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Rage had Grant in its grip. He wanted Kryder dead. “He’s never been this blatant.”
“My point exactly. This was meant to get you to call him out. He wants you in the sandpit, so he can finish you off legally.”
Something was eating at Kryder, more than usual. Whenever he saw Grant, he started yelling at him, cursing him, trying to get him to offer a challenge.
Whatever had him on edge, the pack felt it as well. Tempers ran short. Fights broke out. Shouting matches. Wolf battles involving claws and deep gashes. Order had become increasingly difficult to maintain.
Across the upper row of seats, from an opposite entrance, a way-too-familiar voice drew his attention. “You’ve gone too far this time, asshole.”
Kryder. And he was in rage.
“Speak of the devil,” Ryan muttered.
The sound of the alpha’s voice caused the wolves in the sandpit to stop what they were doing, shift back to their human form, then to assume submissive poses with heads bowed. The scattered spectators rose to their feet and did the same.
Gran
t shot a telepathic message to Ryan. Get the hell out of here so Kryder won’t turn on you. I want you gone before he thinks to vent his rage on you instead of me. He’d lost count of the number of times Kryder had beat up Ryan in the hopes of forcing a dominance challenge out of Grant. Those were the worst for him. But each time, Ryan would be yelling at him telepathically to hold his own for the sake of the pack.
Ryan said, For the love of God, don’t lose your shit.
I won’t.
Grant rose into the air as Kryder levitated above the sandpit and moved in a beeline toward him. From the corner of his eye, he watched Ryan begin his retreat.
Grant called out loudly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Alpha.” He stayed at the back near the wall because there was plenty of room to maneuver.
He would do everything he could to stand up to Kryder, just short of challenge behavior. He felt his wolf fur begin to prickle his chest and form along the upper ridges of his cheeks. Keeping his temper in check was always easier said than done.
Kryder wore a t-shirt with cutoff sleeves which put his massive guns on display. One right hook had knocked more than one wolf out cold.
His long, wavy dark brown hair was parted down the middle. Two thick braids framed his scarred face while the bulk of his hair hung down his back. He slowed on approach and dropped to within inches of Grant. He was three-hundred pounds of fierce muscle and the support structure of the arena seats shook with a thud as his heavy boots hit the walkway.
Grant dropped down to match him.
Half of Kryder’s intimidation came from his face. He had a thick nose that must have been broken before his alter transformation. His olive skin was pitted and scarred across the left cheek in three deep and very old knife wounds. His eyes, which may have been brown when he was human were now permanently amber.
Kryder came from a different time. He’d been in Five Bridges for almost thirty years. He’d been a mechanic before his alter transformation. A biker. A dope runner. A killer. What he’d become after moving to Savage was more of the same but heightened with new power, ability and sheer size.
Five Bridges, especially in the early years, had given men like Kryder a license to murder as they pleased. The Phoenix Police Department never interfered in crimes committed within the walls of their alter world.
Kryder didn’t believe for a second he’d done anything wrong in brutally raping an eighteen-year-old. It was his right as alpha.
Grant kept his gaze pinned to Kryder’s face. If he understood one thing about the man, it was the necessity of standing up to him, right up to the mark.
“I want all three women returned. They’re mine.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kryder glanced around. “Where the fuck is Ryan? I saw him from across the way.” His voice was a deep, heavy bass. “His shitty paws are all over this.”
“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Alpha.” He used his title purposefully. “I’ve been in here drilling the females. We’ve had rogue sightings all week and I don’t intend for any of our members to get caught or hurt by their kind.” This much was true. Whenever he spoke to Kryder, he chose each word carefully. He was never sure if Kryder heard them all, but specific words ignited his alpha duties even if he continued to hurt his own people.
“That’s right,” a female voice called out from the pit below where all nine women now stood in a line. Kryder turned to look at the intruder and Grant shook his head at her.
But she was one of the more stubborn females and apparently was going to have her say. “He’s been drilling us, Alpha, for the past hour. Only I wish to hell he’d drill me instead.”
Grant’s brows rose, and his lips twitched.
