Rossi turns on his heel so he’s in profile to me and narrows his eyes at Luke. “Don’t speak that religious nonsense to me. It’s that same backwoods idiocy that lost your pack the most valuable thing they had.”
“I don’t understand.” Luke’s brows pull together, and he cocks his head to the side. His gaze darts to me. He lifts his brows and tilts his head slightly to the side in the direction of the door, then returns his gaze to the advancing Alpha.Is he distracting Rossi on purpose?“What do you mean?”
Using the wall, I push myself to my feet, the movement completely ignored by Rossi as his full attention is now focused on my cousin. I eye the open—and now unobstructed thanks to Luke—exit.
Rossi outright laughs and swings one hand in my direction. “Omegas, no matter their sex, are priceless considering the benefits they provide with their mere presence. An omega brings power and prosperity to any pack blessed to have one.” He moves toward Luke, his voice going lower. “Your father let his blind bigotry cost your packeverythingwhen he kicked the omega out on his own.”
“My father wanted him dead,” says Luke flatly, his eyes hard. He swallows. “I’m the one who saved his life. Doesn’t that meanIshould get the money?”
Rossi laughs again, shaking his head. “Aren’t you an interesting little wolf?”
I slide along the wall, making my way to the door. Luke pointedly ignores me.
“It’s a shame your idiot father needs to be taught a lesson about lying to his betters. I’ll almost regret killing you,” continues Rossi. He grabs Luke by the throat, lifting him off his feet and holding him there for a moment before shaking him like a rag doll.
For all that Luke is also an alpha, he’s no match for Rossi. My cousin doesn’t control a pack and he can’t draw on their strength to supplement his own. Plus, he’s only like nineteen and judging by the looks of things almost completely untrained.
The open door is beckoning, and Rossi appears to have forgotten all about me, but Luke’s slowly turning blue. I don’t know if I can just walk away. If it were Randall on the other side of Rossi’s claws, I’d already be out the door, but the fact that it’s Luke instead gives me pause.
My cousin was never my friend. Hell, apparently he’s not even really my cousin. He never defended me from his father. He was never even particularlyniceto me, but…he saved my life.Twice, if I count distracting Rossi this evening. I can’t just leave him to die.
Ugh. Stupid morals.You’d think after last night I’d have learned my lesson about trying to rescue people. Though I guess helping Remy out led me to Julien, so maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to discount my overactive conscience.
I shift my hands to call out my claws, then pounce on Rossi’s back and dig them into his shoulder. He snarls and spins around so quickly I lose my grip and fly off him, thumping to the carpeted floor behind him. The jarring landing clacks my teeth together and I bite my tongue, filling my mouth with blood. I jump back to my feet, facing a now growling Rossi.
The Alpha’s legs tense as he prepares to jump forward, but before he can move, Luke smashes a lamp over Rossi’s head. The damn base must be solid stone or something, because the hit knocks the Alpha to the ground. Rossi pushes himself into a sitting position and wavers in place, a dazed look on his face.
Luke pauses for a brief moment, tensed for Rossi to attack again, then takes hold of my bicep and yanks me to my feet.
“Go,” he says, pushing me toward the door.
“Come with me.” I don’t know who’s more shocked at my offer, him or me. “I mean… unless you really want to go back to Alabama with Randall?”
Twenty-Three
Keir
Somehow,LukeandImake it out to the street without being stopped. Either that lamp really knocked Rossi for a loop, or the Chicago Alpha is no longer concerned with keeping me now that he thinks I’m useless.
I’m really hoping it’s the latter.
The guy definitely deserved a good head smacking, but I prefer to think he’s simply decided not come after me. It’s already been a hell of a day and getting at least one worry off my plate would beawesome. I can only effectively deal with one problem at a time and preventing or stopping the challenge needs to be my focus now, not dodging Rossi.
I glance up and down the street. I’m not very familiar with this part of the city, but I can see a bus stop a couple of blocks away. If nothing else, the bench will provide a place to sit while I think about how to find Julien.
I head in that direction with Luke following behind me. My cousin hasn’t said a word since we left the hotel room and I’m not sure what to say to him either. Inviting him along on my not-very-daring escape was pure impulse, but it’s a little late to take the invitation back now. Once at the bus stop, I slump onto the bench and rest my head in my hands as I try to pull my thoughts together.
Okay. First things first, how do I stop the challenge?
Rossi said it was happening soon and it’s definitely in the city. I just need to figure out where, then get there and kick some ass… or something like that.
My gaze moves toward the front of the hotel we just left. Rossi owns it. There are plenty of shifters there. Maybe… “Do you think the challenge would be in the hotel somewhere?”
Luke gives me a weird look. “Like, does Rossi have a conference room set aside for bloody battles? I doubt it.”
“Right, right…” I nod slowly. I’m sure there are plenty of viable options, but my brain isn’t coming up with any. My head spins and an uncomfortable itch crawls up my spine as my breaths get shallower and shallower.Fuck. Not ag—
Pain jolts through my neck and down to my toes, leaving a lingering ache in its wake. Hey, at least it gets rid of the stupid itch. I curl my fingers into my palms, mostly to prevent my hand from shaking, but also to hide the fact that my nails have darkened and might just do a switchblade-like conversion into claws any second now.
