My wolf surges to the surface, a warning snarl ripping from my lips.
Fuck it. If Ever can accept Arson as one of her mates, she won’t bat an eye if I tear their hearts out through their throats.
Before I can take a single step, Oscar puts himself between me and my father, stealing the wind from my sails. I have a good hundred and fifty pounds and nearly two feet on the old man, yet he’s putting himself in the line of fire to try and diffuse the situation.
“Here, Alpha. On the house.” He hands my father a six pack of beer. “Anything else you’d like me to pack up for you before you three head out?”
My father scowls, snatching the beer out of his hands and shoving it at one of the leeches he calls a friend. “You’re behind on rent.”
Oscar stiffens. “I paid last week.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Consider it an extra fee for harboring a traitor then. Three hundred.”
Oscar’s fist clenches, the only sign of his rage at the injustice, and takes a steadying breath. “I’ve mademaybesixty-two dollars today. That's all I have in the register.”
With a flick of his wrist, my father pops open one of the beer bottles and drains half of it in one long pull. “I’m nothing if not reasonable, payments are fine. Sixty a day for the next two weeks.”
“That’s outrageous!” I snap. “Way more than your bullshit extra tax.”
He chuckles, the sound dark and malicious. “You’ve forgotten how it works around here,son.I make the rules, and people fall in line. Or else.”
My skin suddenly feels too tight, thin fissures spreading as I fight back my shift tooth and nail. “Because anyone that doesn’tagree with your bullshit deserves to be killed like Mom, is that it?”
Bellamy frowns in confusion, but I’ll fill him in later.
“You should thank me for getting rid of her,” my father drawls. “She was making you weak.” He gestures at me, like that sums up his point. “Looks like you were finally able to man up without her holding you back.” Leering at Ever and Kiara, he adds, “And found some pretty company to keep you busy.”
I step in front of them, tucking Ever firmly behind me, and snarl, “Don’t even fucking look at them.”
A grin lights up his face. “Oooh, protective, are we? All the better. Davies?”
One of his men takes a step toward Ever like he’s going to restrain her, for them to use her against me. But he doesn’t make it more than two steps before Bellamy is there, wrenching Davies’ arm behind his back and slamming his face into the cooler. “Try it, and your shoulder will be out of its socket before you can blink. You don’t so much asbreathein her direction, understood?”
My father barks a laugh, looking down his nose at me. “You always did need other people to fight your battles for you. Clearly, my lessons didn’t stick and you need a refresher of how powerless you really are here.” He drains the rest of his beer and tosses the bottle over his shoulder. “I think I’ll start with that pretty little thing you seem so fond of. What do you say, sweetheart? Time to trade up to a real alpha, don’t you think?”
A feral haze envelops me and I snap. In the next heartbeat, my fist is on a collision course to break his fucking jaw.
And the bastard blocks it.
In the next instant, he’s throwing one back at me, quicker than I expected for his age. But years of getting my ass beat as a kid has hardened me, and I barely even feel it as he lands a brutal hit on my ribs. With sick satisfaction, I savor the momenthe tries to shift and realizes he can't, eyes widening in surprise before darkening with rage and utter loathing. He studies Ever’s face over my shoulder and lets out a pissed off, animalistic snarl before whipping his face toward Oscar. “You told me the whelp died in the wreck!”
Oscar audibly swallows his nerves, positioning himself between his furious alpha and my mate. “Of course I did. I couldn’t let her grow up in this Fates’ forsaken place.”
“She’s an abomination, just like her mother,” my father spits, my heart sinking at the implications. “She shouldn’texist.”
Ever lets out a strangled sound, staring at my father with both loathing, and a desperation for answers.
I meet Myles’ gaze, silently pleading for him to get the women out of here, and he takes point as Ever protests.
“He’ll be distracted as long as you’re here,” Myles murmurs, ushering her out the door. “The best thing we can do for him is to give him room to let loose without having to worry about us getting caught in the crossfire, trust me.”
The other one of my father’s friends lunges to intercept them, but Arson snatches him out of mid-air and drags him back. “Where do you think you’re going? Aren’t you supposed to back up your boss?” Without breaking a sweat, he snags the man Bellamy has pinned as well and maneuvers them like action figures behind my father and grins. “There, that’s better.” Meeting Bell’s gaze, he holds it silently for a weighted moment before slapping his shoulder. “Tag, you’re on guard duty. No take backs.” Cackling, he turns his entire focus back on tormenting his latest victims, his shadows the strings of his new personal puppets.
Briefly, I meet Ever’s gaze and nod a silent promise that everything will be okay; I’ll make sure of it. But I can’t do that if I’m hyperfocused on her the whole time, worried she’ll get hurt in the crossfire.
I don’t even need to warn Arson to save my father for me. He understands better than anyone.
His death ismine.
