Chapter 28
Hudson
Delirium had a hold on me like I’d never known before.
The cracked tile cutting into my palms and knees was a dull ache.
My head throbbed, my vision spun, and every forced movement tugged by the iron chains keeping my magic at bay made me want to hurl.
I should’ve recognized the taste of nightshade instantly.
Some witch I made.
“Hudson!” A familiar roar made my eyes snap up.
“T-Tyler?” My voice came out hoarse and broken. My heart hammered in my aching ribs, full of some false relief that was ripped away as my brain made sense of the situation.
Tyler’s eyes were wide, locked on mine as he made to stand only for his father to kick his foot out from under him, knocking him on his ass. “Why are you doing this?! Let him go!”
William rolled his eyes, then turned away from Tyler, striding up the steps toward me with a sickened look on his face. “Keep my son in his place while I deal with the witch.”
A guttural growl made me turn my head, a twinge shooting up my neck as I spotted Emery on the ground. “Em…” I sobbed, my hand clawing along the threshold toward him.
Mister Hargraves latched his hand around my jaw, forcing me to meet his livid stare. “You are going to undo whatever deviant spell you’ve cast on my son… to turn him into a dirty little faggot like you.”
My lips curled with disdain. My entire body shook with what energy I had left, all of it shifting toward hatred.
I wanted to argue. I wanted to put him in his place like I had dreamed of so many times from the day I’d had the unfortunate pleasure of learning his name.
But I was running on fumes, so I opted for a far more direct approach—and spat right in his face.
William jerked back with a snarl, releasing his hold on me to run his forearm across his cheek. He brought his fist down, cracking hard against my jaw and dropping me to the floor. I tasted blood as I hit the ground, my stomach threatening to spill its few contents.
“Dad, stop!” Tyler screamed, frantically trying to fight his way to me with two wolves holding him back by his shoulders. “He didn’t do anything to me! It was me! It’s always been me!”
His father glanced back at him for a fraction of a second, glowering as he pulled a handkerchief from his shirt pocket, wiping spit from his face and blood from his knuckles. “I trust you to recognize when you’ve been hexed as much as I trusted you to land new clients, Tyler.”
“It’s not a hex! I love him!” Tears covered Tyler’s cheeks as he leaned forward, gasping for air and staring at me with reddened eyes. “I’ve always loved him. Even when you threatened to hurt him and his grandmother if I refused to end things! You changed nothing!”
A broken sob came out of my throat, my cheek pressed against the cold floor as I reached toward him. He nodded, licking his lips, mouthing the words, “I love you, baby boy.”
“I love you too,” I sputtered softly, tears prickling across my eyelids despite how dehydrated I must’ve been. I craned my neck, meeting Emery’s eyes with a weak nod. “And you… I love you, Em.”
Emery’s face contorted, his broken heart visible in every line. It wasn’t the declaration my wolf deserved. Not after all this time. Still, he nodded, giving me his best smile. “I love you forever, Hud.”
“Sir,” one of the men near the door said sharply. “The other captive is awake. He’s… becoming difficult to handle.”
“Dose him with some of the nightshade. We won’t need to use the rest on the witch.” William gave a snide laugh, tucking his handkerchief back in his pocket. “And tell him his brother will pay if he keeps it up.”
The man that had spoken nodded to someone inside the sanitarium. Emery’s eyes narrowed on Mister Hargraves.
William took notice and shot him a smirk.
“Ah, yes. Don’t be too put out with the Lawsons, Mister Evans.
” The back doors of the van behind Emery opened, and two more wolves exited the vehicle, hauling Gage out with them.
“Your friend here wasn’t given much of a choice in the matter of bringing me your playmate. ”
“I’m sorry, Em,” Gage sputtered as the men holding him shoved him to his knees. “I’m so—”
“Shut the fuck up, Gage,” Emery snarled, refusing to look at him.
“They took Malik, I didn’t have a—”
“You should’ve left when you couldn’t handle being here anymore,” he snapped, giving him one short, furious glance.
“Em… don’t…” I begged weakly, swallowing as my throat stuck to itself with the words. Pleading with him not to blame Gage for the hatred of the men who had coerced him.
His eyes met mine, softening.
“Sir, the peak is approaching.” Releasing Tyler’s shoulder as he checked the watch at his wrist, Parker moved to the base of the stairs. “We can begin in fifteen minutes.”
“How long will the bite take to begin to set in?” William ran his fingers over his forearm, sparing Parker a momentary glance.
“First symptoms should take effect in that time frame,” Parker said. “Hard to say for sure with our wolves being suppressed.”
“That’s the point,” Mister Hargraves whispered dangerously, casting his gaze across the lot and meeting the eyes of every werewolf there.
“You were made in the name of servitude. Suppression is what you are, every one of you born from a curse meant to subjugate you to the whims of the Garland witches.”
“That’s not true,” Emery spat, shaking with rage. “The first wolves were created out of devotion to the witches! Out of love for them and the good they were trying to do!”
William belted a laugh as Parker moved into his space.
“What would a dog that spends his every waking hour pining for his master know of his cage?” Parker took a knee in front of him, shaking, trying to shift even while chained by the eclipse.
“Fight through the control it holds over you. Bare your teeth and bite me!”
“Why?” Tyler breathed. “Why do you want to be like them if you hate the supernatural so much?”
His father’s eyes narrowed on him with annoyance.
“Because it seems that I, too, am just a pawn in fate’s twisted game.
” Clearly pained and trembling, Parker managed a semblance of a partial shift.
His claws sprouted in place of his finger nails, and his teeth sharpened to a point.
“Now!” William’s eyes rolled back in his head as Parker sank his fangs into his arm, blood trickling down his skin. “Yes! Yes!”
Withdrawing his teeth, Parker fell to the concrete, bracing himself with both hands. “F-Fuck…”
“Pathetic.” Mister Hargraves caught him in the chest with his pointed-toe shoe, knocking him on his side.
“When the ritual is complete…” He turned his eyes on me where I lay, fuming up at him.
“When the witch is bled dry, and his pestilent ancestors are expelled straight to hell where they belong… I will rise as your alpha, and show every one of you whimpering mongrels what it means to be free of your chains.”
“You’re sick,” Tyler hissed, trembling with rage and curling his fists. “You should be thanking Hudson for what he’s given me. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve become every bit the monster that you are.”
William let out a deep sigh, shaking his head as he stalked toward Tyler.
“I had hope… wretched thing that it is, that I could save you, Tyler.” He dropped to the balls of his feet, wrapping a hand around the back of his son’s head, that dead look in his eyes again.
“I would’ve led you to greatness worthy of my legacy, but it’s clear to me now that you’re telling the truth.
” Letting him go quickly as if he’d touched something tainted, he stood, backing away.
Something in his tone made my heart plummet.
My eyes darted between Tyler and William as he ascended the steps again.
Mister Hargraves reached down, grabbing me by the arm to lift me painfully to my feet, getting right in my face.
“You’ve corrupted my only son, and now I’m forced to do the only thing left to break your hold on him. ”
“D-Dad… what are you—”
“If you refuse to repent for your disgusting ways, then I have only one use for you.” He gave a sharp nod to Parker.
Watching Parker wrench Tyler to his feet, my heart shattered. Dread clawed its way up my throat as the wolf stepped behind him, wrapping an arm around his throat. “NO!”
Before I could even try to fight, before Emery could throw his own life away attempting to close the distance in spite of the bullets that would shred him to pieces—
Before I could tell Tyler that I understood, that I had always known he hadn't truly chosen to break my heart and push me away, that I had always and would always love him—
As if his bones were nothing but twigs, a single swift jerk of Parker’s arm snapped Tyler’s neck.