Page 45 of Hell Bound

The bastard wasn’t worth wasting breath on. “Deasley.” I clapped the young wolf on the back. “Take a break from sword work and run some laps.”

He looked up at me with relief so blatant it was uncomfortable. “Wolf form?”

“Yes. If Pypentha can still beat you at track five times out of five by the end of the month, you owe me fifty laps a day.”

The relief became despair. “Fifty?”

“Fifty.” I nudged him towards the courtyard exit. “Move it.”

Deasley glanced back once at Odragir, then took off, yanking off his shirt as he went.

“You too, Pypentha. Make sure he doesn’t cut corners.”

The Tainted wolf was growling low in her throat, looking like she wanted nothing more but to bite Odragir’s balls off, but she bounded after Deasley, exploding out of her clothes and racing after him like a silver streak.

Odragir looked me over, that smirk still in place. “How far you’ve fallen,PrinceMorningstar.”

I turned my back on him and strode away, fully intending to take out my irritation on a practice target. Controlling myself around the mouthy asshole wasn’t that hard.

“How often do you get to fuck the silver bitch now that the whore queen’s back? Or do you just fuck both—”

The beast inside me snapped, ripping through my skin and clothes in a whirlwind of teeth and claws. It would seem the wolf was closer to the surface than I thought.

Odragir barely managed to shift before I fell on him, snarling and burying my teeth in his shoulder.

A hot gush of coppery blood filled my mouth, fueling my seething hatred.

He howled and ripped away, burning claws tearing through my chest. I was vaguely aware of Jovran pummeling Vibek’s face with his massive fists, sending gouts of blood spurting through the air.

All it took was one insult, and I lost all control.

And I wondered if it was even worth it. She’d made it clear to me yesterday that there was nothing between us. No memories, and no future. In bringing her back each time, I’d become just another Asmodeus.

I was putting all this effort in for a woman who would never look at me as anything but a monster.

A shrill whine left Odragir’s throat as my teeth sank into that tender, vulnerable flesh, and I ripped it away, peeling back fur and exposing scarlet muscle.

Call her a whore again, bastard. I’ll eat your fucking flesh and chew your bones,I snarled at him.

Perhaps she was right, and I was nothing but a monster. Not fit for a queen.

He backed away, his chest darkened with a river of blood, and growled before turning tail. It galled my wolf to let him go, the beast fighting my restraint to tear after him and finish what we’d started.

But killing Odragir would only be a temporary pleasure, one not worth the severe punishment that would follow.

Vibek shifted under Jovran’s grasp and fled after him, followed by Arand.

I released the wolf’s form, straightening up and looking down at myself. The entire courtyard and my body had become a slick of gore.

I spat a bit of fur as Deasley and Pypentha came racing back into the courtyard. Deasley shifted while I picked a bit of gristle out of my teeth.

“Shit, we missed it!”

I shook my head. The fool couldn’t lift a sword, but he wanted to brawl. “Get out of here, all of you!”

There was no arguing with my barked command. Even Jovran trotted off, the lot of them heading for pack quarters and leaving me in blessed silence.

My gaze found the side window, high above me, that led to Lilith’s bedroom. Her balcony faced the other way, but if she was looking down from here…

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