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My sharp teeth tore at his already-mangled skin, but just before I was ready to clamp down and break bones, his body began to shimmer.
The stupid fucker was shifting back to his human form.
If he expected to somehow survive, that was the last damn thing he should have been doing.
I backed up just a step while his naked and bruised body came into view. There were even puncture marks on his neck where I’d just been biting, and I didn’t doubt for a moment that he had internal bleeding that would end him sooner rather than later.
He coughed up blood, confirming my previous thought, but then grinned wildly at me. “You might have won, but I’ll still get the last laugh. You never should have left your faction tonight.”
Dylan’s eyes slowly closed and reopened while he seemed to be choking on his own blood. I watched for several seconds, trying to process what he’d just said, and then…his heartbeat stopped.
Cheers erupted around me, but there would be no celebrating tonight.
Not when a life had been taken.
But more importantly, what had his last words meant?
I painfully shifted back to my human form, thanking my wolf as we transformed for her strength that had kept the both of us alive. My aching body turned to where I’d last seen Grayson with Ryder, Lia, and Markus.
My eyes first saw Ryder on the phone and jogging away from the growing crowd while Grayson came forward, pushing through the other shifters who were closing in on me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked through clenched teeth, trying to hide the true level of agony I was feeling. “Do you know what Dylan meant?”
“Ryder can’t get a hold of Tuck and you can’t fight anymore,” Grayson said quietly yet sternly. “So we need to get out of here.”
Fuck.
Did that mean Dylan’s challenge had been more of a distraction than anything else? Had we left the people in the faction to die?
I hoped to hell not.
Chapter31
GRAYSON
Of course, it didn’t fucking matter that Kinsley had several severe injuries. As soon as realization set in, she wanted to race back to the pack. Only she was in no condition to do so.
Lia came over to us and laid a hand on the center of Kinsley’s chest. “This will speed up your healing, but you still can’t fight again until at least tomorrow.”
A silver glow emanated around my mate, and she shuddered but stood taller in the next second. “Can you teleport us back to Ryder’s?”
I turned to call Ryder back over so he could go with us, but the faction leader was already gone. Hopefully, he’d gotten word from Tuck, but judging by his previous pacing, that didn’t seem likely.
Without saying another word, Lia grabbed onto Kinsley while Markus reached for his mate and I held on to mine.
Holding her in my arms, even for the brief seconds it took to go from the dingy park to Ryder’s apartment building, eased the frenzy I’d had pulsing through me ever since Kinsley had first shifted for Dylan’s challenge.
Supporting her in fighting for her title had been an easy decision, but when it was unfolding right in front of me? That was something else entirely.
Watching another man lay hands on her and doing nothing about it had been one of the most painful things I’d ever had to endure. Second only to burying my sister, then mother.
When we appeared back at Ryder’s faction, there were smoke plumes all around us and screaming families.
People were running from building to building, likely searching for whoever had done this or their loved ones.
“Fuck,” Markus hissed. “This is bad. Really fucking bad.”
Lia grabbed his hand. “Come on. We need to help.”
