Andrew spit blood out of his mouth and glared at the lion above him. Jonathan Cameron was not an Alpha. He was just a bully, had always been a bully, and would always be a bully. Punch people around to get what he wanted. Hit them hard enough, and they just stop being a problem.

“You know he’s dead,” Andrew chuckled, leaning against a wall after Jonathan had hit him. “Right?”

“I figured,” Jonathan growled. “Who killed him?”

“Does it matter?” Andrew grunted as Jonathan pulled out a knife. “Why are you here, Jonathan?”

“What? Think Brenton and Zachary are going to show up and finish this? Stop me from killing you in retaliation for ruining me when you ruined my father?” Jonathan pointed at Andrew with the knife.

He should have just run out of the trailer when he saw Jonathan, but Andrew figured he could learn something.

“Other than them being in Denver, why wouldn’t they come for you after you kill me?” Andrew asked cautiously. He didn’t like the look Jonathan was wearing.

“Because my partner is dealing with them,” Jonathan growled, stepping closer, “and once those two are gone and I get done with you, your last few members are going to fall. It’s over for the Kingson Pride, Andrew.”

There it was, Jonathan had a partner. That was what he needed to know, now he had to get the hell out of the trailer and get to his Pride.

Andrew jumped for the door, and Jonathan slammed into him. Andrew hissed as the knife slashed across his side, and he tried shove Jonathan back, only to get pushed away himself. It was going to be a fight. Jonathan was now between Andrew and the door.

“Why me?” Andrew scoffed, wincing at the laceration on his ribs. “Why not go after Brenton yourself? Why use a partner for that?”

“The hunters were supposed to kill all of you,” Jonathan growled. “I took a huge risk contacting them and sending them after you.”

“You supplied them with all of the information?” Andrew growled back but Jonathan shook his head. Andrew needed to keep him talking. Jonathan was a stupid oaf who gloated, and Andrew needed to hear all of it.

“I was given the information,” Jonathan laughed, “and a substantial amount of money by my partner to cover any of my costs in dealing with the exchange.”

“Then we got free,” Andrew chuckled. It also didn’t sound much like a partnership. Jonathan was too stupid to realize he’d been used. “A waste of money really.”

“It escalated to something bigger than we thought it would,” Jonathan sighed, giving an open-armed shrug as the knife dangled in his fingers. Andrew held back. Information. If he could keep Jonathan talking, he could maybe walk out of this alive, and they could stop the entire mess. “And then there was Abel.” Jonathan laughed. “That stupid fuck. Killed in his cell two days ago, did you know that?”

No, Andrew didn’t know that. They weren’t privy to most of the things going on with Abel. There hadn’t even been a hearing, yet.

“Yeah. Apparently, even the worst of shifter criminals don’t appreciate when an Alpha tries to buy a shifter from hunters to be a slave,” Jonathan chuckled with another shrug. “Well, Abel dying has caused our plans to move a bit faster, but that’s fine. I was already looking forward to killing you.”

Not Brenton or Zachary, who were both the real threats to Jonathan, Andrew noted. Him. Smaller than Jonathan by probably fifty pounds, and not one of the more dangerous shifting forms. Jonathan could crush him. He filed away the fact that Abel dying was the catalyst for this. That meant something that Andrew would need to seriously consider after he made it out alive. If he could.

“Let’s finish this then,” Andrew whispered.

Jonathan jumped, and Andrew tried to move, but the confined space and Jonathan’s size made it impossible to get out of the reach of the lion. Andrew was slammed into a wall, making the entire trailer shake. The knife sank into his abdomen, and Andrew gave a snarl from the pain. He stomped on Jonathan’s foot and brought his knee up, aiming for the lion’s balls.

He connected, making Jonathan stagger back for a moment and pull the knife out. Andrew groaned and placed a hand over the wound, looking around desperately for anything he could fight with.

Jonathan roared and came after him again, and Andrew found himself tossed onto a desk, crashing against the furniture with the air knocked out of him. He gasped and pushed himself up to stand as Jonathan kicked his ribs. Andrew grabbed for one of the shit plastic chairs they had and swung it into the lion, making him grunt and drop the damn knife.

Andrew pushed away on the floor as Jonathan recovered. He got himself standing, but Andrew couldn’t see where the knife had landed. It at least evened the playing field just a bit.

Jonathan took a swing at him, a massive fist flying towards Andrew’s head. He pulled his head back, thankful the punch didn’t land. It would have killed him faster than the stab wound. Andrew ducked down and jumped toward Jonathan’s abdomen. He hit with a thud, sending them both to the floor. He connected a punch to Jonathan’s nose before Jonathan was able to buck him off and force Andrew onto his back.

“I’m fucking tired of you and your fucking pride, you worthless stray,” Jonathan growled, spittle flying into Andrew’s face as his hands wrapped around Andrew’s throat.

Andrew tried everything. He tried punching, clawing, anything but he couldn’t get Jonathan’s massive hands to stop crushing his airway. He rolled his eyes over, looking for something as black spots danced in front of his eyes.

The knife was nowhere to be seen, but there was a pen. Andrew reached for it, and thanked God when his fingers were around it. He couldn’t breathe. He was losing his vision as the black spots also blurred.

He stabbed Jonathan in the arm with the pen, making the lion roar and let go. Andrew inhaled as hard as he could and found that hurt like hell. He desperately pushed Jonathan off him as the lion removed the pen. Andrew barely made it a foot away before Jonathan was able to grab him again.

Andrew saw what he was looking for, though—the knife. He was able to get his finger on it as Jonathan grabbed Andrew’s hair. He yanked Andrew’s head back and slammed it once into the floor.

Stars danced in Andrew’s eyes, but he focused on his hand. He had the knife. He turned as best he could, met Jonathan’s sadistically pleased gaze.

Andrew shoved the knife into Jonathan’s ear. Jonathan roared and let go of Andrew. Andrew pulled it back out, and, as Jonathan screamed, he pushed the lion back, climbed over him and stabbed straight downward.

The screaming stopped.

Andrew tried to stand and touched his pocket. He needed to call for help.

He couldn’t think straight. His head hurt too much.

His phone wasn’t in his pocket anymore.

His vision blurred, and he looked down, trying to remember why his stomach hurt.

There was blood everywhere. That wasn’t good.

The door opened, and someone cursed.

He needed to make a call. Where the fuck was his phone?

He hit his knees and fell forward, losing sight of everything.