“I’m not asking, Regina.” His voice hardens. “I’m telling you. You’re coming back with us. The coven needs you.”
“The coven can go fuck itself.”
I’d laugh if I wasn’t busy planning which piece of Kyle I’m gonna tear off next. He tastes like shit, but I buy mouthwash in bulk.
Twelve against four, plus Regina. Not great odds.
Forthem.
Kyle takes a step forward, and all four of us growl in unison. He stops.
“You’ve made your point,” he says, eyeing us with thinly-veiled disgust. “Playing house with a pack of mutts. Very rebellious. Very dramatic. But playtime is over.”
“These ‘mutts’ are my mates.” Regina’s voice is steel now. “My pack. And you’re not taking me anywhere.”
Kyle gives a bitter laugh. “So you say.” His eyes drop to her neck, to the silver marks visible above her collar. Our marks.
“You let themmarkyou?” The words come out like he’s choking on them. “You let these animals put their filthy teeth on you?”
“They’re not animals.Youare.”
“You stupid, ungrateful little—” He cuts himself off, visibly struggling for control. The other coven members shift uneasily. Guess they’ve never seen their fearless leader lose his composure. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What you’ve thrown away? You were the Thirteenth of one of the most prestigious covens in the country, and you spread your legs for a pack ofdogs?”
I snarl, taking a step forward. I feel Sean and Micah’s rage echoing my own. Rowan’s is colder, but just as deadly.
“Careful,” Regina says, and there’s a new tone in her voice that makes even Kyle pause. “You’re talking about my pack. And unlike you, they actually give a shit about me.”
Kyle turns a shade of red I’ve only ever seen on a toddler throwing a tantrum in the toy aisle of a grocery store. “I gave you everything?—”
“You gave me scraps and made me thank you for them.” Her hands are glowing now, faint green light stretching between her fingers like cobwebs. That’s new. “You rationed my power like I was a pet you were training, and you let me starve while the rest of you gorged yourself onmymagic.”
Through our bond, I feel flashes of memory. They’re not full images, just impressions.
Pain. Fear. Darkness. Chains. A basement.
And beneath it all, the echo of Kyle’s voice telling her to cover up, to hide her beautiful face and be ashamed.
Now that Regina is free from this asshole, I’m finally going to kill him.Slowly.
“We’re done here,” Regina says. “Leave. Now. Before my mates decide to finish what Killian started with your arm.”
Damn, she’s hot when she’s threatening people.
For a moment, I think he might actually do the smart thing and back down, but who am I kidding? This is Kyle.
The coven spreads out in a half-circle, Kyle at the center like he’s directing a play.
“We’re done talking,” Kyle says, raising his hand. Dark energy crackles between his fingers. “You’re coming with us, Regina. Willingly or otherwise.”
I snarl, the sound sending vibrations through the earth beneath my paws.
“Stand down, mutts,” a witch with silver-streaked hair sneers. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Wrong thing to say.
All four of us move at once. I go straight for Kyle because I have unfinished business with his other arm. Rowan flanks left, Micah goes right, and Sean charges the center of their line like a giant furry battering ram. He might look like a stuffed animal, but he packs a punch in both forms.
Wait, can a wolf punch?
