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“Avery, you have to go. Just leave me here.”
“Never,” I vowed.
“Listen to me! They won’t kill me because of my father. But you’re not safe here. If they find out you’re alive…”
Her warning was cut off as the door creaked open. Both of us frozen in place. The sound was quiet, barely there.
A death knell.
Footsteps thundered in a slow, measured pace down the stairs. One, then another. I looked around frantically for a place to hide and came up empty.
“Someone’s sneaking into my dungeon,” a low, deadly voice called out.
Maddox.
Step.
Step.
“Someone’s going topay.”
Step.
Step.
Then he was at the bottom of the stairs. Looking straight at me.
“What do we have here?” He continued his unhurried march toward me. His nostrils flared in recognition when he placed me. “You.”
“Sorry, is this not where the birthday party is?” I asked, stepping forward. I nearly peed myself taking a step towards Maddox, the terrifying wolf I’d spent my childhood hiding from. But he wasn’t going to get through Daphne without going through me first. “The invite didn’t say.”
“I should’ve put you down when you were born.”
I scoffed. “Is that any way to treat your son’s moon-matched mate?” I almost choked on the title, only managing because I knew it would piss him off. And if I wanted to stand a chance against the Moon-Ghost Alpha, who had been in charge longer than I’d been alive, I would need him to be a little off his gear.
“You didn’t deserve the honor,” Maddox growled, my words having the desired effect.
I didn’t ask to be his goddess-damned mate!“You could’ve just let me leave. There was no need to kill me for being an unworthy mate,” I said with an eye roll, acting deliberately blasé while I looked him over.
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a dark sound.
The movement revealed a glint of metal hanging on his belt.The keys.
“But I’ll fix that now,” he assured me when the laughter died. “And once you’re properly in the ground, I’m going to kill that disloyal bitch for conspiring with you.”
That was all the warning Maddox gave before charging.
Maddox was big, easily over six feet, and solid muscle. And while he may have been in his seventies, it only meant he’d grown in strength.
Sparring with Cole was sometimes a dance, a game of chess, at high speed.
Maddox was a fight for survival.
On his initial charge, he nearly grasped his hands around my throat. I managed to duck away, but I didn’t stand much of a chance.
He’d been fighting bloody battles for decades. He was bigger and stronger than Richard, but he wasn’t a simple opponent that I could outmaneuver like Richard had been.
We went back and forth, attack, counter. I landed a solid kick, but Maddox grabbed my leg before I could retract. His reflexes were fast.
