Brayden is killing them.All of them!
Tadeo’s whole body jerks again—violent, involuntary—and for a split second his grip loosens. That’s all I need.
I bolt.
The blanket slips away as my bare feet hit the cold floor, then I wrench open the bedroom door. The world is pitch-black. I can’t see a thing—only shapes and sound, chaos and breath. The air is thick with rage and adrenaline.
Behind me, Tadeo trips, cursing softly. Up ahead, the living room explodes with sound—grunts, crashes, a roar that sounds too much like Knox, too much like pain.
I stumble through the hall, hands out, heart hammering as Tadeo finds his footing in the bedroom. My knees knock hard against one another as I step into the dark living room.
Moonlight spills through the crack in the sliding glass door, thin and silver, slicing the dark in uneven lines. It’s just enough to see shapes—big, shifting shadows colliding, separating, colliding again.
Bodies hit the floor with a wet thud. There’s the sound of fists connecting, a snarl that doesn’t sound human, then the low, feral rumble of an alpha’s growl vibrating through the air.
I freeze.
The scent of blood hits first—sharp and metallic, cutting through sweat and smoke. My stomach twists. Someone grunts, someone else curses, and in the tangle of movement on the floor, I catch flashes of skin, muscle, rage.
Knox’s outline looms, wide and solid, moving with brutal precision. Alex’s red hair glints as he lunges forward. A larger shape slams into him, knocking them both into the coffee table—it splinters, the sound splitting my chest in half.
“Stop!” The word bursts out of me, but it’s swallowed by the chaos. No one hears.
Another crash, another roar.
Someone slips, hits the floor hard, and groans. I think it’s Dakota. I think—God, I can’t tell.
“Please stop.” My voice comes out in a trembling whisper as the bond thrums in my mind. A dark rush ofpleasureblooms where fear should be. I can feel his raw emotions, the sick joy flooding through my veins, rising higher with every grunt, every cry, every splash of blood that hits the floor.
Brayden’s excitement spikes as the scent thickens in the air—copper, salt, violence. It floods through the bond, burning me from the inside out until I can’t find the line between his joy and my horror.
I press a trembling hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.
The air shifts behind me—Tadeo.
His warmth brushes close, his hand ghosting over my shoulder as if to steady me. But I refuse to go back to my nest and just wait to see how many of my mates that monster has killed.
Desperation grips me, and I lunge forward, catching myself against the wall as my foot slides through something wet.
The edge of glass—or maybe metal—bites into the bottom of my foot, pain flashing white-hot up my leg. But I don’t stop. Not until my hand slams against the light switch.
The world explodes into brightness.
For a split second, I can’t breathe. The room is a wreck. Furniture overturned. The coffee table is reduced to splinters. The screws jutting from the plywood trap are covered in blood.
In fact, blood is everywhere—smeared across the floor in streaks and handprints, even splattered up the walls.
And there—by the sliding glass door—is the rest of my pack.
At first, all I can see are their injuries.
Alex’s right eye is already swelling, the bruise darkening by the second. Blood streaks down Knox’s chest, covering the web of old scars, with one fresh gash cutting diagonally across his ribs. Dakota’s breathing is ragged, his jaw clenched tight, a cut blooming bright along his temple.
But then my gaze drops down to the alpha they all have pinned beneath them.
Brayden is on his back, snarling and spitting blood, his face bright red and straining as he tries to break free—but he can’t. Knox is straddling Brayden’s chest with one hand fisting his shirt and the other around Brayden’s neck. Alex has Brayden’s arms pinned over his head, while Dakota stands over them with his blood-splattered baseball bat positioned ready to swing.
Brayden keeps jerking and twisting, but the more he fights, the deeper Knox and Alex’s hold digs in.
