“Quit hiding from me!” Mari yelled. “Fight me or surrender. You’re only making this harder on yourself.”
Mari’s hands raised in the air, followed by her slamming them down into the ground, causing the earth to crack and split in various places, but nothing wide enough for someone to fall through. My wolf yipped at the power that flowed through the field, but we held our stance.
Lex’s shield finally shattered and I expected her to do something, but certainly not what she had done. She cowered, falling to her knees as Mari rose back up. Lex’s head was lowered, and she let the power she had been building up…fizzle out.
What the actual hell?
“Now!” my dad called out.
I couldn’t pay attention to the witches, nor worry about their safety. If we didn’t fight Declan while Zarai was at least keeping Mari distracted, we were so screwed.
I charged forward with Liam at my side. My eyes were set on Rafe and his on me. My dad had demanded that the pack leave Declan for him, and I was perfectly okay with that, but Rafe was mine. I knew he had a role in everything that had happened from his snide comments at the Decennial Gathering. He would pay for whatever part that might have been.
As Rafe’s shift began to take over, he had to get in one last blow while he narrowed his beady eyes on me. He pointed to the left of us. “Over there is where I shot your brother dead. Now, I’m going to tear you to shreds, you little bitch.”
My wolf howled and roared as we moved faster with Liam at my back. Just as Rafe’s front legs came down, I slammed into his underbelly. I swiped my front right paw up as he ripped into my neck, each of us getting in our blows, but neither willing to back off from the other.
We circled each other once before going at it again. I got a glimpse of my dad keeping his own with Declan who, surprisingly, was in wolf form. I had assumed he’d use his magic. Maybe he was more of a man than I gave him credit for, but it didn’t make a difference. He needed to die.
Liam was behind me, keeping Declan’s other wolves from assisting Rafe in his fight with me. What surprised me the most and made me want to stop, though I knew I couldn’t, was the fact that Zarai was still holding her own and Lex was back to standing up. Whatever they had done must have been a ruse to get Mari to lower her guard, because they now had the upper hand. Though, I didn’t get a long enough look to really know how it was going.
Attention back on Rafe, I charged forward again, snarling and snapping as we slammed into each other. He had killed my brother and I was going to return the favor. He wouldn’t get away with taking my best friend from me. I would do this. There was no stopping me or my wolf until Rafe took his last breath. I’d never considered myself a killer, nor did I believe that two wrongs made a right, but Rafe would only kill again if I didn’t stop him. No more innocent blood would be spilled by his hands.
I latched onto his neck, quickly taking a chunk out before backing up, counting on my speed once again to give me the upper hand. When I backed away, I used the opportunity to check on Liam. He was still near, but battling another wolf, who was losing poorly. Liam would not fight to kill, though. We had decided before the fight that if we could injure and capture them, then we would try. Our pack would not stoop to their level, but all rules went out the door for me when Rafe admitted to killing Cord. There was no going back after that. No forgiveness to be given.
Rafe took advantage of my momentary distraction, charging first. He slammed into my side, using his weight to throw me back. The impact cracked something on the inside, but I ignored the pain. It was nothing compared to my anger. I stayed low to the ground, pretending to be worse off than I really was. I saw him coming for me again. Once he was upon me, I rolled over and out of the way, bouncing back up onto all fours, before digging my claws into his back quarters as he passed me.
We faced off again, more growls and snarls being shared between the two of us. So much hatred poured out of him for me and I had no idea why. I almost felt bad for him but dismissed the feeling as quickly as it came.
Over and over again, we both took one hit after another, but still, I was faster. I was able to move out of the way before he really sank his teeth or claws into me. Oh, he’d gotten in some good hits, but Rafe was bleeding a hell of a lot more than I was. I could see the fatigue setting in as his wolf huffed heavily with his tongue out.
I just had to keep it up a little bit longer and my part would be over. My brother would be avenged, and I’d sleep a little better at night, knowing I had done that for him.
Before I could decide my next move, a loud yelp came from where my dad was. My head jerked in that direction to find my dad pinned beneath Declan. My heart stopped, and the world froze. Get up, Dad, I internally screamed. I would not lose him. Not yet.
Declan ripped into his throat and I cried out, stepping in their direction. Rafe had other plans, though. Using my distraction against me, he plowed into me harder than any other time before that, knocking the wind out of me. Blood poured from his neck as he towered above me. I twisted my body to get out from underneath him, but he had me pinned. Knowing it wouldn’t do much damage but wanting to fight back in whatever way I could, I latched on to his leg as high as I could reach while he tore into my neck.
My wolf fought hard, never giving up. Rafe’s blood coated my body. If I hadn’t been worried about my dad, I would have had him. Too soon, I felt my body weakening as Rafe continued to relentlessly attack me from above. His back claws dug into my sides, breaking skin, while he continued sinking his teeth deeper into my neck. If he continued to have the advantage, he’d sever my spinal cord within mere minutes.
Deciding I needed to go for a Hail Mary, I let go of his front leg to focus on another plan. What little I had been trying to do was not working. I needed a plan B before Rafe won. I began throwing my head from side to side. It was painful as hell, but effective. I managed to dislodge his bite from my neck, and he couldn’t get another decent hold on me as I tossed my head back and forth.
As my vision began to go black from my efforts, I was pretty certain this was it for me. I began to think about all the things I’d yet to do with my life and wasn’t ready to give up. I wanted more time, but I couldn’t see how I was getting out of my current predicament.
Before I could completely give up, I heard a feral growl and Rafe’s weight was thrown off me. I didn’t see who my savior was. Instead, I took a minute to breathe and heal. With as much damage as there had been to my neck, I knew the latter was going to be harder than I liked.
I rolled to the side, noticing Zarai racing my way. The smile on her face was one of victory, making me smile internally, knowing that at least one thing had gone right so far. She placed her hands above my neck, speaking in an old language I wasn’t familiar with, but I didn’t question it. Whatever she was saying was amplifying my healing. I wasn’t going to be back to my normal self anytime soon, but I felt the open wound close and my wolf healing was taking care of whatever internal damage had been done.
I got back up, only to realize Liam had been the one to knock Rafe off me, and he was livid. Liam’s growls and snarls were drowning out any other noise around me. His teeth and jaw clamped down on Rafe’s front leg, keeping him from getting up for the time being.
Seeing as though Liam had the situation under control for the moment, I wanted to check on my dad. He, too, had an assist, which made me breathe a little easier. Augie must have swept in to help him get back up, because they were both fighting Declan now, though it was hard to tell who had the upper hand.
I took another moment to check on the rest of our pack since I wasn’t in any immediate danger. Jaye was now magically bound to a tree about twenty yards away with Lex standing guard. Zarai was going from wolf to wolf, giving them a magical boost like she had done for me.
A growl ripped from my throat as I saw Tommy lying on the ground, unmoving. Zarai went to him when she saw the direction of my stare. Her hands lowered to Tommy’s chest, but she shook her head in defeat. I howled out in pain knowing we’d lost one of our most valued protectors. Anger built up inside of me as I brought my attention back to Liam and Rafe. I was ready to end this.
I snarled as I stalked toward them. Liam had Rafe pinned similarly to how I had been just moments ago. I growled at him to move as I approached. His wolf appeared as if he was going to challenge me, but once he got a good look at me, thought better of it.
Rafe was exhausted. I barely had to nudge him as I switched places with Liam and his wolf groaned in pain. This is for my brother, I thought as I sank my teeth into Rafe’s neck one last time. Coppery liquid invaded my mouth and while the taste made me gag, I didn’t let up until I heard the snap of Rafe’s spinal cord.
I shook my head back and forth for good measure before throwing my head back and howling in victory. Rafe would never again take a son away from his father. A brother from his siblings. He wouldn’t be allowed to grow old and evil like his father. Maybe the afterlife would teach him to be a better person, but that wasn’t for me to worry about.
Right then, I needed to find my dad and Augie. I needed to know they were okay. As I glanced around, all I saw were retreating wolves. Anger rose within me as I saw one of those wolves was Declan. I took one step forward, but alpha power washed over me and I froze.
My dad’s wolf eyes narrowed on me. I was helpless to do anything other than lower my head and obey him.
Damn it all to hell.