Page 86 of Renegade Kings

The smile never once left his face.

Maddox prowled away, his lion clearly agitated as he paced in front of our brother.

This wasn’t anything like the man who had pulled together our family through sheer grit and determination. Was there anything of the man we knew left inside?

The sound of fighting was getting louder, and my wolf whined in agitation. Dean had the right idea of going back to Alyssa. He was there to keep her safe. As much as I was kicking myself for not having done the same, at least being here meant Damon wasn’t anywhere near her. He couldn’t infect her with the poisonous words he aimed so true.

“It won’t be long now. Once Arik has her, his plan will nearly be ready. I wonder if he’ll let you watch as he tames the bitch,” Damon spat.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t listen to the threats, to the insults, to the poison that dripped from his lips. My wolf clearly felt the same way because he darted forward, quicker than I’d ever seen him move. Catching Damon by the throat with our jaws, we pinned him to the ground beneath our weight. I tried not to feel satisfied at the way my claws dug into his chest, ripping open his wounds just a little bit more.

It would be so easy to tear out his throat now. A part of my wolf wanted to. It craved the violence, the feeling of blood slipping down our throat. It called out to the wolf’s base instincts and spoke to something deep inside me. A need I didn’t want to think about.

People always thought Dean was the scary one in our group because he wore his disdain for all to see. They never looked twice at me. The comic of the group, the one who learned about their weaknesses to help them through the day. But I knew where to strike. I knew the most vulnerable pieces of them, and it would be nothing to tear it away in one bloody strike.

A growl filled with the anger I’d long tried to hide inside bubbled to the surface, and I could have sworn, for a moment, there was a glimmer of fear in Damon’s eyes.

“Ryder! Wait!” Maddox shouted from behind me.

I hadn’t realised he’d shifted and when he strode into my eyeline. I saw Tank there beside him. Both of them with looks of concern on their faces.

Didn’t they realise we were in the middle of a fight here? They couldn’t allow themselves to be this vulnerable when we didn’t know who else was waiting amongst the trees for us.

“Ryder, listen. The fighting has stopped. It’s over,” Maddox tried again.

I glanced down at the brother beneath me in time to see his eyes roll back in his head as he passed out. Scrambling backwards, I fell away. I knew I hadn’t been holding onto him that tightly. He should have been able to breathe.

The shock of worry had me shifting back into my human form as Maddox moved, pressing his fingers to Damon’s neck and feeling for a pulse.

I watched as his fingers pressed onto the bloodied skin. Shame filled me, knowing that I’d been the one to put it there.

Tank knelt at Maddox’s side, his head cocked slightly as he concentrated. “Alyssa’s bond is weakened, but she’s still there. I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

I could still feel her. I could always feel her. Of course, she would have found a way to get through this. She always did.

“He’s alive. I’m not sure why he passed out. He was breathing just fine,” Maddox mumbled, but it was something I’d needed to hear.

We clustered closer around our fallen brother. It wasn’t really the smartest thing, considering we were now unarmed and kneeling naked on the forest floor. Not exactly a smart offensive plan, but at least we’d already disarmed the man we were now apparently concerned about.

“Should we… restrain him or something?” Tank asked, clearly thinking the same thing.

“Sure, let me just pull the cuffs out of my ass,” Maddox quipped before he rocked back on his heels and sat down on said ass in the mud. “Is this over?”

“No, I hate to break it to you, but your brother is either insane or a completely different person. Getting him back was just the first step in whatever crazy journey we’re on. And I’m not entirely sure we have him. One of us needs to scout ahead and make sure that we’re not about to be ambushed by any Endless that might be retreating.”

“I can shift and run ahead,” I offered, trying to climb to my feet and then falling back to my knees. “Or… I might just need a minute.”

My head suddenly swam, and it felt like the world tilted at an angle.

“Don’t worry about it. We should have warned you that the first couple of shifts would leave you disorientated if you don’t take enough time in between. It messes with your head to quickly change forms at first.” Tank gave me a wry smile, and I couldn’t help but shake my head and then massively regret it when I thought I might actually throw up in response.

Damon groaned and our full attention was back on him as he tried to roll to the side, only for Maddox to grab his shoulders and hold him still. We had no idea what side of him was about to wake up, and personally, if it was the rat bastard we’d suffered through moments ago, I was more than ready to knock him back the fuck out.

“Urgh, fuck” he groaned as his eyes slowly fluttered open. “Why are there so many balls near my face right now?”

Yeah, Damon was back. Now we just needed to make sure we didn’t lose him again.

Chapter 33

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