“Get your hands off her before I tear them off,” Cillian snapped.
Eric grinned. “Come and make me.”
Cillian almost sprinted forward, but something told him at the last minute to wait. Something was wrong with this whole setup. Eric was too exposed, too out in the open. There was something else going on, and Eric was waiting for Cillian to make a mistake.
As much as he hated it, he stayed in place. He turned his attention to the surrounding area, hunting for something, anything. Because he knew Eric was goading him, and he doubted it was just to get him distracted during a fight. No, there was something Eric was hoping he would miss. This was a trap. He just needed to figure out exactly what Eric wanted Cillian to do.
“Well?” Eric asked, raising an eyebrow. His hand trailed down Amber’s side, resting on her stomach. “What’s taking you so long?”
Cillian didn’t answer. There was something about this that seemed off. Eric wanted him to lunge for him. The question was why.
A couple of months ago, he would have charged headfirst toward Eric without thinking. This time, he hunted the surrounding areas, looking for something he was missing. Something Eric didn’t want him to see.
His eyes snagged on a thin line stretching across the ground, barely visible in the moonlight. Following it, he saw a series of wires attached to a box. An explosive was rigged to blow the second they broke that line. It was something the Night Pack had used before. If he had run, it would have triggered the trap and, more likely than not, he would be on the ground in tiny pieces.
Cillian burst into laughter. “Nice trap,” he remarked, getting a savage sense of amusement when Eric’s eyes flickered with unease and alarm. “But I’m not going to fall for that quite that easily.”
He nodded at the line of explosives, and Jasper and Franco peeled away to disarm the device. Eric sneered while Cillian flashed Eric a dazzling grin, his rage still simmering just below the surface.
Amber snickered. Scowling, Eric shoved Amber away into the arms of one of his goons.
“All right,” he said. “If you’re not going to be reasonable about this, then I guess we’re going to have to go about this the hard way.”
Before any of them could react or take a step toward him, Eric shifted into a large wolf with brown fur. His lips pulled back in a snarl for the briefest of moments before he lunged toward Cillian.
The other Night Pack wolves that had been lurking in ambush spilled out of the woods and charged toward them. Camden, Jasper, and Franco all shifted, jumping into the fray, and the battle began in earnest.
Eric ignored all of that, his attention still fixed on Cillian, who dipped out of the way just in time to avoid Eric’s initial attack. Without giving Eric the chance to spring toward himonce more, he shifted and swiped out with his claws, grazing Eric’s fur but getting no further. Growling, he ducked away, avoiding the snap of Eric’s jaws.
The fight continued, Eric and Cillian exchanging blow for blow. Eric swiped at Cillian’s face, and his eye began to sting when blood trickled down from the fresh cut above it. He growled, dancing forward. Eric was a formidable opponent, darting in and out with quick, easy dexterity. At one point, Eric lashed out, and a line of fire ran along Cillian’s front leg. He yowled, managing to get away, his leg now throbbing in agony, blood matting his fur.
Then Cillian’s footing stumbled, and everything went to hell. He tried to pivot, to correct the mistake as he staggered slightly, the injuries and exertion distracting him. He heard a triumphant growl seconds before Eric lunged, taking full advantage of the situation. His jaws clamped around Cillian’s neck. Cillian gaped. He could feel something warm and hot trickling down his neck. He flailed, claws lunging for Eric but unable to get purchase.
Before he could manage to wrench himself away, Eric dragged him to the ground. Cillian managed to wrench himself out of Eric’s grasp but stumbled. His legs gave out from underneath him, and his head slammed against a rock. Groaning, Cillian barely managed to move, instead staring up at the night sky as the world spun around him. Without realizing it, he had shifted back to human, dazed and disoriented. Before he could do anything, Eric was looming over him, human once again as well. With a triumphant smirk, he placed his foot on Cillian’s throat, slowly pressing down on his windpipe, making it nearly impossible to breathe. He continued applying pressure slowly, clearly savoring the moment as he began to crush the life out of Cillian.
Just before he would have passed out entirely, Cillian grasped Eric’s ankle and yanked. He twisted it, hoping to hear the snap of bone. Instead, Eric growled, jerking his foot out of Cillian’s grip. He lunged for Cillian, but grasped only air as Cillian rolled away just in time. He staggered to his feet, throat aching.
Eric jumped up as well, glaring at Cillian with murder burning in his eyes. He sneered and lunged forward before Cillian could shift back into a wolf or make an attack of his own. His hand wrapped tight around Cillian’s neck and squeezed. He shoved Cillian back to the earth, then pinned him beneath him, making it impossible for Cillian to clamber up. Eric’s hold on Cillian’s neck tightened, and the world at the edge of Cillian’s vision began to turn black. Eric smirked, his eyes burning with malicious glee. He continued adding more and more pressure, slowly crushing Cillian’s windpipe.
“I’m going to enjoy slicing you to ribbons,” he snarled. “And then I’m going to have my fun with Amber. If she’s good enough, I might even keep her around instead of selling her. Your pack is mine.”
Cillian panted, grimacing, barely able to breathe. He glared at Eric, but he couldn’t fight properly. He tried to reach up, his hands turning to wolf paws, and attempted to claw at Eric’s face, but the gash across his arm made it nearly impossible to strike swiftly with the force he needed.
“You should have seen how terrified she looked earlier,” Eric hissed. “I think she was waiting for you to save her. Too bad you failed. She’s mine again. And you can take that thought with you to the grave.”
Eric began to press even harder, preparing to deliver the killing blow. But those words had ignited a fire in Cillian, anda sudden burst of strength that he couldn’t fully explain shot through him. With narrowed eyes and gritted teeth, he shoved upward, launching Eric off him. Eric went flying, a shocked, almost confused expression spreading across his face. It might have even been comical, but Cillian didn’t give himself the chance to gloat or savor the moment. He needed to end this once and for all.
He sprinted toward Eric, shifting back into a snarling wolf. Before the other man could get to his feet, Cillian was on top of him, shoving Eric back to the ground. His jaws clamped around Eric’s neck. He felt Eric twitch, then flail as he crunched down.
Panting, Cillian released Eric, then stepped back, sweat dripping from his brow into his eyes. He watched the light die in Eric’s eyes, and the other shifter stilled. One final breath, and then nothing. Cillian shifted back to human, the aches and pains of his injuries throbbing dully. He waited for a moment to see if Eric would move again. He didn’t.
Once he was satisfied that Eric was gone, Cillian took in the rest of his surroundings, letting the world flood back to him. All around them, the rest of the wolves were still in a furious battle. He watched one of the goons attacking Franco, who was backed up against a tree. Without waiting, he dashed toward the fight, barreling into the goon and knocking the wolf off his feet.
The wolf shifted back into a man, one with a scarred face and broken nose. He rounded on Cillian, baring his teeth. But something about the expression on Cillian’s face made him falter.
“Your boss is dead,” Cillian said. “I would suggest you back off now and surrender before you end up in the same boat as him. You understand?”
The goon glanced over at Eric’s body. He paled and took a step back, then another. With one last, panicked glance at Cillian, he spun on his heels and sprinted away, darting into the woods away from the camp.
