“We know it was you!”
“They were our betas!”
“How dare you!?”
Through the chaos that ensues from the crowd that files into the small expanse of the cabin, I’m so suffocated and overwhelmed that I can hardly speak to defend myself. I open my mouth, but a whimper escapes, followed by a breathless huff when out of nowhere, I’m struck by a merciless fist.
My head snaps to one side, the crack of my neck joining the crash when I hit the wooden floor and bust my elbow with the impact. I look up through the haze of my vision, the rowdy crowd appearing foggy as I lift my hand to my face, where I can feel something warm trickling down my chin. That’s when I feel the throbbing of my nose and see crimson blood on my fingers.
I lift the bloodied hand in front of my face in a show of surrender.
“Wait! I can explain!” I protest, my voice finally working through the throes of the violence.
But I’m kicked in my ribs in response to my defense, curling over on one side when the brutal pain of cracking bones erupts through every fiber of my being.
“No!” I cry out, but the mob doesn’t listen, each one taking their turn to use me as a punching bag.
I close my eyes and take the blows. Everything else I’ve faced in the past pales in comparison to this outburst of violence, but it’s only because the pack thinks I was responsible for the deaths of Sam and Darius.
I may not have killed them with my own hands, but I’m responsible for their deaths, thanks to Alpha Dawson Black, who couldn’t keep his rage under control.
As tears pool behind my eyelids, I make a small request to the Moon Goddess to lay a protective hand over my son, where he hides beneath the rug in our bedroom, in the hole betweenthe floorboards. That’s the only thing I care about when death is nigh, and I surrender to the barbarity of the Moonshine Pack.
“Get. Away. From. Her!” a blaring voice rips through the ruckus and halts the violence that pins me to the ground. When the kicks and punches stop, that’s when I’m able to feel the magnitude of the pain in my broken bones.
I can only open my eyes a crack, seeing a familiar figure looming above me as the Moonshine Pack members disperse in fear of the figure’s imminent, commanding presence and tone when he growls.
“How dare you touch her?!” the threatening voice roars, his voice vibrating throughout the cabin.
“Who are you?!” one of the Moonshine members dares to ask.
‘Dares’because the newly arrived male figure growls and spits out, “I am Alpha Dawson Black of the Snehvolk Pack, and Yvonne Lang is my mate!”
The cruelty I’ve suffered takes my consciousness long before I can question that statement or make sense of it. Within seconds, blackness wraps its dark tendrils over my vision, pulling me into an unconscious slumber.
Chapter 4 - Dawson
Five Years Ago
My tongue flattens against the roof of my mouth, moist with the remnants of Yvonne’s taste that still lingers there.
If I hadn’t been abruptly pulled away from the library, I would have been ravishing her body even now, while the sun comes up. She’d still been asleep when I received a call from Elder Garret—one of the former betas of the pack. I had to rush all the way to the pack den, only to discover that I’m the only one here to meet with Garret.
My absence at last night’s celebratory bonfire must not have gone unnoticed since I am one of Alpha Elias’s subordinate alphas. Though I’m not the main leader, it’s only customary for me to attend these gatherings where the pack dances around the bonfire and praises the Moon Goddess.
I’d ended up having a private dance with Yvonne Lang, the nerdy omega who’d captured my attention a few months ago when I discovered that we shared the same interests and favorite authors. I ended up worshipping between her thighs.
I should be thankful to the Moon Goddess for that most splendid delicacy.
“Where were you last night,Alpha Dawson?” Elder Garret spits out my name as if it’s bitter venom on his tongue.
As I frown, I notice the way his dark eyes narrow at me, condescendingly, precariously, as if he knows more than he’s letting on.
“I was tending to my parents,” I lie, clearing my throat to sound more certain. “As you know, they’re both unwell and can’tattend the pack gatherings. I didn’t want to leave them alone on an auspicious night.”
Elder Garret scoffs derisively, his brown eyes turning into jetted pits that glare at me. “An auspicious night, huh? Is that why you were celebrating in the library?”
My breath escapes me as if it’s been abruptly snatched right out of my throat. For the first time in my five years as Elias’s subordinate, I feel like I’ve been caught red-handed doing something wrong.
