COLE POV
Iglanced over to Simon, who was listening to the live feed of Miranda’s recording device intently. I could pick up on some of the words that asshole was saying, so I knew the confession Miranda wanted was happening, but that did nothing to calm the burning heat racing through my body. I was angry and frustrated. Fuck that guy, I wanted him gone now.
The ache in my shoulder intensified with my hatred of him. It was as if my body wanted to remind me further that it was time for him to die already because of what he did to me.
Unfortunately, Ivan and Miranda didn’t agree with me that death was the right outcome for him. They wanted him arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to prison, where he’d have to pay for his crimes. While that would give the families of his victims the truth and the justice they sought, it still didn’t make me feel any better.
“Calm down,” Ivan whispered when he sensed me trembling, on the verge of shifting. I couldn’t let my bear out yet because the moment I did, I would lose all control. “It’s fine. She is fine. Let Miranda do this. Let her make this right.”
My fists balled up by my sides. I understood all that, but that didn’t make me okay with the fact that Miranda was out there alone with him able to touch her.
“Something is happening.” The edge to Simon’s tone was horrific. I snapped my head around to him with my eyes wide open. “Brady is admitting to tons of stuff, and using that as threats, but Miranda is…I don’t know. She sounds strange. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something—”
That was all I needed. I wasn’t holding back any longer. If there was something going on with Miranda, then it was time for us to break up this little scene and go to her. I could hear Ivan trying to say something to me as I headed for Miranda’s location, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. A red mist had descended over my eyes, and I was enraged. Surely we had enough of a confession to lock up this piece of shit.
As soon as she was in sight, I could see what was wrong with her. All the color had drained from her cheeks and she bent double, holding her side. She looked so afraid as she sunk to her knees, which was why it was my turn to take over. He had intimidated far too many women for my liking. “Don’t worry, Miranda.”
She didn’t answer me, but she did meet my eyes for a moment, showing me the intensity of her worry.
Fuck that, it was time for this asshole to die.
My bear exploded free. There was no holding my animal back when he saw that Miranda was frightened. I caught Brady by the shoulder with my teeth and shook him hard. I pierced his skin and caused him to bleed, but it didn’t feel good enough. It wasn’t enough revenge. I was at boiling point and I wanted him to dead.
I had gotten the jump on him, but our carefully laid out plan had gone to hell, and it wasn’t long before Brady had a gun cocked and pointed at my head.
“Fuck you, Miranda!” he yelled, his voice trembling with rage. “Fuck you! You let me think that you were out here alone, and now look what you have done to me.”
His shoulder was harmed, but not as bad as mine. I had a bullet through mine. Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he had done to Miranda, how he had ruined so much of her life. I lunged at him again, ignoring the deadly weapon in his hand. I would get him to drop it anyway, so it didn’t matter. I snapped at him, and then again, only managing to nip his skin because he was more aware of me now, but I wasn’t going to stop.
I had moreanger than I thought surging through my body, and it was getting out of control. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stop. Even knowing that the police were around, here to arrest Brady as soon as he said enough, I was going to do what I had to do in order to protect Miranda.
A roar sounded behind me, one I knew all too well. Ivan was here too, giving up on his “follow the plan and do what Miranda wants” idea. A wolf came too, and I had to assume it was Simon. I hadn’t actually seen him in his animal form until now.
“You…you are all abominations,” Brady screamed, his cheeks bright red with his rage. It seemed that his hatred was now toward all of us, and not just rooted in misogyny. “All of you. You…you shouldn’t be anywhere near me. You aren’t worth life. At all. Someone needs to put you all down.”
He pulled the trigger, not really aiming the gun at anyone now. It seemed like he couldn’t work out who he wanted to shoot first. But it didn’t matter anyway. There was something wrong with the gun, nothing was coming out of it. We really did have the upper hand now.
We circled him, we three beasts, as the gun shook out of his hand to the floor, because it was useless to him. Whether that blankness in his eyes now was from pain or fear, I wasn’t sure, but I also didn’t care.
“You are disgusting. I don’t even have the words for what you are…”
I bared my teeth at Brady and lunged toward him. He jumped back, just out of my reach. Tears shone in his eyes, but he wasn’t the sort of man comfortable enough with himself to let them fall. That was part of his problem. Toxic masculinity.
“I don’t want—I just want Miranda.” Brady rose his hands above his head in a surrendering gesture, but snapped them back down just as quickly, seemingly thinking better of it. “She is my wife, or she will be my wife. She is the mother of my child, and she took my son away from me.” He darted his eyes between us all, spinning as he went. I wasn’t sure which animal scared him the most. I hoped it was me, because I thrived off that fear in his eyes that said he knew what I was capable of. “I just want my family back, there is no need for all of this. There is no need for any drama. I don’t want there to be a mess.”
I wanted to ask him why he’d hurt Miranda if that were true, but I couldn’t communicate with him properly as a bear. I could, however, threaten him physically some more. I easily knocked him to the ground, but the gun didn’t slip out of his hand. I wasn’t afraid of him, but he was more powerful than me with a gun in his hand.
“Please, let’s talk about this. Become human again and we can discuss it like adults. There is no need for all of this craziness.”
I didn’t think any of us were going to respond, because Brady did not deserve it, but, much to my surprise, Ivan’s voice boomed out.
“You do not get to speak to Miranda again. You don’t get to do this…”
While Ivan talked to Brady, Simon grabbed Brady’s leg and tugged, scratching the shit out of his skin with his teeth as he did. His blood spurting everywhere didn’t affect me at all. He deserved it. This was for all the she-wolves who didn’t deserve to die. Who didn’t deserve to meet Brady and to get caught up in his net of lies and deception. Including Miranda.
I lunged, no longer thinking straight, not caring if everything really went to hell and Brady ended up dead. That didn’t bother me one bit. I was a primal animal who was thirsty for the death and blood of a person who didn’t deserve life. Who was a waste of fucking air and only lived to kill other women, she-wolves.
This was it for him now. It was over.