointed to my chest. “I dropped her, but that was it.”
“From where?” Baylor asked, raising a brow at me.
“Mmm,” I glanced up, trying to imagine how high we’d been. “The fall lasted for about ten, maybe eleven, seconds... So, I don’t know, like fourteen hundred feet up? I didn’t actually count.”
Baylor blinked at me, shocked, before tipping his head back to laugh. Briggs leaned down to place a kiss on my cheek.
“I’m sorry that I missed that,” my mate murmured.
“You fucking killed her.” Anna’s voice rose as she panted through her realization.
I shrugged. “I was an accomplice. I think gravity was the real perpetrator, but who knows.”
“You think you’re so fucking clever. I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t say you were,” I enunciated slowly. “Maybe lacking self-preservation instincts, but not dumb by any means. I think you know exactly what I’ve done. The same way I know what you’ve been doing.”
“I didn’t do anything… Unless you’re talking about my lips around his dick,” Anna smarted.
“Let me go. I’m going to kill her now,” I hissed. “I’m done waiting.”
“No, Barbie. Not here.”
“Then where? When?”
“Later,” Baylor answered, watching Anna’s retreating back.
“I need you to help me keep an eye on her,” Briggs said to his brother.
“She’ll stay away once we shift. She’s smart enough to know
when to push and when to stop.”
“I was talking about Sloane.”
“Cute,” I responded dryly. “How do you plan to do that?”
They grinned at each other, and even reading their minds gave me no insight into what they were thinking.
Their minds were blank.
Instead of focusing on them, I breathed through the swirling darkness inside me.
Briggs was right; I didn’t need to kill her right now. But accidents happened when hunting, right?
That wasn’t going to work either, though I could absolutely see my wolf chewing on her femur bone.
I grimaced.
That was a lie.
I didn’t want any part of her in my mouth.
As Dad walked out of the lodge and into the middle of the gathering, Briggs and I moved to flank him. Baylor stayed behind us, keeping his word to his brother.
I’d have babysitters during our run.
Fucking grand.
I glanced around at the attending faction alphas, dread crawling through me at the idea of shifting with the crowd. I nudged Baylor with my elbow, needing him to back up more so I had space to shed my skin.
The closest alphas gasped quietly as my paws hit the ground. It reinforced the fact that, no, I definitely had not shifted in front of any of them.
I shook my silver fur out, digging my claws into the dirt as I stretched my limbs. Everything felt so different outside of my skin, but I didn’t often spend time in my animal form. And when I did, it was only for a few minutes at a time.
It was overwhelming to my senses, and I didn’t enjoy the switch.
It was hard to explain. I just didn’t feel like myself after a long period of time on four legs, almost like my animal alter didn’t want to give control back. It was worrying, but something I’d never mentioned to anyone other than Jack.
We began to trickle into the forest, following the path to the denser parts.
I was hyper-aware of all the things around me as the rest of my senses heightened and sharpened.
The smells assaulted me first. The flora was sweet, while the decaying wood from fallen trees held a souring scent. The invasive kudzu was tangy and overpowering.
I bumped against Briggs as we trotted behind the Supreme Alpha.
He smelled of fresh pine and bergamot, two native floral species to the trails I’d traveled every time I’d visited North Fork.
His aroma was home.
One of them, anyway.
A few minutes into the trek, Dad fell back, trotting between Briggs and me before joining Baylor behind us.
Amid the quiet clattering of paws as the group ran through the underbrush, growls rang out. We already knew they weren’t happy, but this wasn’t their decision to make.
Briggs and I led them to the end of the trail, and then we stood stoic as they passed us to start their pursuit.
Dad held these monthly hunts as a tradition for the misfit pack that he led. Every month, alphas from around the world flew in to join. They were all required to visit at least once a year, but most of them came for the first summer hunt.
Even I could admit that the flower moon festival was a spectacular event.
Many of the packs were split by their subspecies, but Charlie King had a large and diverse pack that was loyal to him.
Polar bears stayed in packs in the north, tigers were mostly in Asia, reptile shifters were usually found near water or deserts. But they could all be found here in North Fork.
I heard the first yips of victory as the shifters began chasing and catching their prey. The forest was busy tonight, and the sound of crunching bones echoed around us ominously.
We began hunting our own prey, but my nose kept bringing me back to the group. The rabbit in front of me was not what I wanted to be tracking. Every time I tried to veer off to hunt down my real prey, Briggs or Baylor would shoulder check me.
I could taste the rabbit’s fear as I drew closer, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t want the little creature. It was too innocent, too pure and sweet and simple.
I wanted the complex feelings of fright and anxiety. I wanted to feel the exact moment the human brain realized it was a predator’s prey.
I wanted to kill Anna.
When I moved to the left, Briggs pushed his shoulder into my side, keeping me from following my instincts again.
I couldn’t figure out why they kept stopping me.
She would be one less problem if they’d just let me go.
I caught the rabbit, shaking it between my teeth to quickly put it out of its misery. It had bitten my tongue, and drops of my own blood mingled with the rabbit’s before I’d killed it. The taste was foreign and disgusting.
I dropped the rabbit in front of Briggs, nudging it in his direction with my nose. I didn’t want to eat it, couldn’t even bring myself to consider it.
I didn’t like cooked rabbit, much less a raw one.
I loved chasing the animals, but not actually catching them. My mate didn’t seem to understand, not that I did either. He twisted his head, flicking his ears as he stared at me.
I spoke into his mind. “I don’t eat meat.”
He glanced down at the rabbit before his wide, green eyes met mine. “How?”
“I don’t know how to answer that question.”
“I mean, I know humans who are vegetarians, but how are you not a meat eater? How do you manage that?”
“I just don’t like it. Once in a blue moon, I may eat some, so I’m not actually sure that I could call myself a vegetarian.”
I cycled through everything that I’d eaten in the last couple of weeks. Fruit and vegetables, chocolate, popcorn. I’d drank a little blood too, but mostly, I’d gorged on fear.
Maybe they didn’t notice.
I rarely ever paid attention to what I ate. It wasn’t something I would hold against them.
Briggs’ thoughts spun around several different questions before the black wolf chuffed at me.
“You swallow.”
I closed my eyes and hung my head, wishing I was in my skin so he could see my reply instead of just hearing it.
“There are mixed reviews on semen, but the general consensus is that if a vegan has permission to swallow, then it’s okay. I am not a vegan, and a little extra protein never hurts. But if you’re concerned, then I’ll take a facial next time.”
“Are you rolling your eyes at me?”
“Yes.”
Briggs huffed at me as Baylor trotted up. I couldn’t see the blood on his fur, but I could smell it.
I winced as he mentally shouted, “Are you two done? I want to leave, but I’m worried that I still need to watch you.”
“You don’t have to yell. I can hear you. And I think we may be done too. We can’t leave until midnight, though.”
“Fuck. Okay. That’s like…” I could hear Baylor mentally counting.
“Thirty minutes, give or take,” Briggs rumbled.
I tossed my head to the left. “Go. Hunt. I’ll be good.”
“That’s a lie. I know you well enough to know that you’re a bullshit magnet. The moment I wander off something will happen, so I’m staying right by your side.”
“I’m rolling my eyes again,” I muttered.
Briggs nipped at my shoulder, urging me to follow him deeper into the forest. My thoughts spiraled into filthy territory, from swallowing to being bitten, and then all I could think about was having the massive black wolf mount me.
He growled instead, shaking his head as he huffed again. I hoped that his mind would be a fun place to be, but his thoughts were quiet as he studied the brush in front of us.
There was another rabbit hiding in the foliage. I could hear its little heart thumping a mile a minute, and I could just see the outline of its head through the leaves. I turned away, uninterested in chasing it.
If I was going to exert any more energy tonight, then it wouldn’t be for a rabbit.
I was either fighting or fucking.
She tipped her head when she spotted me watching her, and I nodded in return. I hated politics of any kind, but the silent respect between animals wasn’t awful.
As the moon reached its peak above the forest canopy, I turned to start the walk back toward the lodge. I wouldn’t rush off in a hurry. I didn’t want the shifters to think I loathed their... company?
I didn’t have another word for it, but I knew if we left too early, they’d have even more complaints.
I hadn’t seen my dad, so I searched for his mental signature. His mind was filled with joy. He loved the hunting parties. When Jack and I were children, he’d told us they were a tradition that he and my mother had put into place more than a century ago.
I contemplated meeting Amelia King for the first time since I was an infant, but I couldn’t figure out how to feel about it yet. I knew it wasn’t something that I could plan for; that still wouldn’t stop me from trying.
Did I want her to hug me?
No. That was a ridiculous thought.
I wasn’t exactly a cuddly kind of person, though my mates were warming me up.
When I looked to either side of me, I realized the black wolves were flanking me. I knew Briggs was on my left, but I’d dare say that if I hadn’t been so familiar with his thoughts, then I might not have been able to tell them apart. The similarities between the two were really starting to freak me out.
I was so swept up in trying to visually tell them apart that I nearly stepped on a snake. I felt bad for all of three seconds. Then it struck at me. I jumped back, bumping into one wolf as the other snatched the reptile up by his tail, slinging him into the underbrush.
“Thank you,” I drawled, studying the wolf in front of me.
He tossed his head, turning to keep walking, and the wolf behind me nipped at my haunch.
“If there wasn’t a bond between us, and I didn’t know what your mental essence felt like, I don’t think I would be able to tell the two of you apart right now. It’s kind of weird. I feel like I’m seeing double.”