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“I’m proud of you,” he said. “And I’m also going to spank your ass.”
Her mouth dropped open, and everyone laughed. After that, the entire pack came forward to thank her or embrace her. It was awkward because this was the same pack Payton never thought she belonged to, at least not in the truest sense of the word. Her mother and father tried to move closer, but Jericho blocked them with his body.
“You told her lies,” he said, and the crowd hushed. “You told her she was worthless. That she’d never be a proper mate toan alpha.”
“We … we were just trying to protect her,” her father said.
“Protect her?” Jericho demanded. “From me?”
“From rejection.”
Jericho shook his head. “That wasn’t your place.”
Payton laid a hand on his chest. “Stop.”
“I won’t have anyone disrespecting you, and that includes your parents.”
“And I love you for that,” she said softly. Happiness danced in his eyes at her declaration. “But they are my parents, and they didn’t know. No one knew.”
“They shouldn’t have said all those things to you.” He looked at her parents. “Because of who you are, I’ll let you stay in this pack. But you will watch what you say to her.”
Her parents bowed their heads. At some point, Payton needed to forgive them and put their words behind her, but right now she had too much on her mind.
“Now, we have to find those omegas,” Jericho said loudly. “It’s time to finish Bennett.”
Chapter Nine
The hunt was on.
Jericho studied the ground, at the tracks the retreating wolves left in the soft forest ground. After their defeat, they scattered, but two wolves stayed together, heading north. His gut feeling was they were the scouts to report back to Bennett Warren, wherever the lowlife was hiding.
He broke up the search party, taking Mitch with him after the two retreating wolves. As they ran, they shifted mid-stride. Clothing tore and fell away as fur replaced skin. Jericho’s gaze sharpened. His nostrils picked up the omegas’ scents, and he charged forth. It wasn’t long until they came across the smaller, slower wolves, and he attacked.
His teeth sank into one wolf’s neck, past the thick fur to latch on to muscle and bone. With one powerful flick of his head, he snapped the spine, killing him immediately. He had no remorse for ending the life of one of his pack. They had forfeited the right to belong the moment they had sided with the traitor Bennett.
When he spun around, he discovered Mitch had subdued the other. The wolf whimpered pitifully. Jericho shifted back into his human form, heedless of his nakedness. He walked to the downed wolf and stepped on its throat.
“Shift,” he ordered.
It took the creature a moment to comply, but Mitch clamped down harder, and the omega shifted back to human.
“D-don’t hurt me!” he cried.
“You planned to murder children,” Jericho said harshly. “You planned to kill my mate. You have forfeited the right to ask me anything.”
“Please! I … I’ll tell you where he is!”
“You’ll tell me anyway.”
The omega cowered and began to cry. “He’s hiding in a hunter’s cabin, about a mile north of here. Please, I beg you, let me go.”
As Jericho studied the pitiful man, he brought his claws out. “Denied.”
Quicker than lightning, he struck, and the life faded from the man’s eyes. He stepped back as Mitch shifted.
“I know that cabin,” he said. “Been abandoned for years. It’s on the ridge line.”
“When we find Bennett, he’s mine.”
