Chapter 10
Ten
REID
Istare intently at my phone, waiting for it to ping.
Come on, Izzy. Text me back. Text me the fuck back.
Behind me, Kain screams.
“Fucking hell, man.” Emery lifts his hand to his head, as if he means to run his fingers through his hair, before forgetting that he’s temporarily bald due to the bet he made with Izzy.
His face is abnormally white, his customary tan nowhere to be seen, as he glances back at Kain and Ashton before quickly turning away.
He doesn’t have the stomach for what we have to do.
None of us do.
Even Ashton, despite what he wants us to believe.
But I know today will take its toll on my pack brother.
“Tell us who’s in charge!” Ashton roars, and the demand is punctuated by the sound of flesh hitting flesh.
Kain begins to cry.
However, I don’t feel an ounce of empathy or compassion for the dumb fuck. He sold us out. Threatened our children. Nearly got Izzy killed with his stunt at the football game.
Just the reminder has me sucking in a scorching breath, the air feeling like embers that burn my throat.
No, I don’t feel an ounce of pity for Kain. He deserves this, and then some.
I glance at my phone again, and Emery stands on his tiptoes to see over my shoulder.
“Did you hear from her yet?”
I grunt in response.
Fuck, why isn’t she answering? Is she with Hale and Gerry? Ethan? Christian? That vampire prick, Grayson?
Trying to ignore the residual panic coursing beneath my skin—the muted cries of my wolf attempting to call to his mate—I focus back on Ashton and Kain.
I don’t consider my stomach as weak. In all honesty, I’m the one most likely to beat the shit out of someone else and do so with a gleeful smile. My curse changed me in ways I don’t like to articulate. Made me hard. Dangerous.
But watching Ashton throw a punch at a bloody, sobbing, and mutilated Kain?
Something twists in my gut.
Because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ashton will be changed irrevocably. There’s only so much he can take before his precarious control shatters, leaving nothing behind but jagged shards that cut and stab and draw blood.
I don’t want that for him.
I wish he would let me take the burden. Fuck only knows I deserve to carry it.
What’s one more sin on top of my many, many transgressions?
“Who do you work for?” Ashton’s voice is cool and collected.
If I didn’t know any better, I would say it’s…calm.
But I do know better.
“Fuck. Off.” Kain spits out a glob of blood, and it hits Ashton’s cheek.
Ashton tenses automatically—the germaphobe in him rearing its ugly head—but he doesn’t lift a hand to wipe it away. Instead, he focuses on the stumps that were once Kain’s fingers. They’ve already stopped bleeding thanks to Kain’s shifter blood, but they have yet to start growing back.
Our wolves can heal us from a lot of things, and the strongest of us can have entire limbs removed and then regenerated.
Only a few things can truly kill us or scar us.
A beheading, for one, or a bullet to the heart or brain.
Silver is one of the few substances that can permanently scar us, and believe it or not, gold is another.
“You’re not going to talk, are you?” Ashton phrases it as a question, but I know he doesn’t actually expect a response.
He knows the answer.
Kain laughs glibly, throwing his head back. “Astute observation, old friend.”
Ashton releases a sigh, as if this entire conversation has tired him, and then pulls back his arm and punches Kain square in the jaw.
The shifter is immediately unconscious.
“Ash?” Emery ventures a tentative step closer. Stops. Glances at me. Steps back.
Ashton slowly rises from his crouched position. His shoulders heave with each ragged exhale. He seems to be focused on his bloody hands, the knuckles cracked and red.
Emery and I exchange another look. Neither of us knows what to say to Ashton. I don’t do “feelings” or “heart-to-hearts.” And it wouldn’t be appropriate for Emery to give a scathing quip right now.
Fuck, where’s Ethan when we need him? We need his level-headedness and ability to talk any of us off the ledge.
Or we need to find Izzy. Heaven only knows that she can get a reaction out of Ashton—though what that reaction will be remains up in the air. He’ll either snap at her or try to kiss her. Jury’s still out on that one.
“There you guys are!”
Emery and I both spin at the somewhat familiar voice, though Ashton remains where he is, staring at his hands, his body as taut as a bowstring.
Gerry stalks through the forest, looking entirely out of place in his leather pants and motorcycle jacket. His long red hair cascades around his shoulders in loose waves.
The older man pauses when he catches sight of Kain, and shock widens his eyes. He sucks in a sharp breath, and Ashton tenses at the sound, turning even more rigid.
But I have to give Gerry credit. Despite the gruesome scene before him, he doesn’t even bat an eye beyond his initial shock.
He simply assesses the three of us, paying particular attention to how still Ashton is, before saying, “We need you back at the clearing.”
“What’s going on?” I bark at the same time Emery asks, “Is it Izzy? Ethan?”
Gerry blows out a breath. “It’s complicated.” He flicks his gaze to Emery and frowns. “God, you’re even more hideous up close.”
“Thanks,” Emery drawls.
“What about him?” Ashton doesn’t turn around when he asks the question.
He just stands there, shaking, his gaze fixated on the shifter at his feet.
An icy chill snakes its way through me at his deadened tone.
Gerry frowns at Kain. “What happened? Did a Hunter get to him?”
“I think you know that’s not true or you’d be a little more concerned,” Emery says, sarcasm thick in his voice.
“Asshole was working with the Hunters,” I manage to grit out.
Gerry’s features tighten, the only visible sign of his unease. I don’t really know how to describe the expression on his face. He doesn’t necessarily look surprised. More…disappointed, as if he knew this was a possibility and hoped things would go differently.
But if he knew Kain was capable of this…
If he allowed him to walk around free…
I take a deep, calming breath, attempting to shove my rage down. It’ll do me no good to lose control of my emotions.
Locked away, my wolf begins to whine, his haunting cries clawing at my brain.
“What the fuck is going on, Gerry?” Emery snaps.
He must’ve seen the same thing as me—proof that Gerry knows more than he’s letting on.
Betrayal floods my veins, thick and acerbic, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Shifters like him and the others relish in secrecy and deceit. The Council has remained in power as long as they have not by brute force but by stealth and cunningness.
Traits I don’t possess.
But come the fuck on. If the Council expects us to lead when we get older, then surely we should be privy to this information.
Gerry steps away to make a quick call, speaking low enough that I can barely make out his words, even with my enhanced hearing. Shortly after he hangs up, two shifters I recognize as working for the Council appear. They immediately cuff Kain, haul him to his feet, and drag his unconscious ass away.
“We’ll keep him in a cell until we can perform a proper interrogation.” Gerry throws Ashton a disapproving frown, but if Ashton sees it, he doesn’t acknowledge it.
He’s no longer looking at his hands, but he’s not looking at anyone else, either. He simply stands there, staring blankly ahead, a glazed sheen to his eyes that makes me uneasy.
“You need to tell us what the fuck is going on!” Emery explodes, the fuse he has on his temper ablaze. He throws his hands in the air. “Why was Kain working with the Hunters? Why don’t you look surprised? What are you hiding? Where are Izzy and my brother?”
He’s shaking by the time he’s finished speaking.
Gerry keeps his voice calm. “I can’t answer all of that.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” Emery snaps.
Gerry simply says, “Both.”
“Because it’s not safe for us or something?” Emery scoffs. “We’re supposed to be the most powerful pack. The future Council. Maybe this entire situation could’ve been avoided if you just fucking trusted us!”
Gerry’s eyes narrow, though he doesn’t respond to Emery’s outburst. Instead, he takes a deep breath, rolls back his shoulders, and shifts slightly to address all three of us.
“Are you guys coming or not? We don’t have time for temper tantrums.” This last barb is directed at Emery, who immediately lunges forward, teeth bared.
I grab at my friend and squeeze slightly, wordlessly telling him to back the fuck up.
I trust Gerry with my life. After my parents abandoned me, Gerry and his husband did what they could to look after me.
Protect me. Hell, they even offered to foster me, but I refused, knowing I was one stain I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, let alone someone I consider a friend.
Despite my refusal to join their household, they made sure I had everything I needed over the years.
If he chose not to tell us everything, there must be a reason for it.
Emery calms down, though a tremor still reverberates through him as if he barely has his wolf contained.
Gerry takes a breath. “Look, I’m sorry. There’s a lot we need to discuss. Today has just been…stressful. First with the gunmen, then Lissa, now Izzy—”
“Izzy?” Ice trickles into my veins. “She’s not with you?”
Emery stops shaking long enough to focus on Gerry, waiting for his answer. Even Ashton gives the older shifter his full attention.
“That’s what we need to talk about.” Gerry nods in the direction he came from, where gnarled tree limbs braid themselves in the air, blotting out the setting sun. “Come on.”
We don’t need to be told twice.