Page 65 of Forsaken Devotion: Part 2
24
Iwiped my bloody hand on the rag Alex brought me. Blood stained most of my clothes now. Even as I beat Duane and cut bits off his body, all I could think about was how she looked. She was poised and angry, such fury lined her body.
A beauty.
She’d defended me. And that puffed my chest with pride. I’d been struck stupid watching her, but once I managed to rip my head out of my ass, I knew to stop it. I didn’t want her to sully her hands with this trash.
“I don’t know,” Duane sputtered, spitting blood from his lips. His cuffed hand dripped blood from the blunt flesh. I’d used pliers to snap his finger and rip it off his flesh, leaving behind torn skin and fragments of bone. “I swear. I wouldn’t have been dragged into this if she hadn’t told me to meet with that shifter while she was with you,” he sobbed out. “If I hadn’t been with him, I wouldn’t have been the one to go after them with Stools.”
His eyes were glazed with pain, and he no longer seemed present.
So Sheriff Stoolshadbeen involved. This ran deeper than I could have imagined.
With a step back, I studied him, ignoring the sharp pain traveling up my leg with the weight I settled on my foot. He hadn’t given me any good information, and I’d pushed him, using my dominance to make him spit shit out.
At this point, it was clear he didn’t know where Cierra was hiding.
“How long has it been?” I asked, cleaning off my hands. Slowly, I went around the chair until I stood behind Duane.
“Two hours,” Bruno said from his position near the door. He’d been quiet the entire time, watching me torture the male he used to share a home with. I turned to study him. He lowered his eyes, but didn’t seem anxious or suspicious. Then again, Duane hadn’t been on my radar as a fucking traitor. I carefully lay my rag against his shoulder.
“Duane, you should have come to me.”
“I’m sorry, Alpha,” he cried. I placed my hands on each side of his jaw and, with a quick jerk, snapped his neck. I plucked the rag up and swiped my hands to rid it of the droplets that stained my fingers.
“Can I trust you to dispose ofthis?” I asked, studying Bruno’s stiff expression.
“Yes, Alpha,” he replied.
I tossed the rag on the floor and strode toward the door.
“Tell me if you come into any new information,” I ordered and stepped out.
“Yes, Alpha.”
As much as I trusted Duane, I’d always counted on Bruno more, but I’d keep an eye on the situation. I didn’t have the luxury of waiting to be stabbed in the back. Hyper-focused on getting to my mate, I crossed the backyard.
A dull pulsing settled at my knee.
Healing had been slow, but not as slow as I made Josephine believe. I milked the injury as much as possible, because I feared she’d leave as soon as she saw I was okay.
She seemed more open to me in recent days, and I didn’t want to lose that. The way she defended me got me so hard, I almost claimed her right then and there; hard, fast, and rough, but I couldn’t worship my mate as I wanted. And she was too careful with me, telling me not to move or sit. It’d been a double-edged sword, playing up my injuries. It kept her with me, but at the same time, she was strict with keeping me in line.
My mate’s human friend hovered near the shack, very obviously waiting for me. She must have come back out once Josephine settled in for bed.
“I’m not a fan of you.” She eyed me with derision.
I ignored the human. My mate wouldn’t take kindly to me murdering her. She was lucky to have the care of my mate because I would have already done away with her. There could always be accidents if she truly proved herself an issue?—
“Do you know what you put her through?”
I stopped mid-step across the lawn behind my house. “Ah, so youdocare.” I sucked on the front of my teeth, the sound loud. Slowly, I turned. She kept her distance from me.
So she wasn’t completely stupid. I could also tell Alex was nearby. He was keeping out of view, but he watched. The corner of my lips twitched. Was he trying to fuck this human?
“And are you going to enlighten me?”
Verity scowled and crossed her arms, hiding her trembling hands.
