Page 110 of Shifter Situations

“I’ll bring you her heart, rip it straight from her chest for you. Or her head. Which would you rather destroy?”

I shook my head, biting my lips together to stop my smile. “That doesn’t shock me anymore.”

Her right shoulder lifted slightly in a shrug. “She caused you to suffer. She’s hurt our pack, our species as a whole. I don’t take kindly to her breaking what’s mine, but I will take extreme pleasure in killing her.”

Her sigh sounded amused and disappointed. “I just wish I could torture her in the same capacity that she tortured all those shifters she abducted. I’ll just have to save that for her soul.”

I rubbed my middle finger across my forehead. “Pay attention, Barbie. Charlie has just called for her death, and you missed it.”

But she didn’t miss anything.

Anna dashed forward, shifting back to her fur before her paws hit the ground. Sloane dodged, snatching the brown wolf backward by her tail, then she stepped away, giving Anna time to get her paws under her body.

Her only advantage was that she was smart enough to know she couldn’t beat the Alpha’s daughter skin-to-skin. The downfall to that was it made Anna look weak.

The pack would see Anna’s actions during the fight as an insult to traditions and a nod to Sloane’s strength.

The fight dragged on, and it was clear to the audience that Barbie was toying with Anna. We all knew that she would die today, but everyone was anxious to see exactly what Sloane could do.

Submission was no longer an option, and even if it was, the guys and I knew our mate wouldn’t let her live. The damage from the drug infections had been too significant to overlook.

When we were in Baton Rouge, we hadn’t checked Kadence’s office. But Charlie and Sam had. Kade didn’t keep the kind of records that Anna and Katie had. So this time around, we were able to see the true extent of the damage.

After this was all said and done, we’d need to spend weeks letting families know what happened to the people they were missing.

It was a depressing thought, and more so when Charlie had volunteered. He was hoping to take some of the stress off of us with everything that was going on, but Sloane said he felt like it was his fault that it had happened in the first place.

“How many challenges has she had?” Palmer asked, sparing a quick glance at Jack.

The hellsteed sighed, scrubbing at his face. “At least one every time we’ve visited. She doesn’t use her wolf to fight them, always opting for her skin.”

Grim nodded in agreement. “Just since I’ve been around? Probably a dozen or more. That’s why she hates being here. She doesn’t want to fight them. She doesn’t want to be responsible for deaths that she can’t justify, and a challenge just isn’t enough of a reason for her.”

“And when they won’t submit…” Blaire trailed off, closing her eyes as she twisted her head away from the conversation.

“That’s the law of the pack, Blaire. It keeps the disobedient in line. There are more alpha types in this crowd than you realize. Having the threat of public humiliation or death lumbering over their choices usually makes them think twice.”

I gripped her arm, curling the corners of my lips to resemble a smile, but I understood her reservations.

As an apprentice, I’d had quite a few fights.

I hated the challenges.

But I watched on as my mate prevailed.

Sloane hooked her arm underneath the wolf’s neck, using the forward momentum to swing her right leg over Anna’s back. She locked her knees against the wolf’s rib cage, pushing herself up like a jockey riding a horse as she grabbed ahold of sensitive, brown ears.

Anna’s head whipped side-to-side, sharp teeth biting into Barbie’s calves.

Jack snorted. “She’ll ride a wolf, but not a horse. I’m not that much bigger.”

I rubbed my hand up my neck, snorting back at him. “Wanna compare? I’m not that small either.”

“Oh, that’s—” Novak started before Jack cut in.

“Not what I meant. That’s definitely not what I meant.” The hellsteed slashed his hands and then folded his arms over his chest. “I’m just going to shut up now.”

Blaire grinned. “Please. Do continue. I’m enjoying this conversation.”