by Rosko, Mandy
Why was he not surprised?
“You never show your face to her again! Do you understand me?” Dennis screamed into the other shifter’s face. His eyes blazed red while spittle flew into the fur on Laurence’s face. “Do you understand me?”
Laurence said nothing. His body shrank down a little, but there was a flickering to it, as though he was trying to keep to his larger shape without seeming too much as though he’d lost control.
It didn’t matter because Dennis was soon the bigger wolf between them, and Laurence had no choice but to submit to the alpha. He turned his head, presenting his throat.
The little weasel. Why did he have to give up?
Dennis snarled, revealing long, pointed teeth.
Would he do it? Would he tear out Laurence’s throat? Garret waited for it, waited to see it.
And was stunned when Dennis pulled off of Laurence, stepping back, giving the other shifter a chance to stumble up and to his feet.
Laurence was mostly in his human shape when he scrambled away from Dennis. He looked as though he was going through bad puberty with patches of hair in various places as he tried to hold himself together.
The alpha stared at the man he’d just bested, and Laurence suddenly bolted into the trees, quickly vanishing into the darkness, and taking with him Garret’s hope that the guy would do all the work for him.
When he was gone, Dennis looked at him, and those wide, red eyes suddenly turned gold.
He really hadn’t expected to see Garret sitting there, had he?
Well, even wolves tended to get a little tunnel vision when they were in the middle of a fight.
Garret stepped forward. “I was hoping he would kill you. Then I wouldn’t have to lie to my sister when I tell her what happened to you.”
Dennis’ pointed ears flicked behind him. He seemed to deflate a little. “She is safe?”
Garret growled at the other shifter, circling him, his tail flicking out behind him. “No thanks to you.”
His claws scraped at the pavement as he walked. He could hardly suppress the growls that rumbled through his chest. “You have no idea how badly I want to turn you inside out for what you did.”
“I understand that.”
“No. You don’t. Don’t you ever try to tell me you understand.” Garret could hardly keep it in; his fangs became longer in his mouth. “Your disgusting family has hurt my pack time and again. You killed my father, you take my sister, and she comes back to me and tells me she thinks you’re her mate? Tell me, and be very careful with your words, what did you do to make her think something like that?”
Dennis was clearly still very tired. It was all over him as he sat there, his body shrinking down a little, though he stayed in his wolf shape. “Nothing. I didn’t do anything to her that she didn’t want me to do.”
Garret saw red. “If you touched her—”
“Where is my son?”
Garret snapped his mouth shut. He narrowed his eyes at the other wolf.
Dennis looked small and tired, but his eyes were suddenly alive and ready to keep fighting.
“I brought Anna home. You promised me you would release Derek. Where is he?”
Garret clenched his teeth. “He’ll be released.”
Dennis shook his head. “Should have known better than to think it would be that easy.” Dennis’ tailed flicked behind him. “I talked with Anna about this. No matter what you do to me, she’ll make sure you keep your promise.”
“It’s not up to her whether a prisoner is released.”
“No, it’s not, but she is your sister. You want to destroy your relationship with her because you wouldn’t let one innocent omega go, then that’s something you’re going to have to live with.”
Dennis’ bastard spawn was hardly innocent in all this, but Garret supposed to a man like Dennis, that wouldn’t really matter.
“I’ll release him. In what condition depends on whether or not you hurt my sister.”
“Ask her yourself. I clearly didn’t.”
“Did you rape her?”
Dennis’ snout crinkled at him, as though he was insulted to have been asked such a question.
Well, too fucking bad for him.
“No, I didn’t rape her, you cocksucking pecker head.”
“Did you have sex with her?” He didn’t want to ask that question, and part of him didn’t want to know the answer any more than he wanted the answer to the first question.
But he got it.
“We had sex, yes.”
Garret approached him. “You motherfucker.”
Dennis backed up. “I didn’t force anything. We did only what she wanted to do.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“I wouldn’t do that to her! To anyone!”
“You were more than happy to look the other way when it was your father doing it to Katie and the other omegas in my pack!”
“I didn’t look the other way!”
Garret didn’t care for his excuses, and he wasn’t going to listen to them anymore. He lunged at the other wolf, claws at the ready and mouth open, itching to sink his teeth into this son of a bitch.
Despite his clear weakness and lack of strength, Dennis managed to duck out of the way, and then he dodged again when Garret snapped his teeth one more time.
“You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt Derek! He didn’t do anything!”
“He’s your spawn. He attacked me multiple times and has spent his entire life being influenced by you. That’s all I need to know about him.”
Garret snapped his teeth again and again. He leaped at Dennis, managing to catch onto him this time, but only barely as he grabbed onto Dennis by the scruff of his fur and threw him back.
Stupid. He should have held on tight and smashed his face into the pavement. Maybe held on long enough until some midnight driver came down this sleepy road and waited for Dennis to be hit by it.
“Come back here and take your punishment like a God damn man, you rapist piece of shit!”
“I didn’t do that to her!” Dennis rolled out of the way again, but he was getting sloppy. He rolled right into the ditch, and then barely managed to right himself and put more distance between him and Garret before Garret could really rip him apart.
And Garret very much wanted to rip him to pieces.
“You can’t stay away from me forever.”
“I know!”
Garret caught him again, his teeth chomping down hard on Dennis’ hind leg.
Dennis yowled, suddenly finding more energy within him as he thrashed and scratched at Garret’s face, desperate to break him away.
Garret had no choice. The teeth snapped at his eyes, and the claws dug through his skin.
It seemed Dennis wasn’t quite as drained and weak as he thought. Much as Garret wanted to tear his leg off, he didn’t want to be blinded for the trouble either.
He clenched his teeth a little harder for just a fraction of a second before finally releasing the bastard. He wanted to taste the blood of his enemy gushing into his mouth.
Dennis pulled himself away from Garret, dragging his hind leg behind him, his eyes wild from the pain.
His inner wolf was probably going a little crazy from that.
Good.
“I’d eat you alive if I could.”
Dennis shook his head, body trembling. “Won’t change the fact that your sister is my mate.”
Garret growled at him.
“Should I call you my brother?”
He lunged again, grabbing the wolf by the throat. He bit down hard. He could almost feel the flesh beneath his teeth. The thick, protective coat of fur kept him from being able to make that killing bite he wanted so badly to make, but that didn’t stop him from trying.
Dennis kicked his good back leg out at Garret’s belly, and Garret yelped, jumping back as he felt the heat slide across his exposed flesh.
Fuck! He looked down at himself. There was blood, but Dennis didn’t qui
te manage to slice him open. It seemed his entrails were still safe enough that there was no risk for them to be falling out of him.
At least for the moment.
“Stay away from me, Garret,” Dennis said with panting breath. “I don’t want to kill my mate’s brother.”
The absolute rage that took him over was near blinding. “Call her that one more time and I’ll rip your tongue out.”
Dennis shook his head. “She’s my mate whether you want to believe it or not. I’m not even gloating when I tell you that. Though you’re too much of a stupid cunt to believe me right now.”
Garret growled, stalking forward. “I can kill you so easily.”
“You seem to be having some trouble. Are you sure?”
Garret felt his hackles rising.
“You think the fact that I’m playing around with you means you have a chance? Motherfucker, you’re the one who’s tired out here. You’re the one who’s blood is all over the road, and you’re the one who deserves to die after what you did to my dau—” Garret cut himself off before he could say something he shouldn’t. “I can do this all night. You can’t. I let you get some shots in, but you know as well as I do that you’re getting ready to collapse. I just have to be patient and wait for it.”
“Yeah, and what are you going to tell Anna when you get back home without me? You going to torture my son some more to make yourself feel better about all this?” Dennis’ narrowed his eyes, a whole lot more self-righteous, holier than thou attitude in his eyes than he deserved to have, all things considered.
“And if I did? If I decided to go back home and break every finger on that little bastard’s hand, what are you going to do about it?”
“If I’m dead, nothing. Just make sure you hide what a terrible person you are from Anna. She might not forgive you if she finds out you purposely killed me and didn’t keep your promise to an innocent young man so you can carry out your sins of the father horse shit punishments.”
Garret wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill this bastard so bad. That cunt face, son of a whore, piece of shit little rat.
The only thing that held him back was Anna.
Because the dumb pecker head was right. Garret couldn’t do it. He couldn’t outright murder the man if he wanted to keep his sister with him.
He didn’t yet know the extent of what Dennis had done to her. He didn’t know how deep his brainwashing had gone. He knew Dennis took her, raped her, and was tricking her into thinking they were mated.
It was so diabolical that Garret almost couldn’t believe the man had gone through with it at all.
And then there was the angle of his pack. The pack that was betraying Dennis.
That fight sure didn’t look like it was staged for Garret’s benefit.
“The only reason I’m going to keep you alive is because I want to know every detail about your shitty pack. I want to know exactly how many people you’ve got in it. I want to know what all the fighting was about. I want to know who else other than you even looked at my sister like that—”
“No one.”
“Shut up!” Garret was barely keeping his shit together here. The last thing he needed was for this dumb moron to get it into his head that he could interrupt. “You don’t get to speak. You never get to speak to me unless I’m speaking to you. Do you understand?”
Garret was aware he’d set himself up for a pretty obvious comeback there, but Dennis nodded, defeated. “Right.”
Garret grit his teeth. “You are going to get off your ass and walk. You’re coming with me. If you fight me, I won’t kill that little bitch I’ve got chained in my basement, but I’ll make him scream his tonsils bloody if you try anything, you got that? You fight me, he gets it. You try to run, he gets it.”
“So long as you let him go in the end, fine. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
Garret knew they had to get off this road. It was still dark out, but it was getting to be early in the morning at this point instead of late at night. Soon the commuters would be on the road. They would spot two hairy, naked guys in an instant, and he didn’t want the cops called in him.
Garret stepped back from Dennis. “Get your ass up and start walking. Dane and Jax will be coming back to check on us soon enough, and we can move faster.”
“Nice. You’re telling me you won’t make me walk the whole way? I’m flattered. Really am.”
“Not because I’m trying to be nice to you. I just don’t want to be out here all night. Now move.”
Dennis forced himself to his good leg, clearly favoring it by keeping most of his weight off the other. He bled freely. Fuck, was Garret really going to have to give this asshole some bandages when he got home?
If he didn’t want Dennis’ blood all over his house, then it seemed like he didn’t have much of a choice.
Great.
Dennis took two small, limping steps before he looked up and stopped. “It looks like your dragon friend is standing right there. We going to get that ride sooner than I thought?”
What? Garret looked, and in the darkness, yeah, Jax stood right there. The man stared hard at Garret, a single brow raised at him.
And he knew.
Anna made him stay back to ensure nothing too violent happened.
Garret growled. He couldn’t believe his sister guilted Jax into doing that for her.
Garret didn’t appreciate being spied on or babysat. He really didn’t appreciate not knowing what exactly Jax planned on doing if he thought Garret was going too far.
He passed by the other shifter, growling under his breath. “You and I are going to talk about this when we get home.”
“Yeah.” Jax looked right at him. “We will.”
18
Anna never in her life thought she would be dreading getting home. Sitting in the front seat of the black SUV while Dane drove her home. And she stared out the window, hoping to God her brother wasn't in the middle of murdering Dennis while she sat there.
“Anna, I know this has been hard for you,” Dane said, sounding more awkward and out of place than a man who used to be in the military ought to. “But I just wanted you to know, if you ever wanted someone to talk to, about all this, everything that happened, we’re here for you.”
Anna briefly looked at him. Where was this coming from? “Oh, thanks.” She went back to staring out the window while Dane drove. Even though she knew it was impossible, part of her hoped to see Dennis somewhere out there. Maybe he'd been following her in his wolf form.
But, no, he was too far away, and even if he hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have been able to catch up to the car.
Please don't let Garret and Dennis be trying to kill each other. Please.
Dane cleared his throat. “All I'm trying to get at is, well, you're like everyone's little sister. We all love you. We all want what's best for you. Your brother, Jax, and me.”
Once upon a time, hearing it confirmed that Jax saw her more as a little sister than a potential lover would have made her cringe. Now, that feeling was so far in the back of her mind that she barely noticed it. Or cared. Not when there were so many more important matters for her to think about.
Dane wouldn't stop talking, though. It was as if he felt he needed to fill the silence with literally anything. Maybe he wasn't feeling all right. Maybe Anna's stunt tricking her brother and staying with Dennis had more of an impact on her friends than she thought.
“I’m only trying to say that we all love you, and no matter what happened, I want to at least tell you now that no one will think any of it was your fault.”
Anna blinked. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”
Dane clenched his fingers around the steering wheel. He grit his teeth, neck clenching as he stared at the dark road ahead.
“Dane, what are you talking about?”
He was starting to look a little like he regretted bringing it up. “I just wanted you to know that, no matter what, it wasn't your fault, and if you wanted to talk
, we’re all here. If you didn't, well, you know your brother. He won't leave you hanging. Maybe someone professional can be brought in so you can let it all off your chest.”
“What would I have to get off my chest?” Even as she asked the question, she was starting to get an idea of what he was talking about, and Anna really didn't like it.
“Just…whatever happened to you. I know what you said about Dennis, and I won't fight you on it if you really believe it.”
“I don't believe it. I know it.”
“I know, I know, you know it,” Dane said, sounding a little too much like he was trying to ward off a fight with her. Sounded a little too patronizing.
“I do know it. Don't say it like you think I'm acting crazy.”
“That's not what I'm doing, I promise. I'm just worried about you.”
“Worried enough that you want to get me to a shrink, is that it?”
“No, that's not it. Not if you don't want to. If you don't want to talk about anything that happened in Dennis’ pack, no one will force it.”
“Nothing did happen in Dennis’ pack. He got me out of there before Laurence or anyone else could try anything.”
That might not have been the best thing in the world for her to say to him, because just the hint that anyone in Dennis’ old pack had tried to do anything to her might have been enough to make Dane a little more closed off to the idea that she might know what she was talking about.
“Not that I was ever all that worried to begin with.”
“So you were scared? Did one of those bastards threaten you? God, stupid question, of course they did.”
“Look, whatever, it doesn't matter because I wasn't there that long anyway, and Dennis got me out.”
“When it was convenient for him. Anna, don't you see that he's using you to get back into the territory?”
Heat built up in her stomach and chest. Anna never wanted to fight someone in her own pack like this before. “No, he wasn't. He was going to let me go. He called Garret to come and pick me up.”
“Before conveniently deciding to keep you with him.”
“Will you stop? That's not how it happened at all!”