46. Shane
Chapter 46
Shane
C olton was pinned.
It would have taken nothing for me to end his life right here in my front yard, but I couldn’t bear to taint this place like I did back home. I already knew before the fight started that if he surrendered, I would allow it and would face the consequences of my victory. Even if returning home to be the Ross pack alpha is the last thing I want for myself. I worried that Colton would be too stubborn to surrender, forcing my hand.
His broken voice saying, “I yield,” was a relief.
Colton had to know I would kill him if I had to. I let him up to grab his clothes as Lana tossed me my jeans.
What the fuck am I going to do now? I wonder, my muscles aching and my mouth foul with the taste of Colton’s blood. I spit, trying to clear the taste, grimacing as I yank on my wet jeans. Even if my wounds are healing, they still hurt as I bend to struggle with the wet denim. Kaycia’s sudden movement catches my eye as I stand, but her shout has me spinning on my heel before I can button my fly.
I was a fool to think Colton would surrender. I should have known he’d have no honor.
As I turn, Colton raises his gun. The steel is slick and shiny in the cool, lingering mist of rain. Staring down the barrel, I freeze for a split second before bending at the waist, preparing to tackle him. Before I launch myself toward him, two shots pierce the silence of the forest and Colton jerks back once. Twice.
He falls as I stagger forward in confusion, barely catching myself before I stumble over him. When I kneel at his side, he coughs, dark blood bubbling between his lips and staining the stubble on his chin and jaw. A bullet has gone through his left shoulder, exactly where Kaycia repeatedly hit her targets during our practices. The other landed perfectly in his chest, right where it would be fatal. Even shifter healing can’t repair a heart that quickly.
I palm Colton’s gun and look over my shoulder to find Kaycia shaking with a revolver dangling in her hand. Her lips are parted as if she’s stunned. Lana stands silent and still, Raquel’s familiar pistol held firmly in her grip, poised to take another shot. Raquel hovers near Kaycia, one comforting hand on her shoulder with the shotgun ready at her side, watching the shifters on their knees.
The wolves Colton brought still kneel, unsure who their loyalties now lay with.
Me, who won the challenge against their alpha.
Or one of the women who killed him.
“Shane!” Kaycia is crying, pulling away from Raquel and stumbling toward me, dropping the revolver at Raquel’s feet. I shove Colton’s pistol in my waistband and hold my arms open for her. “I thought he shot you.” She sobs against my chest as I fold my arms around her.
“I’m okay,” I whisper into her hair, holding her close. “Are you all right?” She doesn’t speak, just nods and clings to me with trembling arms.
“He won’t heal from that,” Lana murmurs when she reaches my side, lowering her gun. She nudges Colton’s side with a bare toe, but he doesn’t move. He won’t move again.
“I didn’t kill him, did I?” Kaycia hiccups.
“I don’t think so. I think—” I start.
“I did,” Lana interrupts. “Stupid bastard. I didn’t want to kill him, but he didn’t give me much choice.” Lana’s lips are set in a hard line, but her chin trembles slightly as she looks down at Colton’s body. “No one uses me or threatens my family.” She meets my stare as she adds, “I’ll always be your second, big brother.”
Kaycia steps back and I wrap Lana in a hug just as a tear falls from my sister’s eye. She grips me fiercely in return, then pushes away. Scrubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, she wipes any lingering evidence that she has any tender emotions. But the sad little smile she gives tells me she’s hurting worse than she lets on.
“Thanks, little sister.”
“Can I get a hug like that?” Max jokes from the tree line. He’s holding his arm, as though the wound from earlier is still painful, but I can’t help but snort a laugh seeing him with Raquel’s jacket tied around his waist to cover his lack of clothing. One pale thigh is revealed, as though he’s wearing a biker-themed sarong. Raquel tosses him a pair of sweatpants from the cabin. She must have raided the place while we weren’t looking. She also offers a dry quilt to drape over Kaycia who stands trembling and crying softly.
I take a step toward her, but I don’t get to soothe her frayed nerves before Caleb stutters, “Uh… Alpha?”
He looks between Lana and me. All three shifters who remain—minus the one who thought he could recapture Lana in the woods—still kneel on the muddy ground, bound by the rules of the challenge. They must honor their new leader with submission until they’re recognized and released.
The problem is, who is their leader?
“I don’t want it.” Lana steps back with her hands held up. “I was protecting you after the yield. It’s all you.”
“But the final words hadn’t been spoken. The transition wasn’t complete,” I argue. “I don’t want it either.”
I look at Kaycia, disheveled and muddy, white knuckles clutching the quilt. Regret knots in my gut. She should never have had to deal with any of this. I can’t possibly return home to be alpha and continue my relationship with her. I wrap my arms around her, chafing my hands on her arms before holding her close and laying my cheek against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry about this, Kaycia.”
“Well, someone has to get rid of him and tell the packs what’s happened,” Raquel states, gesturing to Colton’s body.
I turn Kaycia toward the cabin, stepping away from Colton and drawing my friends along with me. “Ross pack members, to me,” I order. The three men rise from where they’ve knelt and stand in front of us. Baseball Cap and Tattoos seem indifferent, while Caleb drops his gaze with sadness as they glance at their former alpha’s cooling corpse.
“This is done,” I say to them, a growl of authority seeping into my tone. “The blood feud that Colton Ross brought you here to settle is finished . We fought and he surrendered under pack laws. His choice to attack me afterward was met with defense from my packmate. Your other pack member lost his life in combat with a wolf he directly threatened. Do you agree that this vendetta is over? We have all paid enough.”
The men nod, murmuring variations of, “Yes, Alpha.”
I clench my jaw, rattled by the title I never desired. But for now, I’ll embrace my authority to keep my friends safe.
“Wrap him up and put him in the back of the SUV. Find the other one to do the same,” I command. “We’ll be heading out tonight back to Woodbine Hollow to deal with this. I’ll allow their families to give them a proper burial. Lana, you’re coming with me. We have to take this to both packs.”
The men break apart, following Raquel to grab tarps and blankets from the storage shed.
“You’re leaving?” Kaycia steps away, hurt contorting her face. “That’s it?”
“I don’t want to. Believe me. But, I have to. Just for a little while. I understand if this changes things,” I answer, my voice catches but I fight the urge to drop to my knees to beg her to stay with me. “I understand if you don’t want me after seeing what life with a wolf can be like.”
I imagine she will need some time to process everything and my remorse over her being present tonight weaves its way deeper into my heart.
“You could bring her,” Lana murmurs.
“ What? ” I snap.
“Bring her. Mama will love that you’re coming home. If you bring a girl with you, it will be even better.”
“Lana, I haven’t been home in ten years. We have no idea what’s going to be waiting when we get there with the fucking body of the neighboring alpha.”
“Don’t I get some say in this?” Kaycia asks, crossing her arms over her chest and making me notice once more that some buttons have ripped off and I can see quite a lot of what’s underneath.
“Of course you do.”
“Well, then okay. I’ll come with you.”
“You want to come back home with me?” I ask, barely containing my surprise. “You’re sure? Even after I ruined your exhibition night?”
“If we can wait to leave until tomorrow afternoon, then yes. I’ll come to meet your family.” She shudders as the men pass by her with the blankets. “I didn’t go through all this to run away from you now, Shane McKinley.”
“Sorry, if I hurt you, ma’am,” Caleb addresses Kaycia, stopping at my side with his eyes downcast. “I was following orders.” He offers her a dry sweatshirt, looking ashamed that her blouse is torn. It takes all my remaining patience to not snarl at him, remembering how he dragged her from the woods.
Kaycia merely melts against my side, casting him a scornful look and refusing the shirt. He hangs his head and continues past us to help his packmates. My wolf swells with pride at her bravery.
“I think it’s time we all had a stiff drink if you don’t mind,” Max says as he walks up to the group. He rotates his shoulder and flexes his elbow testing how it’s healed.
“You going to be okay, pretty bird?” Lana asks with a sideways smirk, eyes traveling over Max’s bare chest and down over his— my —sweatpants.
“That depends on whether you’re going to stick around to have a drink with us or not,” he replies.
“There’s a fucking body behind you, Max. Can you not flirt for five minutes?” Raquel chides, taking her jacket back from where he holds it out for her. She holds her phone to her ear filling Jamila in and reassuring her of our safety.
“He deserved it.” Kaycia surprises me with her remark as she scowls at Colton’s body being wrapped in a blanket, then tarp. “He would have killed you,” she amends more softly as she leans against me.
“I think Max is right. We all need a drink.”