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Touching her eases the tightness in my chest and I take what feels like my first deep breath in days. Pulling her scent, that is no longer soured with fear, into my lungs like a drug.Slipping my fingers through her mussed hair, I tilt her head to the side as I check the wound under the flakes of dried blood. To my surprise, her skin is unmarred and completely healed. I frown since humans aren’t known for being fast healers. As I contemplate what this might mean, my eyes drop to her shoulder and the silvery scar from my bite. It must be an effect of the bond.
I quickly scan the rest of her to make sure she has no other injuries and only then do I release her.“You can wait in Jacob’s truck if you don’t want to watch this.”
“No.” Her eyes flick behind me to where the coyote is still sniffling, before turning a hard as granite look back to meet mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A deep growl rumbles up from deep in my chest and my lips peel back in a toothy grin. “Dobr si mi cura.”You’re such a good girl.
I run a gentle finger down the side of her face before tilting her head back and slamming my lips down onto hers. Plunging my tongue into her mouth, needing to taste her. Kissing her like I’ll fuck her as soon as we’re alone. She meets every flick and plunge of my tongue. Her hands curl around my shoulders and I hiss at the bite of her blunt nails digging into my neck. When I pull away, her lips are kiss swollen and glossed from my mouth and I’m hard as a pipe.
With another growl, I tear myself away from her to stalk back across the cabin where the coyote begins whimpering all over again. He thinks he knows what is about to happen, but he has no idea.
“Talk.” I bark and he jumps at the word.
“It was all Carlos’ idea!” I shouldn’t be surprised that he shows no loyalty and is more than happy to throw his alpha under the bus.
“And who does Carlos get his orders from?” I demand.
“Marcus.” The coyote swallows thickly, his eyes darting between Jacob and I. “Carlos has been trying to form an alliance with Marcus for a while. The order to take out the part of the pack that follows Yesenia and to bring the human here came down from him.”
“And you?” Jacob asks. “Where are your loyalties?”
The shifter looks even more spooked now, and I suspect that if he hadn’t already emptied his bladder, he’d be pissing himself again. “I just do what I’m told.” His eyes dart to Mercy and I growl, taking a step towards him.
“Don’t look at her!”
His eyes dart back to me. “It wasn’t personal. I was just doing my job, ya know? Just following orders.”
“I always thought the coyotes tried to be neutral. Why does Carlos want to be Marcus’s lap dog so bad?” I ask him. It doesn’t matter what he tells me, I’m going to kill him either way. But I’m curious what this shifter knows. Judging by the way he’s squirming, he knowssomething.
“He—I—” he swallows and looks like he might puke. “He’ll kill me.”
Sharp claws erupt from the tips of my fingers. “I’m going to kill you. How quickly and painfully depends on what you say next, so you might as well make it worth both of our time.”
He pales before my eyes and then, before any of us can stop him, the shifter launches himself over the back of the couch at the window. The glass is thicker than he must realize because he makes it through, but not without nearly decapitating himself on the jagged shards.
“Ah, fuck!” Jacob barks, looking through the shattered glass.
By the time we’re out the door and around the side of the house, his eyes are wide but unseeing and his mouth is opening and closing like a fish out of water with a gash across his throat that severed both his jugular and windpipe. The ground is soaked with his blood in seconds and there is nothing we can do but watch the life drain out of him.
“Fuck. He’s gone.” I bite out.
“Gods damnit.” Jacob grumbles, glaring down at the mangled shifter with his thick arms folded across his chest.
“We need to find Carlos.” I sigh and Jacob nods.
“And Marcus?” he asks without taking his eyes from the dead shifter.
I clench my teeth as a growl builds up from deep inside my chest. “He’s mine to deal with.”
And then,I vow silently,a lot of things are going to change. Starting with taking over as the head of all factions.
Five
MERCY
When my jailor caught up to me in the forest, I thought for sure I was done for. Especially when he pinned me to the tree by my neck, holding me so tight that his rough hands were cutting off precious oxygen to my brain.When I saw Jarik in his beast form and a giant bear running towards me, I thought I was imagining them. Waves of sadness hit me, thinking that I was closer to death than I realized, and my mind was conjuring my greatest wish. Any normal woman might have freaked the fuck out at the sight of two monsters coming towards her at top speed, but not me.
Then I blinked and they were still there. Realizing that it wasn’t my imagination I thought for sure my heart would burst, but this time not from fear.
