“I don’t fucking think so.” Tom gave it another kick, sending it sliding across the floor into the far wall as it fell silent.
“What the fuck?” Jason yelled, the bad feeling in his gut intensifying. He pointed at his phone.
“Tell me what’s going on before I throw you out and call Cam.”
Tom sneered. “Who gives a shit what Cam has to say?”
“Strangely enough, I do. And you should too if you don’t want to get thrown out of this pack.”
Jason’s phone rang again, startling them both, as it vibrated on the floor. Quick as a flash, Jason darted forwards to get to it, only to be slammed into by a half-shifted Tom.
“No!” Tom’s roar filled the room as he drove him backwards towards the wall.
Jason hit it hard enough to knock the breath out of him, and he grunted in pain. “We just did ten fucking days of pack bonding,” he gritted out, shoving Tom away from him and getting to his feet. “I thought we were past all this?”
“Pack bonding?” Tom spat, words distorted by his fangs. “Is that what you call it?” His eyes had a wild, out of control look to them.
Beyond reasoning with.
“What did you think we were doing?” Nothing Jason said was going to make a difference, but he tried to keep Tom talking, engaged, while attempting to manoeuvre himself away from the wall. The last thing he needed was to get hemmed in.
Tom scoffed, his gaze raking over Jason with disgust. “Oh, you were bonding, all right. But not with your own fucking pack.” He stepped to the left, cutting off Jason’s attempt at moving. “While the rest of us pissed about in the forest, you were busy fucking Daryl.Of all people!” he hissed. “He’s such a hard-faced wanker. Everyone knows he never wanted us to join his pack.”
“That’s not true,” Jason reasoned, keeping eye contact while subtly shuffling to the right, now.
“Merging our two packs was a huge upheaval, and the change was hard on a lot of us. I’ll grant you that some took a longer time to get used to the idea than others.”Like you and your fucking mates.
“But not Daryl. Above everything else, he’s fiercely loyal to this pack. And if Cam says we’re all now part of one big pack, then Daryl will treat you as such. You have my word.”
“Your word?” Tom growled, the sound echoing around the walls. “That’s worth jack shit.” He took a step closer, pointing a clawed finger at him. “Newell wanted you dead for a reason. He didn’t fucking trust you, and neither do I!” He shot forward, claws and teeth bared.
Jason saw it coming but with his back to the wall still, he couldn’t do much other than absorb the hit. Claws raked down his arms, pain hot and piercing, Tom’s warm breath hitting his skin, and he opened his mouth wide aiming for Jason’s throat.
Fuck.
Using all the advantages of his beta strength, Jason shoved him backwards, making enough room to get his leg up and kick Tom hard in the stomach. He flew backwards from the force of it, landing in a heap a few feet away.
Now Jason had room to move and he wasted no time in shifting to match Tom. Rolling his shoulders, he cracked his neck from side to side, readying himself for a fight. “Don’t do this,” he snarled, stepping around to the middle of the room.
“Or what?” Tom spat back, springing to his feet. “You gonna report me to the council?” His harsh laugh set Jason’s teeth on edge. “Pretty sure they’re already on their way.”
Everything began to click into place.
“Why would they be on their way here?” Jason widened his stance, waiting for Tom to make his move.
“Come on, Jason. Are you really that stupid?” He shrugged a shoulder as if to say,maybe youare. Jason ignored him.
“Humour me.” He had no doubt the others would be here soon if their calls continued to go unanswered. Hurting Tom was his last option, he just needed to keep him talking.
“I’ll give you a clue.” The smile he gave Jason made his hackles rise. “What happened on the obstacle course was no fucking accident.”
Jason had started to guess as much, but hearing Tom admit it was still a shock. “It was you.”
Jason stared at him.
“Of course it was me. None of those other fuckers had the balls to do it.”
How had they not seen it before? “All this time, it was never Davies behind it all, was it?”
