I stared, cold and hard.“You mean you hoped, yet here I am.”
His grin grew into something maniacal."Eager to die, are we?I can't say I blame you.Who would want to carry all that guilt overkilling your own pup?”
The words struck a nerve buried deep, down where I held my grief on lockdown.He wanted to throw me off kilter.
Instead, I let the anger wash over me, let it sharpen my focus and hone my instincts.
"Get on with it," I growled.“Name your witness.”
Turner snapped and a young male, no more than twenty, came forward.“My nephew, Gerald Fikes, known as Grunt.”
Unfortunate name for the wolf.The poor male was already looking a little green.My hand moved behind my back and gave a thumbs down to my enforcer.I trusted he took note as he stepped up to my side.
“My head enforcer, Baylor Byrne.Known as Baylor.”
Grunt swallowed and my enforcer snorted.
“Cute,” Turner remarked.
My face remained impassive.“Skin or fur?”
“Skin,” he answered immediately.
Fur was my preference and that was probably why he chose skin.Luckily, skin didn’t mean we couldn’t use teeth or claws.
The Alpha smiled, the expression twisting his scarred face into something truly grotesque.“I’m going to enjoy killing you, but I’m really going to enjoy forcing your mate onto her knees.”
Onyx snarled.
Turner lunged.We clashed in a flurry of rage and muscle.Unable to take me to the ground, he put some space between us.
I ducked beneath his swinging fist, my own hand darting out to catch him in the ribs.He grunted but showed no other sign of pain.
"Is that all you've got, McClellan?"he taunted, circling me like a shark scenting blood in the water."I expected more from the great Alpha of Darkwood."
Phelps relied too much on brute strength and aggression, and he let his temper get the best of him.It was something I could easily use against him.
I feinted left, drawing his attention away from my true target.Then, with a burst of speed, I lunged forward, my fist connecting solidly with his jaw.
Phelps staggered back.He shook his head like a dog trying to clear its ears of water.
I pressed my advantage and unleashed blow after blow with relentless aggression.Still, the bastard didn’t go down.
“What about you, Turner?”
Punch.
Kick.
“Finally figure out what happened to your bitch of a mate?”
Turner roared and barreled towards me.I spun away and brought both hands down onto his back.
But even as I gained the upper hand, I could feel the toll the fight was taking on my body.My muscles burned with exertion.
If I was in wolf form, I’d have ended this already.
Finish him!Onyx commanded.