Page 23 of Eclipsed Legacy

“Hello,” I say, smiling darkly. Ricky runs up and, without a word, pulls the man up.

The young man grins, and his eyes travel up my body. I chuckle at him without humor before drawing back my fist and decking him in the nose. Even without hearing the crack, I know his nose is broken; I feel it as my knuckles make contact with his face. What can I say? It has been my signature move since I was nine.

“The fuck?” he yells, holding the front of his face.

“Whimper all you’d like. If you don’t tell me what I want to know, it’ll only get worse.”

“You stupid bitch,” he says, smirking despite the blood dripping from his face. He’s either stupid, or he’s got balls, considering my pack member is holding his arms behind him and supporting his ass. It’s probably both. “We’ll skin you first,” he says.

“Yeah?” I ask as part of me takes note of the injured pack members behind me, some of whom shift back. I deck the guy again. His nose already broken, there’s not much resistance this time, but his blood splatters across my face.

To his credit, he doesn’t flinch, just spits a mouthful of blood and saliva back at me.

“Now that I have your attention,” I say. “I want answers.”

“What makes you think that I know anything?”

I shrug and a place a hand on my hip. “You seem pretty cocky for a guy who doesn’t know why he’s risking his life. Or maybe you’re just overcompensating…” I allow my eyes to drift down momentarily and give a deliberate chuckle before meeting his glare with a smile. “You have the information I want, but maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Why has your pack targeted us? And you should know that if you lie to me, you’re as good as dead.” Of course, I’m bluffing. I don’t mind punching a guy or beating his ass, but I’m not a torturer or a murderer.

The guy clenches his jaw, and I ready my fist to deal another blow.

“Wait,” he says, letting out a labored sigh. “I don’t have all the details, but my leader, apparently, had some past with yours— Raina, right?” My face must give something away because he gives a weak laugh before continuing. “Apparently, she used to be one of us, but she stole something when she left, and he wants it back.”

“What did she take?”

“If you really want to know—” He abruptly leans forward, pulling his arms from Ricky’s grasp. Before I can say anything, Ricky recovers, swiftly grabbing the sides of the guy’s head and twisting, snapping his neck in one smooth motion. He’s done this before.

I stare in shock as the man falls, his body limply landing at my feet. It takes me a second to react. “What the hell, Ricky?”

“He was going to attack you!” he shouts, but I can’t help but think that he chose an awfully fucking convenient time to try to save my life.

A howl that doesn’t belong to me or mine echoes through the night. Another wave. “Get the turned and the kids out of here!” I shout to Uncle Carl before shifting back as quickly as my body will allow. The turned wolves, now in human form, begin to flee with Uncle Carl.

Once I notice Michael trailing behind him, I allow instinct to take over, mindlessly attacking everyone I don’t recognize. Clawing at the underside of bellies, lunging for exposed throats, and tackling my foes to the ground. Attacking other wolves in this form feels less violent, less like murder, though, death and slaughter are inevitable. Animals fight all the time. It’s the natural order. The animalistic order. Death in human form feels worse, disturbed, and all too real.

I stop and take in the chaos. Wolves attack wolves, but the sheer numbers of my pack are enough to overwhelm the other side. A few fall, and the survivors of the other pack flee once more. From the look of the sky, it’s only an hour before dawn. We really have been out all night. They won’t be coming back, not yet. I want to relax, continue my run, but I need to speak with my pack.

As my body returns to its usual form, I approach a group of others gathered closely together. As I near, I hear yelling.

“Get off of—” The blunt sound of an impact cuts the man off. A few members of the pack, Ashton, Austin, and Lizzy, begin to drag a human body away.

I stand next to Ray at the edge of the group. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got one.”

“What?”

“We’ve captured one of them— alive!” he exclaims.

I feel my brows come together. “We’ve captured one?” This is completely unprecedented.

“His name’s Dante, and he’s the other pack’s second. He knows who killed Grandma.”

Fuck.

Chapter 9

I pace back and forth in front of the door to Uncle Carl’s basement, waiting for “the boys” to finish interrogating Dante.