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“No one will believe them.” Rafael threw a punch I dodged.
“All we need is a spark to start an uprising. We’ve done it before.”
“You going to let these two fight your battles?” He still thought he could take me out of my game by bringing my mate into this.
“No, I’d kill you myself if you weren’t a coward, but I can already see it in your eyes. You’re going to run and hide until you garner enough strength to challenge me for real. Which is why you haven’t said the words yet. You don’t think you can win. So when you do run, I want you to know what you’re up against.”
Vin’s lips pulled into a ruthless smile. “I won’t just kill you, either. I will keep you alive so long you’ll wish you had died, and when you think your body will give out, I’ll make you drink my blood to keep you alive, and I will continue to destroy your body and mind until there is nothing left. Then, when you are nothing, I will keep you in hell for eternity.”
Rafael was already backing away. I wasn’t sure if he’d even registered the movement. “You’d let him do that?”
“I’ll be with the Gods. Why would I care what Vin does with his newfound free time? I told him not to get between us. You’re the one who seems to be retreating.”
“A coward’s defense.” Rafael’s words were more snarl for my wolf. He attempted to draw him out. But I knew his games, or I was beginning to.
He took another step backwards as my words landed, but this time, I didn’t let him. I stepped with him. If he wanted an escape, he would have to run, not walk away. “Says the guy backing away.”
“There is nothing cowardly about biding my time.” He stepped again, and I went with him. We could play this game all the way out.
“Is that what you’re doing, backing away so you can stab me in the back?”
“Whatever I have to do to win, Dominic.”
“If you want to be a coward, show me your back. Run away. Own it.” I should kill him. I should watch the life drain out of him.
“Wouldn’t you like that, another thing to play martyr over? Won’t your people love you harder when they know all the sacrifices you make for them?” Sarcasm dripped from his tone. “Or maybe you’re hoping I’ll spare you so you can leave your people and run off into the sunset with your bloodsucker.”
Vin shifted but stayed in place.
“Is that what you told them, dear brother? That I’d leave them and abandon them for his kind?” It was all beginning to click. No wonder there had been so much discord.
They’d thought I’d come this far only to leave them for a mate, not that Vin was as much a part of our pack as I was being my mate. He would protect me and be there for them.
My beast raged.
My eyes turned black, and my wolf tried to pry the bars in my mind apart to get at Rafael. He burst from his confines, taking my body mid-air. Rafael barely caught the move in time, shifting himself and bolting. I couldn’t hold my wolf back any longer.
The wolf wanted what he wanted.
THIRTY-EIGHT
DOMINIC
The wolf wanted blood. I couldn’t have stopped him if I’d tried. I’d pushed him past his limit, and now that he was free, there would be no dragging him back into my mind until he was spent. I was merely along for the ride in his body.
Rafael bolted toward the edge of our lands, knowing he’d have the advantage where our power wasn’t tied to the magic of our elders. He’d had all of this planned. Contingency. It told me this wasn’t a rash decision he made when I’d decided to take Vin as my mate. He’d been planning and maybe only sped up his course of action when we’d mated. He’d seen the opportunity and took it.
If I didn’t catch him before he crossed the border, it would grow increasingly harder with every mile. Rafael was younger and faster. Not stronger, but this wasn’t a feat of strength. He ran the circuit more than I did, too. He knew my lands as well as I did. He might not be able to feel them, but there was something to be said about the intimate knowledge that comes with love. He loved the lands even if he betrayed its people.
I’d missed it all, and while the wolf had my body, it was so easy to berate myself for all the things I’d overlooked. Rafael faltered, taking a turn too fast and ending up in the brambles. The wolf lowered his head and put on a burst of speed.
He caught up to Rafael and took his opportunity, biting his left flank. Rafael’s wolf tried to dodge, but my wolf caught him and sent him tumbling into the tall grass. He stood and snarled, teeth bared.
We faced off, but my heart wasn’t in it. I mourned the loss of my brother, even if he never was who I thought he was. Maybe the fight would give me some sort of closure.
My wolf charged at him, and instead of facing me, he turned and ran. Through the tall grass, through the trees, ducking into the underbrush. There would be no such satisfaction.
We gave chase, but he’d planned this well. An escape route to the highway. I was determined to prevent him from making it to the edge of our land so stretched out wide as we neared the road.
