Page 146 of Cost of Courting

Selene brushes up beside me and smiles widely.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Benson.”

His smile flickers and dies.

“Selene, it’s only going to be more painful for you the longer you hold out.”

She shrugs. “I never did anything the easy way, and you haven’t beaten me in all these years. You won’t beat me today.”

His hands clench, and some of the alphas spread out around him, shifting, restless, and frustrated.

Bailey’s omega scent hits me, and instead of feeling like I need to protect these omegas and feeling the weight of that pressure, I sink into a calm, cool place where my visionsharpens, and I start noticing things like the evenness of my breathing, the leaves moving and shifting. The fact that the tattoo on his throat isn’t the same.

It’s not him. Benson isn’t the Tiger.

Did I get us all into this situation for nothing?

I move my gaze along the line of alphas and land on Hammer. His shirt is ripped, and peeking out between the tears of his t-shirt is the darker outline of a tiger face.

My heart jumps into my throat, and I breathe out through my nose.

My tenuous hold of control starts to slip.

I remember his taunts, the way he laughed when he cut into my skin and used those claws to tear grooves from my flesh.

“It’s him.”

Selene looks at me and follows my gaze to Hammer.

“Hammer. It’s Hammer who is the killer. The Crimson Tiger.”

Benson mutters to a couple of alphas, gesturing wildly. They start moving towards us, pulling out knives and other weapons.

A harley starts and revs loudly. It’s echoed by dozens more. All around the park, headlights turn on, facing us.

“What’s this?” Edric asks, turning in a circle.

Bailey twists until he sees one particular rider. “Dad.”

Selene hasn’t taken her eyes off Benson, and, when he charges, she leaps forward, too.

Hammer, to my extreme horror, is staring at her. Fixated on her. I recognise that obsessive way he watches things. The cant of his head and the stiff pose.

That alone has me jumping forward, aiming to intercept him. There is no way in hell I’m going to let him near her.

“What the fuck is this?” Benson shouts.

“This is the end!” Zaden shouts. “You don’t mess with the clubs. You don’t touch the Raines.”

Selene is almost at him, but Kingston and Edric are just behind her. The bikers appear from nowhere, throwing punches and wading in.

But then I see something that almost stops me dead.

The neighbourhood is here. They’ve got baseball bats and brooms and whatever they can have for weapons. Even old, injured Mr Match is here.

I refocus on Hammer in time to see him lift one of his giant fists at Selene. She’s not watching, she hasn’t seen it. It could kill her.

The rage explodes, and I throw myself into him.

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