by Rosko, Mandy
“Shut up.”
Dennis kept right on walking. He marched right into the gunfire, ignoring the fact that he could be shot by marching into the line of fire like that. Thankfully, he wasn’t, and Laurence didn’t even see him coming.
It was a dick move to sucker punch someone when they weren’t looking, but it was Laurence’s own damn fault that he was getting tunnel vision from being a coward.
The wolf yelped as it flew back, but Laurence rolled, his claws kicking at the air for a hair of a second before he shot back to all four legs. He shook his head, as though dislodging all the stars Dennis had caused to fly around his stupid face. Then he looked at Dennis and growled harder.
“Fight me like a man you sack of shit!” Dennis raised his fists. He wasn’t going to do this in his wolf form. He wanted to smash his knuckles into Laurence’s face and turn it inside out. He wanted to look into his eyes properly as he did it. Without the animal shape getting in the way. Dennis wanted to bash his skull into the dirt until he cracked it open and he could make a goblet out of the skull and neck bone. “You motherfucker, face me! I know you can do it, you cowardly little bitch! You want to hide behind them? Too fucking bad!”
Dennis could get into his wolf form and go after him, but that would take the fun out of it. He didn’t want any protective fur around their throats; he didn’t want Laurence to turn and bolt for the trees.
He wanted to end this right now.
At least with Laurence no longer snapping his fangs at the heels of the pack of men, they were free to retreat from Jax’s long reach. That didn’t stop Dane from grunting as he chased after the men and wolves who had tried to get onto his territory.
Being chased by a bear wasn’t much better to being swiped at with the claws of a dragon, or the talons at the end of his wings.
Laurence noted their retreat, his eyes wide, hackles falling slightly, as though he was shocked they would not fight for him.
Then he looked to Dennis, and Dennis growled. “This is the only chance you’re going to get. Don’t make me strangle you while you look like that.”
Laurence ducked his head as Garret and Jax came to stand around him. The three of them circled Laurence in.
People were wrong when they said there was only fight or flight.
No, there was freeze, fight, or flight. Laurence had clearly frozen as he was abandoned. Even Jol and Carl managed to limp away together.
Laurence could still make a run for it. He was in his wolf shape, he could be quick if he really wanted to be, and there were only three of them standing there, after all.
Finally, the prick did shift back into his human shape.
When he did, Garret wasn’t at all shocked to see the damage already done to the man’s skin, and his face.
His body was still torn up pretty bad from the last time they’d fought. Christ, Dennis almost forgot about the pain in his leg from their last encounter. He’d barely felt it as he put both Jol and Carl in their places.
“You fucking traitor,” Laurence snapped.
What was with everyone saying that to him lately?
“You’re the one who turned the pack on me, tried to kill my mate, and God only knows what you would have done if you’d gotten your hands on Derek.”
“I would have left the little bitch here to rot with him!” Laurence pointed an accusing finger at Garret. He said it as though he really believed Garret would have done worse. He didn’t know about the bruising on Derek’s face, but that was nothing compared to what Laurence would have done.
Which meant he thought Garret capable of even crueler behavior than himself. Dennis couldn’t figure out how much of that was his own fault.
“You chose him over us! You brought us to you! You promised us control; you promised us land and security.”
Dennis clenched his fists, perfectly aware that Garret, Jax, Dane, and most of the other betas in his stupid pack were watching him. He had to push that away. He couldn’t focus on that right now. “I am sorry that I couldn’t provide for you as much as I wanted. I did try, and many did learn more control than they would have on their own.”
“We would have been better off on our own without your false promises!” Laurence spat.
There was no way that was true. “Half the men in my pack would have been put down by hunters or other shifters for stirring up shit.”
“We would have been fine! Fine without you getting in the fucking way!”
There was clearly no getting through to him, and Dennis was glad for that. He didn’t want to get through to him. He wanted to beat the piss out of the man and maybe even kill him for the shit he’d tried to pull.
Meanwhile, Laurence still seemed to think he was going to convince Dennis that he was innocent in this.
The pack was still behind him, at a distance now, of course, but they looked on as though they were getting ready to flee. They snarled like a pack of puppies desperate to keep something big and scary away from them.
Dennis could hardly believe he’d led these men into battle before, how loyal they used to be to him, and how pathetic they seemed right now. He was willing to bet they were thinking twice about their decision to betray him.
He took his eyes off Laurence, just a little longer this time, watching them.
“All of you, if you are loyal to Laurence, keep on fighting. I can’t stop you, and I’m sure Garret wants his pound of flesh.” He growled, clenching his fists and making sure they could see the way his fangs started to come in. “But be warned that if Garret decides to slit any throats here, I will not stop him.”
“You can’t stop me,” Garret said, stepping up beside him. He growled at Dennis, snapping his teeth as though to reprimand him for daring to make such a presumption before he addressed them as well. “The lot of you, if you’re done with this, then make sure to get the fuck off my lawn before I make sure none of you can ever look in a mirror again without remembering what these feel like.” He showed off his claws.
Dennis figured the man was just so infuriated to have to be doing this that he didn’t realize he’d left himself wide open for Get Off My Lawn style mockery.
Dennis wasn’t in a mood to mock the man. Not when he was trying to prevent the people he used to lead from killing themselves by following an infinitely worse alpha.
“Guys, listen,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I made you all promises and I could hardly keep any of them. I was shit at leading you, and now I’m turning my back on you. Garret’s sister is my mate. There’s no getting around that. I need her, and she needs me, and I will not be choosing any of you over her. Go back home, figure out if anyone else can help you with your transformations or living conditions because it’s not going to be me.”
“He’s a fucking traitor!” Laurence pointed a clawed finger at him. He turned back to the rest of his men, as though this was the smoking gun he’d needed to convince them of Dennis’ guilt. “He was never going to choose any of us! He used us to get what he wanted! Which was back on this territory! And now that he has it, he can throw all of you away!”
That wasn’t exactly it, but Dennis could see how it would look that way.
He could hardly make the argument that he was technically Garret’s prisoner when he was standing next to the man, Jax, Dane, and nearly every other beta loyal to Garret, all of whom were willing to shed blood, and spill their own, to protect the house behind them and the territory.
“You are outmanned and outgunned. I don’t know how many of you noticed, but you were being shot at, and not by anyone you can see in front of you. Go home. Please.”
Even if he failed them, even if he was sending them on their way to God only knew what kind of fate, it was infinitely better than the alternative.
“What are you doing?” Laurence shrieked. Dennis had seen the guy furious before, but never this unhinged. “You’re going to listen to him?”
The wolves who used to follow Dennis looked amongst each other. They didn’t spe
ak, even in their minds, but they didn’t need to. When the decision was made, it was clear for everyone to see what it was.
With one last glance to Dennis, they turned and began to walk, in some cases, limp, away. Not all at once. Some hesitated. Maybe they had something to say, something else to ask, but even they eventually made the choice to give up and retreat.
Laurence had a look on his face that suggested he was just finding out Santa Claus didn’t actually exist. It was pathetic and sad, and Dennis wasn’t being sarcastic in thinking that. He felt genuinely bad for the guy when he stumbled after them, his hand stretched out as though he could physically pull them back.
“W-wait! Come back here! Come back here!”
Even getting angry about it didn’t seem to help him any. They were lost to him, and Dennis had the happy thought that even if Laurence followed after them, if he left this whole thing alone and decided to go with them, they would not welcome him as their leader.
Dennis wasn’t sure who else they would choose. Carl was the next strongest, but he wouldn’t be much better than Laurence.
They had a chance at least. Dennis had failed them, and it shocked him how much that gutted him, but they had their chance.
“Laurence, you have to let it go.”
It was a mistake to speak to the guy, because when Laurence rounded on him, his face was inhuman, his nose pressed down flatter than before, but longer. His eyes were the red color of an enraged shifter, and his claws were out.
Dennis didn’t waver. He didn’t so much as look away from the man when he addressed Garret because this was apparently going to happen no matter what he did.
“Garret, he’s going to attack me. I want you to let him.”
“Fine by me. Don’t expect me to save your ass, though.”
“Good, tell whoever is doing the shooting up there to put the gun away. I don’t want to be shot if he wants a real challenge.”
Laurence didn’t wait for anything else. The man roared, shooting forward like a rabid animal, catching Dennis around the waist and pushing him back.
If a fight, a fair fight, was what it would take to make this idiot see reason, then so be it.
27
What the hell is he doing?” Anna shrieked. She put down her rifle and looked to make sure Katie did the same. She didn’t want to accidentally shoot and kill her mate. “Is he out of his fucking mind?”
“What? What’s he doing?” Lois asked, and now that the guns were out of the way, she stepped up closer to the window to have a see. Then she whistled. “Wow, they’re really going to town down there, aren’t they?”
“What?” Miranda came over and had a look. Oddly enough, she sighed when she spotted what was happening. “God, Lois! I thought you meant… something else.”
Anna didn’t care what that something was. She just wanted to know why her mate suddenly thought it would be a great idea to go toe to toe with the wolf that had tried to kill him on the road a few hours ago.
“He’s injured right now, and he’s too proud to ask Garret for help even if Garret would want to give it to him.”
Anna wanted to tear her hair out. “He’s out of his mind. He’s out of his damn mind.”
“Wait, holy shit,” Katie said suddenly, and of course that yanked Anna back to the window as though she was tied to it with a bungee cord.
“What? What is… Oh, God…”
There, appearing just on the scene now, Derek. Joey followed at a short distance, but no one else down there seemed to notice as the young man tried to sneak up behind Garret, to have a look at what was going on and the fight his father had.
“Stupid kid is going to get himself hurt,” Katie said, though she sounded as though that wounded her as much as it did Anna.
“I’m going down there.”
“Don’t even think about it!”
It was Katie’s stern voice that caused Anna to stop. She was still used to obeying the other woman, not just because she was older, but because Anna genuinely respected her.
She slowly turned, angered for having let herself be manipulated like that again.
Miranda and Lois stood with both their eyes wide open, watching Katie and Anna as if they could hardly believe what was happening, or who to cheer for, if anyone at all.
Katie pointed a finger at her. “You are not going down there. Don’t even think about it.”
“But—”
“No!” That was a fearsome sound if ever Anna heard one. When the hell had this happened to her friend? Katie used to be so quiet compared to this.
Maybe it happened after Jax and Katie mated with each other while Anna had been gone.
“I know you want to be treated like an adult, but that means acting like one. You are not going down there in the middle of a battle where you could get hurt—”
“I wouldn’t—”
“Or distract your mate, mine, or theirs, or anyone else. You can’t physically fight, so stay up here and keep watch with me. Don’t go down there, because anyone who gets hurt because they were distracted by you will be entirely your fault.”
That caught Anna off guard. She snapped her mouth shut before she could come up with something else to say, some other excuse that could get her downstairs to where Dennis and Laurence were fighting.
It was entirely out of character, the character that Anna knew, for Katie to be so cold with her, but…
But the heated roar coming from down below reminded her there was still a battle happening, and she needed to pay careful attention with her rifle if she was going to do anything at all.
Katie was right. Anna might not be able to do much of anything, but at the very least, she could watch Dennis’ back.
“Good,” Katie said, turning back to survey the scene when Anna came back to sit beside her and watch.
She tried her best to ignore the shocked stares that came from Miranda and Lois.
Dennis was holding his own down there. Derek continued to stand behind Garret, Jax, and Dane, as though he was waiting for his chance to get in on the fight.
He’d better not do anything to get Dennis hurt, or Joey for that matter.
Or else Anna would be monumentally pissed.
* * *
Dennis roared when Laurence punched him in his injured leg, and he nearly flew back when the bastard grabbed his thigh, right over the wound, digging his claws in. That was perfectly fine because the idiot didn’t seem to realize that the more pain he inflicted on Dennis, the more Dennis was going to pay him back.
He ducked down quickly, catching his shoulder in the man’s gut before standing up hard. He pulled Laurence up off the ground before the dumb bastard could comprehend what was even happening to him, and Laurence’s scream as Dennis dropped the idiot on his face was one of the better sounds he’d ever heard in his life.
Dennis rounded on the man, putting his boot in Laurence’s face before the prick could get back to his feet.
The crunch of his nose was a beautiful sound.
“How many times do I have to break your nose before it’s crooked forever? Let’s just make absolutely sure. “Dennis came in with another hard strike to the man’s face.
The fall must have disoriented him more than Dennis would have liked to admit, because as Laurence swayed, Dennis realized the fight had ended before it even had the chance to really begin.
That wasn’t enough to make him pull back. Dennis was still the villain here. He was the bad guy. He wasn’t about to give Laurence the chance to catch his breath or get his energy back.
Because Dennis wanted to put him down for good.
Laurence swung at him, a sloppy blow that allowed Dennis to catch the man’s hand. He turned, pulling himself into Laurence’s personal space before locking the man’s arm through Dennis’, and then slamming his palm down hard on the back of his elbow.
Laurence shrieked a noise so high it made Dennis’ eardrum flutter. He was forced to step away from the guy if he didn’t want to become permanent
ly deaf.
Or even temporarily deaf. Neither sounded like a fun option.
Dennis looked to Garret. He and his other alphas and omegas were as stoic as ever as they watched the scene.
It was the two people standing behind them that caught Dennis’ eye.
Derek had a look of disgust on his face, his entire body tense.
And Dennis was horrified to have done that in front of his son.
The other man was the omega who had become Derek’s friend while he’d stayed here. The guy stayed close to Derek’s back, his head down, as though he didn’t want to even accidentally see what had just taken place.
When Garret, Jax, and Dane noticed Dennis’ attention was somewhere else, they did a slow turn and spotted Derek standing there.
The horrified expression on his face likely didn’t do much to show off what an asset he would be to the pack either.
Dennis hated that. He hated that he’d spent Derek’s entire life showing him how shitty the world was, and as far as being a father went, he could barely do that right.
“Derek, I—”
“Watch it!”
Dennis spun around just as Laurence lurched forward, good arm raised high and claws at the ready.
The popping noise and the zip of something fast and powerful zooming by his ear told Dennis what had happened the moment Laurence went flying backwards.
The man yowled, rolling on the dirt, but then he screamed a higher pitched noise when he accidentally rolled onto his broken arm. Even Dennis had to cringe at that, but then he looked up to where the bullet had come from.
He expected to see Katie up there, maybe another beta, but the one holding the gun and still pointing the business end at Dennis was… Anna.
He blinked, and a wave of heat, and pride, filled his chest.
Yeah, his woman had done that.
Garret approached Laurence where he screamed on the ground. He kicked at the man’s leg. “Shut up. Stop being such a little bitch about it.”
Laurence was in no mood for Garret’s back talk. “Fuck you! He fucking broke my arm! I got shot!”