“Let her go.” I’d never heard his tone like that. He hadn’t looked at me, keeping eye contact with Drake.
“You know there are a few things I need . . .”
“Fine. Let her go,” Lucian hissed.
“It won’t just be one thing, Wilder. I mean, quite a few shifter laws were broken tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” I mumbled, my jaw having minimal movement. Drake pressed harder on my neck, and I groaned, shutting up.
Lucian almost vibrated with anger.
“The Luna to Wilder Pack.” My heart pulsed. “Has to pay a price for breaking pack law.” How did I break the law? “And with you showing up, it makes two strikes the Wilder Pack has against me.”
“Stop with your theatrics, Drake. What do you want?”
Drake’s laugh sent chills to my toes.
10
Lucian’s head tipped back, and he guffawed. The look he sent Drake would have made me feel an inch tall, and based on how Drake pushed harder on my neck, it did sting him. I kept my mouth shut, but when he pressed again, obviously wanting me to cry out, I couldn’t help it.
A whimper slipped free, and Lucian’s smirk morphed into fury.
“Privileged cunt,” Drake hissed.
“And you’ll always be trash, Drake,” Lucian drawled, head cocked. My heart thundered as fast as a hummingbird’s wings, yet he remained calm, cool, and collected. Lucian swept his gaze around the shifters surrounding him. “You’ve outdone yourself,” he mocked. “This attack is more planned than I anticipated your tiny brain could come up with.”
The arrogance on Lucian’s face told me he was trying to make Drake come at him.
Drake growled, his boot shoved down so hard it cut off my air supply. I gripped onto the bottom of his jeans, yanking with as much strength as I could.
“Stop,” Lucian growled, his head lowered and his body shaking like he was holding back from shifting. I met Lucian’s eyes and tried to convey to him how sorry I was for pulling him into his enemy’s territory. My face was beginning to feel numb from not breathing. “Please,” he choked out. The pressure relaxed off my throat enough to no longer suffocate me.
“The great Lucian Wilder begging for the trash?” Drake drawled.
Oof, his comments really bothered Drake. He seethed with metaphoric tiny-dick syndrome, but sadly, I doubted he actually had a small cock simply because he was an Alpha.
“Enough peacocking. What do you want for safe passage off your land?” Lucian was suddenly serious.
Drake hummed and went silent. I kept my eyes on Lucian, but nothing on his face told me what he was thinking.
“It’d be nice to break your neck.”
Lucian smirked. “You’re welcome to, just know I have contingencies in the event of my death.”
“Don’t we all,” Drake responded. “The aftereffect of your death would cause too much political bullshit.” He paused. “For your Luna stepping onto my property, I want the Townsend Land.”
Lucian scoffed, shaking his head. “You hardly have the funds to keep your pack running. What do you want with more land?” The mocking tone was degrading. And for a brief second, I felt bad for Gideon Drake. A Lucian that I’d only had a brief glimpse of so long ago stood before me.
Pompous, cruel, and unfeeling.
The familiar feeling of worthlessness turned my stomach.
“I’ll take your Luna’s life then for the disrespect.” He added weight to the front of his shoe, again cutting off my breathing.
I gagged on a breath.
“Stop,” Lucian snarled. “It’s yours. I’ll have the paperwork drawn up.”
