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“It doesn’t change what you did,” he yelled. “You’ve failed us all!”
“No!” Bruce shouted. “That’s what Victor wants you to think. That’s what he’s been doing, playing us against each other for his own gain. Didn’t you hear what they just said?”
“Yes,” agreed Edna. “We have to stick together instead of turning against one another. I’m sorry, Adrian and Luna. I was misled by him as well.”
“It doesn’t matter if you want to follow me or not,” Victor declared. “There’s enough who do. We can take on as many of you as we need to.”
With that, Victor shifted. The room disintegrated into anarchy as more of Victor’s rogues streamed in from outside. His heart sank at the sight, but he was quickly uplifted as he realized his pack was rallying behind him, shifting as well and ready to take on the fight.
Fur flew, and fangs snapped. His enforcers filled in to make a circle around him and Luna, protecting their leaders. He wasn’t going to let them do all the work, though. With a glance at Luna, he knew they were both thinking the same thing.
They quickly shifted into their wolf forms, darting past the enforcers and into the fray. Briefly, Adrian was distracted by a pang at the thought of Luna’s pretty dress, now in tatters on the floor. But there was no time for that.
He’d buy her a better one later when all the rogues were taken care of, and peace was restored.
He lunged for the neck of a rogue wolf, feeling the tendons pop under his fangs. The wolf howled, slashing out with his claws, but Adrian kept his jaw clenched as blood filled his mouth. Soon, the rogue wolf lay lifeless at his feet.
He felt a sharp swipe across his hind quarter and turned to find the wolf that had just attacked him already being dealt with. Luna’s teeth were sinking into the wolf’s back leg. He saw the shifter turning to bite at her face, and Adrian struck swiftly, raking his claws across the wolf’s nose.
That split-second distraction was all Luna needed. She released her grip on the shifter’s leg, grabbing the scruff of his neck and tearing through flesh.
What a woman you have for a mate,he thought with pride, watching the carnage.
Before long, it was clear that Victor’s numbers were dwindling. Adrian watched his pack with pride, but then he heard Luna’s warning loud in his head.
“Adrian! Watch out!”she cried.
He turned to see Victor launching himself over the altar, heading straight for him. It was too late to move out of the way as Victor’s teeth flashed at him. Adrian turned, and Victor’s fangs sank into his shoulder rather than his jugular.
“There’s a reason you rely on tricks, old man,”Adrian chastised, using his strength to shake off Victor despite the pain coursing through his body.“You’re too slow and too weak for a real fight.”
“I got you, didn’t I?”Victor taunted as the two circled each other.
“It was a lucky shot. It won’t happen again.”
And with that, Adrian leapt onto the older shifter, claws outstretched. They sliced through his concave chest like butter, tearing through the muscle. He clamped down with his teeth around the other shifter’s neck, holding Victor securely in his grip.
“Your reign of terror on everyone who has the misfortune of meeting you is over, Victor. You’ve caused enough pain for one lifetime. It ends now.”
And with that, Adrian tore out Victor’s throat, delivering peace to his people.
TWENTY
ADRIAN
“It’s a waste of a bonfire,” Sasha muttered. “Using it to get rid of these rogue bodies when we could be roasting marshmallows.”
Luna’s eyes grew wide.
The entire pack had gathered as one around a bonfire to dispose of what remained of the rogues.
“Don’t worry,” Adrian reassured her. “My sister has kind of a sick sense of humor sometimes.”
“You mean you wouldn’t want a marshmallow?” Sasha demanded. “It would be much nicer than this.”
Adrian just shook his head. He was sorry it had come to this point, sorry that his pack had been so nearly charmed away from him. He’d heard plenty from Luna regarding Victor’s slick charms, but it was still sometimes hard to wrap his mind around.
Luna had often confided in Adrian that when she first came into the pack on a chance encounter, she was out for blood, wanting Victor’s head on a pike. Seemingly, when she first arrived, everything she had done was to get closer to Victor so she could punish him for what he had done.
