A scream caught my attention.
Jane!
She had gone after the pack leader all on her own. It was official — Jane had completely lost her mind.
Gerald now held her in his arms even as she struggled. I feared he would do something drastic. The blade he held glistened. It was dangerously close to her stomach. I imagined him carving out my child for all to see and that thought was enough to get my body into action. I wasn’t thinking. Adrenaline and instinct had taken over.
My teeth were ready to sink into his flesh and I was dying to taste his blood. I wanted to make this man suffer for everything he had put me through.
But as I got closer, he used Jane as a human shield, blade pressed against her throat. One wrong move and I would lose her.
I slowed my pace and tried to calculate the best plan of attack that wouldn’t end in absolute disaster.
“Come any closer and you can kiss this pretty little mate of yours goodbye!”
Needing to talk to the man, I returned to my human form and held out both my hands to show him that I came bearing no weapons. “Just let her go and we can settle this like true shifters. Or do you want to be known as the coward who kills pregnant women?”
“I don’t play by the rules,” he said. “So, if you want your mate back you’ll have to get down and grovel like the maggot you are.”
“When I say so, I need you to elbow him in the groin as hard as you possibly can. Then get the hell away from him because things are going to get ugly.”
To give him what he wanted, I dropped down to my knees and feigned defeat. “Please, you can do whatever it is that you want to do to me but spare my mate. She is innocent in all this.”
“Innocent?” he scoffed. “She is just as guilty, for mating you when there were better-suited wolves for her to choose from, such as myself.” He punctuated his words by kissing the side of her neck.
The disgust was visible on Jane’s face. She didn’t even wait for my signal before ramming her elbow into his junk. It was such a hard blow that I felt it in my own crotch.
Gerald went down and Jane went running, leaving the rest up to me. This was it. I needed to prove myself, once and for all. Because if I lost this fight then I would lose everything.
I rushed forward, thinking I could make things quick by going for the neck. Gerald saw me coming and rolled out of harm’s way. I ended up eating a mouthful of grass.
He shifted into a wolf, towering over me with his size but I wasn’t going to let that intimidate me. I met him head-on, ready to face whatever he wanted to throw my way.
Aggression was his main tactic but that wasn’t enough to beat me. I would just wear him down and wait for that golden opportunity. Soon, his frustration started to surface and he lost his edge. His attacks were getting sloppier and sloppier. All I needed to do was hold out for a little while longer and he’d be as good as mine.
“Now!” came Landon’s voice. It was the push that I needed to make that killing blow. My teeth snapped around his neck, crushing bone and flesh, and everything in-between.
He tried to fight me but my jaw was locked into place. I didn’t even think of letting go until I was sure he was dead.
With his lifeless body growing slack, I dropped him like yesterday’s garbage. There was a foul taste in my mouth that I could swear I would never get rid of. But it was a small price to pay.
“It’s over!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Gerald is dead! All those that want to join our pack, you are free to do so. Those who would rather flee, I suggest you start running.” I was breathing hard and there was so much adrenaline running through my veins that I feared they would explode.
“Good job.” Jane wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. “It seems that I mated with a couple of alpha males.”
I smiled. “I think you might just be right about that.”
Chapter 27: Landon
Perhaps Cynthia was a healer by trade but she wasn’t very nice about it. “I swear, you’re doing this on purpose. Do you get off on seeing me in pain or something?”
“Quit being such a baby.” She slapped away my hand as I tried to inspect the bandage wrapped around my midsection.
“And how long will I have to wear this stupid cast for?”
“A couple of weeks, I’d say.”
“Weeks?” I exclaimed. “I can’t be hobbling around on your homemade crutches for weeks.”