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Fox’s nails dug into the mud and the rocks on the side of the bank, pushing with all his might to overcome Gavin’s strength and lift himself out of the water. His arms and shoulders shook with violent strain, his legs starting to buck out in wild attempts to kick his cousin off him.

Heart in my throat, screams of terror choking me, I watched in abject horror as Gavin purposefully held Fox under another five seconds just to prove his damn point.

When at last they let Fox up again, my knees gave out, but Brett didn’t let me fall to crawl to Fox. He held me fast, suffocating me slowly with his iron grip across my chest.

“Well?” Gavin wrenched Fox’s head back to bare his neck. “Did you tell her?”

Fox, still panting and trying to catch his wasted breath, lifted a single middle finger to his cousin.

Gavin shoved him straight back into the water.

I raged, starting to kick, flail, and shriek at them all. “Stop it! Enough! You monsters! You bastards! He doesn’t deserve this! I’m going to kill all of you—”

“Then why don’t you answer for him?” Gavin asked, casually leaning down on Fox’s head. “What did he tell you?”

My eyes darted between Fox’s struggling figure and Gavin’s simpering smirk. “Bite me,” I snapped.

Gavin’s smirk widened. “Gladly, but I don’t think Fox would like that.”

Fox flew up out of the water again, his head wrenched up by Gavin’s tight fist on his scalp. He didn’t seem lucid anymore. Blinking slowly, spitting water, Fox was barely able to focus or fight back.

“One last try, Foxy.”

Fox said nothing in return.

“Really? You still won’t tell us?”

More silence. More resistance. Fox took deep, ragged breaths, just trying to enjoy his last bit of fresh air. He opened his eyes long enough to meet my gaze, looking both longing and broken.

“That’s very noble of you, Fox.” Gavin tsked. “Protecting your little girlfriend to the bitter end. Let’s hope you had time to fuck her since you probably won’t survive tonight.”

Fox didn’t fight back when they shoved him under again. The other cousins backed off, watching Fox’s mud and blood-caked hands go limp, giving up their clawing fight to get Gavin’s hold off him.

The only sounds that got through the roaring in my head were Brett’s heavy breathing by my ear and the trickling rush of water as it rushed around Fox’s head. His hair floated on the surface, his head starting to bob since Gavin didn’t have to exert much strength to keep him down.

He was dying.

Fox was dying all because he didn’t want me to face their wrath. Because he didn’t want me any more tied up in all this than I already was.

I grit my teeth. Fuck this. He didn’t get to be the hero. I didn’t want to be saved if it meant he had to die.

With all the breath in my lungs I had left, I shrieked, “I know!” Eyes pinned on me. “Let him up! I know everything!”

“What do you know?” Gavin drawled, goading me to say more while he kept Fox under a few more heart-wrenching seconds.

“I know you’re all shifters. I know you can turn into animals or people or whatever you want. I know you’ve claimed this land and there’s history here and that Arthur is trying to marry my sister for your messed up traditions.”

Gavin’s lips split wide in a horrifying grin. “Bingo.”

Then he let go of Fox.

Chapter 30

Fox didn’t immediately sit up. He stayed there, face down in the water, limp and starting to fall forward with the rest of his body getting pulled off by the current.

I fought to get to him, screeching like a cat and clawing at Brett’s arm that dared to hold me back. “Let me go!”

“Easy now,” Gavin chided, then snapped his fingers at the others to collect Fox.