Page 169 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Evan, come on,” I tried to reason with him. “Even if you believe that I didn’t care about you or the Wargs, you know that Inever wanted you to be killed or to suffer. You’re a couple years younger than me, aren’t you? It’s obvious now that I failed you, that I pushed you into Gregor’s arms.”
Evan stared at me. I couldn’t tell if it was working, so I trudged ahead.
“Gregor brainwashed you. He exposed you to shit that no kid should have to see, and took advantage of your vulnerability. If you would just think this through again, you’d see that Bryn and I, the Wargs, we can all help you.”
His eyes narrowed, one of them twitching. “You didn’t give a damn about my mental health when you sent me in as a spy,” he snapped. “Where were you when the Kings tortured me to break me, and forced me to kill to prove my loyalty to them? You never asked how I was. You only cared about the intel I could offer. You only wanted what doesn’t belong to you.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the loss of blood or the desperation, but I tried to think back to those years. Had I really pushed him to this? Was all of this my own fault for being obsessed with the legacy my shithead father kept from me? I had never wanted Evan to suffer torture or brainwashing. I’d had no idea that things were so rough for him. He never told me.Maybe I never asked.
“Evan—”
Samson cut me off. “Why are you wasting your time talking to him?” he demanded. “Fucking kill him already.”
“Right.” Evan spun the gun on his finger before pointing it at me again. Bryn tensed next to me. She was either going to try to rush Evan or jump in front of me to block the bullet. Either of thoseoptions would result in her getting shot and killed. Fuck me, I couldn’t let that happen.
“You think killing me will allow Troy to take over the Wargs,” I called. “You think it’ll give him the opportunity to control all the land, but you’re wrong.” I’d regained Evan’s attention. “Even if I’m killed, Dom won’t stop until he gets justice for me. And neither will my wolves. The Wargs would never allow anyone to take over our pack but Dominic.”
Evan, Samson, and Harlon began to snicker.
Everyone always underestimated Dom. Everyone thought he was just a useful idiot or just extra muscle who’d been promoted to a position that he didn’t deserve. But that was by design. That identity had been carefully crafted by Dom and myself. We wanted others to underestimate him, so that when I needed him to go all out, no one expected it, and no one could prepare for it.
I didn’t know what my goal had been when I started saying all this, other than stalling for another few minutes, but I was glad that I’d brought it up. As my body grew weaker by the second, thinking of Dom taking over for me was a comfort. If these were my last moments, at least I’d go out knowing that my beta was strong enough to complete what Bryn and I had started here. Dom would be a powerful Alpha of the Wargs, who would protect him just as fiercely as they had protected me. Andhewould be the one to unite the packs.
“I have no problem killing anyone in my way, Night,” Evan said, leveling the gun at me, “starting with you and your whore of a mate?—”
Before he could finish the sentence or fire off another shot, Bryn lunged forward.
69
BRYN
Staying quiet while Evan mocked and belittled my man drove me and my wolf fucking wild, but I knew I couldn’t say anything. This was personal. He and Night had history that they were working through in live time right before my eyes. I thought about the conversation I’d had with Evan only the other day.
Part of my brain felt sure there was something I could have done to prevent things from getting so bad, but the rest of my brain shushed that voice. Right here, right now, my soulmate was losing a lot of blood. Each second brought him closer and closer to unconsciousness, but he was still fighting through it, trying to convince Evan to see the error of his ways.
My mate was fighting for both our lives, and I couldn’t waste time thinking about what I could have done to help, not when we were minutes from death. Night couldn’t fight, so I’d have to be the one to get us out of here.
Evan was the only one with a gun; Harlon and Samson were unarmed. If I could just find an opening, I could end this here.
“I have no problem killing anyone in my way, Night,” Evan said, leveling the gun at Night, “starting with you and your whore of a mate?—”
The moment I saw Evan’s finger twitch over the trigger, my wolf surged forward to take control, and I let her without hesitation. She sprang into action, sprinting for Evan even before he finished speaking. Evan reflexively pulled the trigger, but the shot went wide. My wolf and I growled loud as we bit down on Evan’s wrist, forcing him to drop the gun. Our scrambling back paws kicked it away, toward the center of the cave.
Evan cried out and kicked me hard in the chest. We let go, his blood spraying after us as we flew a few yards away. We hit the ground, but quickly hopped to our feet and lowered our head, hackles raised.
“Bryn,” Night called. He was lying on the ground, watching us. His voice was weaker than I remembered it being. “Go! Get out of here!”
“Fuck that!” we snapped. “I can’t leave you here!”
Evan shook out his arm, which still dripped with blood. “Samson, Harlon, get out of here. You both know your parts of this plan.”
“You got this, then?” Harlon asked.
“Yeah. I can take Night’s whore.”
They nodded and headed toward the back entrance of the cave. Evan shifted into his wolf form. It was blond like Dom’s, but his coloring was brassier. His wolf and mine circled each other, each looking for an opening. This was different from the fight with Troy. I had no element of surprise here. Evan had seen my fightwith Troy, and I wouldn’t be able to use his underestimation of me to my advantage.
My wolf understood that just as well, which was why she wasn’t going for the first attack. Evan seemed happy to take that honor for himself. He sprinted forward and tackled us. Our fangs and claws scraped and bit and tore and ripped at each other.
