“I think you convinced yourself that if you managed to mate the king that you could turn him. Nevermind that you killed his father, hunted his kind to extinction, and then manipulated him into scenarios that he would have never done.” Lynn laughed low.
“Shut up.” Verity squeezed more until Lynn’s lips were puckered. “You don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.”
Lynn looked at Verity for a second. “I pity you.” Verity dropped her face as if she had burned her.
“You what?”
“Pity you…because I might be insane. But I can still see that you had no chance in hell of convincing Rowan to mate you, nevermind being able to convince him to switch sides.”
“SHUT UP!” she screamed again as she whirled on Rowan. “We could still do it. We have him surrounded.”
Rowan chuckled. His voice a deep rasp. “The council? Will be disbanded and executed. The traitorous royal guard? Will be handled as well. I have already set it all in motion. Dead or not, you won’t have any leverage to use against my Luna.”
Verity made a choking noise. “Your Luna?”
Rowan looked over at Garith. “You really settled for the dumb ones, eh? At least Gavin knows what he is doing.”
Garith just smiled. Then he turned to look around the room. “You.” His finger pointed at someone. “I need you to bring me my implements.”
“Your implements?” A guard pointed at himself, but Garith shook his head.
“Omega…the bag I left on the last pew. Bring them to me.” I felt the command in his words, but I stayed still. He rolled his eyes. “You.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see.” Rowan coughed out a laugh. “Your spell has her frozen like the rest of us, dumbass.” Garith turned back to him. “She can’t move, no matter what command you give the girl.”
Garith growled. “Itsi blugh dor not ihnas.” He pointed at me, and I could feel the spell release me. “Now, bring me the tools on the bench.”
I stumbled and caught myself on the back of a pew. Before I hurried over to the tool kit. I could smell the silver before I grabbed it. I walked with shaky steps to the front of the room, all eyes watching me until Lynn started to laugh again. All eyes shifted to her as I stopped next to Garith.
“He’s dead.” Lynn’s laughter turned to heartbreaking sobs. “He’s dead, and he can never touch another wolf ever again.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lynn’s face was triumphant. Brandon screamed. “Derek!” But he was still frozen. Derek himself was stuck on his knees, eyes open but glossy. Blood still trickled from his wounds, but that was more from gravity than it was from his heart. Because his heart was silent. “No!” Brandon screamed again, but Lynn just laughed. “You stupid bitch, I’ll kill you myself. He didn’t deserve to die.”
“He deserved every fucking slice.” She screamed back. “Every time he touched me, cut me, burned me. I kept count. I kept track of every fucking breath he breathed against my neck. He got lucky that I was stuck like this before I had finished.”
Brandon’s eyes burned as he opened his mouth but Garith screamed. “Enough.” He waved his hands towards me, and I stepped up next to him. “Good girl.” He opened the toolkit in myhand and smiled. “You wouldn’t mind holding this for me, would ya, darling?” He smiled as if he were asking, but I felt the weak command he put into his words.
Rowan snorted. “You did all of this to kill me and take over as king, but that was your command?” His eyes turned to Garith’s. “You are fucking weak.”
Gairth snarled. “I know I won’t be king, but my son is stronger.” He grinned and grabbed my arm. He pulled me around the pew so I was standing next to his thigh and he unzipped the toolkit, displaying the knives there. “Now…let’s get to work.”
“Gavin would never have gone along with that.” Rowan was baiting him.
“Gavin is a disappointment. I was smart enough to have a backup. Not as strong, and Garren has no magic, but beggars can’t be chooser I guess.”
Garren…I’ve heard that name before.
The wolf that Aurora was with in the caves.Nix growled low as she remembered.
Garith sighed. “I would have been happier with Gavin’s girl…now, she had potential. But…” He turned to look at Brandon. “Some people have different ideas.” He turned to Shannon. “And some have ambitions they shouldn’t. But here we are.” He turned back to Rowan. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m close.”
“Close? To what?” Rowan laughed again. “Killing me will do nothing for your position. My Luna is already in place to take over for me.” His words made my stomach clench.
Garith waved a hand. “There is a solution for your Luna. But I’m close to the first family. I can feel it. I have traced a few lines, and I feel like I am close.”
Nix snorted.Closer than he actually thinks.
