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Handle him? He’s been shot. That would mean...
“He’s alive?” Rage burns through me. That man shouldn’t be alive. He should be dead. He should have to deal with the consequences of his actions. Brock turning against him and shooting him was supposed to be karma. It was supposed to prove that what he had done was wrong.
But I guess he wouldn’t know any of that unless he did live through this. It doesn’t change how I feel, though.
“Barely. We have the medical staff working on him. Enzo is overseeing it.” Wilder grasps the back of my neck, easing me away from him to look at me. His blue eyes sheen over with something darker, sadder. He looked like this when I watched Gillian, my former dealer, die on the streets in the Gutter District.
“After everything, you’re trying to save him?” Disappointment sizzles through me, overtaking my anger. My mind can’t grasp why he allows it. He, out of everyone, should want the king dead.
His face pinches into a series of hard lines. “Kinsey, I know he deserves to die. I know—”
“If you know, then why are you saving him? Why are you allowing him to live? He drugged us. He gave us to the Platinum Shores Pack as restitution against you. He knows that we betrayed him. Yet here you are, trying to save him. What are you thinking, Wilder?” My voice rises in pitch, my voice squeaking the words.
“Take a breath. I can explain.” Wilder locks his gaze on mine, slowing down.
“He needs to die. There’s no other option.” I dig my fingers into his shoulders. “He needs to die.”
Wilder’s features sharpen even more. A dozen emotions cross his face before they vanish completely, his ability to disguise what he’s thinking like a wall building between us in this moment.
I can feel his denial deep in my soul. He knows that the king should die, but he’s not going to see to it.
“Kinsey, I’m sorry.” He tightens his mouth. Wilder inhales a few deep breaths, his body shaking in a way I’ve never felt before. His jaw shifts as he swallows hard. “We can’t kill him.”
I lose my shit, my sobs shuddering through me. It’s as if his words trigger a bomb inside, shattering my being. Letting King Winston live isn’t justice. It’s punishment to me. I have to continue knowing that this piece of shit of a human being lives on. That he could retaliate and hurt me again.
My heart breaks, the pain intense enough to feel as if I’ll die. “Wilder, please. Please don’t save him. If you save him—”
“Kinsey, we can’t,” Wilder says, cutting me off, leaving no room for me to argue. “Arsenio, I need you to take her. I’ll take Holly.” Wilder holds me out to his brother, ending our conversation.
Words never felt so final. I guess he is our leader and what he says goes, even if I want something else. Even I deserve something else. He does too, yet he’s denying us all justice and peace. At what cost? I’m afraid of the price.
“Come here, sugar. I need to feel you for myself. Let me take care of you.” Arsenio kisses my temple, holding me tight. “We’ll get through this. You need a moment to breathe and settle down. You’re in shock.”
I close my eyes and don’t respond to him.
My body shuts down, and I close off completely.
A part of me shatters.
I’m afraid I will never fix that piece of me again.
Chapter two
Kinsey
Business
“Explaintomewhy?You obviously agree with Wilder. Is it because he’s your father?” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to keep my voice from rising with my anger. “I can understand if it’s because of that, but—”
Arsenio cuts me off with a kiss, his rude interruption infuriating yet exactly what I need to calm down. “It’s purely business, sugar. I know you want him dead—we all want him dead—but you know that he needs to renounce his reign and pass it on to us for a quiet, easy transition of power. Saint Vista is full of packs that’ll put up a fight for the sole reason that they can. We need to ensure he names one of us as our new pack leader. If he’s dead, he can’t do that.”
I know this. They’ve told me this a dozen times. But still, the stubborn part of me can’t accept it. I know that my pack is powerful enough to face outside threats. Look at today. This was a setup from their own fucking father, and we still managed to succeed.
“So, what does this mean if he lives? Can you even trust that he will follow through with your demands? He doesn’t trust you already.” I know I should just believe in Arsenio and the others. They know what they’re doing but having them answer my questions helps relax my screaming nerves. I can’t function on blind faith. As much as I want to. As much as I know I should. My past won’t allow me to.
“He won’t have a choice. If he wants to live now, he will have to agree. What he’s done, betraying us, won’t be tolerated. We’ve already started the process. It’s not uncommon for a pack to do so when their leader is injured. This attack actually helped push things into our favor. King Winston can’t claim insubordination. But we can claim that he is too weak to keep going in his position.” Arsenio sets me on my feet just outside a room in the palace I’ve never been to. No, not a room, something else. A hospital? I guess you could call it that, but it’s more like a medical center. “Now, sugar. I want to prepare you for what you’re about to see. We have an entire medical staff, and they’re currently stabilizing King Winston. Enzo is with them, and he’s a bit...bloody. Don’t freak out.”
“Can you just bring him to me? I don’t want to see your staff work on that bastard. Please, Arsenio. I know and understand your reasons, but if you make me go in there, I will try to kill him. He was going to ruin everything. Protecting you is my biggest priority.” I scrub my hands across my cheeks, rubbing away the stickiness of my tears.
