Cyrus barked a laugh.
“Sorry for taking my frustration out on you,” Koe offered, clapping his Enforcer on the back.
Cyrus’ lips cocked in a grin. “You hit like a bitch.”
Koe huffed a laugh and offered, “In that case, we can go another round if you’d like.”
Cyrus shook his head. “Fuck that! I’m steering clear of training with you until this thing with you and Jury is settled.” He rubbed the back of his head. “If you wanna train, you’ll have to wait for Daemon to return. That sadistic fucks enjoy the pain.”
Koe snorted. “They should have been back by now.” Expression going serious, he glanced at the door as if expecting them to walk in. “I’m half worried something went wrong.”
“If it was just Thrall, I’d be worried. But he’s with D, and you know there ain’t shit that D can’t handle.”
“I also know that Daemon isn’t opposed to going to war with an entire pack alone. I shouldn’t have sent him. He’s hell on wheels.”
“You know his wolf needs to be let loose on occasion. He doesn’t get to be free often, and training isn’t enough to satiate Demon. This is good for them. Let ‘em have it.”
Cyrus was right. It felt unfair the way Daemon had to keep his beast locked away, but the animal was uncontrollable on the best of days, which meant Demon rarely saw the light of day. It had Koe praying that was the reason for the delay. If Daemon needed a little extra “hunting” time, then he and Demon would get it.
Cyrus fist-bumped Koe’s thigh before standing and walking backward. “I’m hitting the showers but think about what I said. You should let Jury decide what she is and isn’t ready for. You could be denying you both the Creator’s most significant of blessings.” Turning, he headed for the locker room, tossing over his shoulder, “There are worse lots in life for her than to be mated to the Allegiance Alpha. And if shit with Biters was as bad asyou're hinting, then she deserves a mate who’d go to war to protect her. That you?”
Cyrus didn’t wait for a response; he just kept walking, leaving Koe alone with the question.
Hell yeah, it’s me!
He was already in the process of declaring war over what had been done to Jury. He could tell his pack that it was about principle and pack standards, but the truth was, it was just about Jury. It was one hundred percent about what had been done to her specifically, and yeah, standards would be enforced, but he didn’t give a fuck about Biter standards. He gave a fuck about Jury.
Eyeing the empty doorway, he wondered if Cyrus was right. Should he let Jury decide, or should he do the righteous thing and leave her the hell alone?
Chapter 16
Narae’s heart was hammering in her chest. Daemon and Thrall weren’t listening. Hell was coming their way, and it was coming fast; she could feel it. But against any logic, Daemon and Thrall were stalling to secure her.
“Run!” she hissed, trying to jerk out of Dameon’s hold as Thrall bound her hands behind her back. “I won’t do anything, you idiots, just go! Tell Jury I love her.”
Ignoring her, Daemon shoved her into Thrall’s arms and jerked his head toward the forest, “Take her, I’ll meet you at the truck.”
All the air left Narae on a whoosh! Take her? She thought they were tying her up to leave her so they’d have a clean escape. But they were taking her! They couldn’t take her! They’d lead Bragga right to Jury if they did that. “Wait!” she bellowed, but Thrall was already dragging her into the trees.
Looking back, she watched Daemon lift a hand to his mouth and rip into his palm before he held out his arm, his blood dripping onto the ground. She knew what he was doing. He wasleaving a marker. It was an invitation, a challenge. Were these guys crazy? They didn’t want to call Bragga and his Biters to their territory. Bragga didn’t play by the rules, and he sure as shit didn’t follow any of the elders' laws. Bragga wouldn’t issue any formal challenge to Daemon. He’d attack their compound, probably at night, and he’d kill Enforcers, elders, women, and children. Bragga simply didn’t care. There wasn’t an ounce of civility in the man, and Daemon was calling serious trouble onto his pack and onto Jury.
“Stop!” she screamed. Then, looking at Thrall, she jerked back hard and started thrashing, “Let me the fuck go!”
Thrall growled and stopped just long enough to toss her over his shoulder before he tripled his pace.
They broke through the trees onto an old logging road where a blacked-out, jacked-up, quad-cab Ford Raptor waited. In a blink, Thrall had her shoved into the back seat before he was in the driver’s seat, starting the engine. The roar of the motor was loud and wouldn’t go unnoticed by her pack. Luckily, when her pack would eventually find her, at least they’d be able to see thatshe was taken against her will. As if that’d matter. Bragga would punish her for the dead trainees. Somehow, it’d be her fault. Everything was always her fault in Bragga’s eyes, especially now that Jury was gone.
In the front seat, Thrall hissed, “Ffffuck!” He put the truck in gear and blasted down the mountain.
He was driving too fast on the curvy road. Narae eyed the seatbelt over her shoulder, but with her hands bound behind her, there was no hope of securing herself. Instead, she was slammed into the back door so hard that she winced as Thrall took a turn at a high rate of speed.
He tossed a repentant, “Sorry!” over his shoulder.
They took several more turns like that, and Narae was tossed around the back seat like a rag doll. When the road finally straightened out, she righted herself. Whipping her head around to search behind them, Narae couldn’t help but stammer, “D-Daemon?”
Thrall’s eyes hit the rearview mirror before slicing back to the road. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about D. Hecan handle his own. Hell, he can handlehisown,myown,yourown. He’ll find us, and…”
A loud boom sounded, and the truck rocked hard. With a shriek, Narae rolled off the bench seat and ducked low. Thrall was struggling to right the fishtailing truck, but managed the feat. When he did, Narae peeked up from the floor to find Thrall eying the rearview mirror again with a satisfied smirk.
