Dane’s Adam’s apple bobbed as nervous energy floated in the air.
A muscle jumped along Ross’s jaw.
Tripp lifted the taped gauze to expose Ben’s massive wound.
I fisted my hands at my side.
Dane pointed at Ben’s mangled waist. “What’s this? Are you trying to say we did this?” His tone bordered on a growl.
I glowered at the shifters. “Did you?”
Dane’s eyes flashed red as his canines clicked into place.
Tripp jutted out his chin, calm and reserved. “We’re only asking. Obviously, this is a shifter bite.”
“That could very well be from another animal, like a bear,” Ross said smugly.
Tension, thick and angry, dangled over Ben.
It was Tripp’s turn to show his fangs. “Do you think we’re idiots, beta? If it were a bear, I’m sure Ben wouldn’t be here. That’s a wolf bite. I should know. I’ve seen plenty of them. Wolf blood runs in my family.”
If they were surprised by that, they didn’t show it.
I didn’t detect any guilt or that they were hiding anything. Then again, they weren’t exactly human, which meant they knew how to hide their true emotions.
Dane flared his nostrils. “So, you’re accusing me or my pack of doing this to your man?”
“One of your pack members, Vera, had been Roman’s sidekick,” I said. “She wanted revenge for her sister’s death.”
Tripp’s eyes morphed from bronze to liquid black. “Let’s not forget, Dane, that you were taking orders from Roman that night. You were desperate to do his bidding because you owed him a favor.”
Dane’s claws, sharp and deadly, grew from his fingernails as his red eyes bore a hole into Tripp. “I ought to rip out your throat.”
“For what? Asking a question?” Fury fueled my elemental powers, causing Doc’s rolling metal table to fly across the room. “Seems to me, you’re guilty.”
Ross, who had been standing at the foot of the bed, stalked up to me. “I don’t like you.” His eyes morphed from hazel to shimmering blue.
I was beginning to learn that the alpha had red eyes. His beta’s were deep cerulean-blue, but Vera, if I remembered correctly, had amber eyes in wolf form. Interesting hierarchy of physical transformations. Then again, my family had different eye colors that aligned with how powerful we were.
Ross and I were nose to nose, chest to chest, and both of us were breathing fire. “Feeling’s mutual, beta.” I itched to do something other than stare at the jerk. “Who in your pack attacked Ben?”
A deep grumble shook the walls. In a flash, Ross was pushed aside, and Dane dug his claws into my neck. “Back the fuck down, vampire.”
I grinned as I gripped his balls. “I could crush your jewels in a flat second, so take your fucking paws off me.”
“Sam,” Tripp warned, “this isn’t the place.”
Pain etched Dane’s face as his canines dripped with venom.
I snarled, pushing Dane so hard he stumbled into the medical supply cabinet, almost breaking the glass doors.
He lunged at me, swiping his sharp claws down my face.
Motherfucker.
Ross and Tripp intervened.
Dane shrugged Ross off as his red eyes bored a hole in my forehead. “Touch me again, and I will rip out your throat.” Then he brushed his hands down his jean-clad legs, retracting his canines as well as his claws. “Keep your man in line, Lieutenant, or I’ll have to do it for you.”
