Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Malakai
The door of the room slams shut behind Wren as Gage and I just stand there completely at a loss, our heavy breaths ricocheting off the walls.
How anticlimactic.
We ran all this way to… what? Listen in as Wren fucks Lyra’s brains out?
My senses are still buzzing as my Alpha is all pumped up. He’s ready to fight. Ready to tear limbs.
He’s ready to fuck.
But she chose Wren. Of course she chose our brother. I see the way she looks at him; I see the way she looks at me…
I scare her.
At least Gage is a gray area. He’s not too unkind to her, but he’s not exactly warm to her either.
Unlike me, he’s not a sore loser as he admits defeat, sighing through gritted teeth. He presses his back to the wall, sinking to the ground as he closes his eyes.
His chest is still heaving as he’s covered in a film of sweat. Let’s not forget a sticky film of blood, too.
We’re both tainted with the stuff.
Yet he looks so calm, so at peace. So, when I speak, I’m hardly surprised when he barely flinches. “Now what?”
My voice sounds like rocks scraping together. In my mind, I’m still on the battlefield, fighting the king’s guards. My fellow Alphas for an Omega I’m not even sure I care about.
My nerves won’t stop shaking as I’m dripping with sweat and that disgusting Alpha’s blood. I can still see the prick’s face.
Ever since I saw him snatching the money out of that kid’s hand back at the village, I’ve wanted to wring his neck. And it looks as if my Alpha got his wish.
Now he’s food for the crows.
The children of the kingdom can sleep easier at night now knowing he’s dead.
The Omegas, especially.
Gage opens one eye, regarding me irritably as he ties a band around his sullied mane. “We wait.”
Wait? For what?
Before I have a chance to protest, a soft groan emits from the room, making us both freeze. It looks as if our younger brother is satisfying our guest indeed. She probably doesn’t even need us.
Wren has it all under control…
He was always mother’s favorite, after all.
Her little golden boy.
A sigh escapes me, but unlike Gage. I can’t sit. I’m too fired up as a strangled growl escapes my throat. “This is ridiculous. We have to plan our next move. We’re harboring a fugitive! We’re traitors of the crown. They will be looking for us now.”
Gage has both eyes trained on me now as he exposes his fangs. “Patience, brother. We will. Once Lyra is satisfied.”
Satisfied? She’s the reason why we are in this mess to begin with. I knew from the moment I looked into those big, seemingly innocent violet eyes that she would bring ruin to our pack.
Now here we are… a couple of sitting ducks, while she gets a good fuck from our brother.
Another sweet mewl of pleasure, one that comes with a delightful cloud of her cherry scent.
I’ve had enough.
Spinning on my heels, I shoot up the hall, turning my back on Gage.
“Where are you going?” he growls.
I call over my shoulder. “To fortify our defenses. I refuse to be a sitting duck.”
Gage doesn’t argue as he remains by Lyra’s door, waiting to be called upon. But I’ve better things to do.
We’re in danger. And to think we came here to get away from the trials and tribulations of the kingdom.
But it only found its way back to us in the form of an injured Omega.
I kick my way out the door as I storm across the yard, finding a pile of wooden staves as I create a barricade around our little patch of paradise.
Then I set various wire traps in the woods to alert us to any intruders. Someone has to. Once again, I am the only one with any shred of common sense in our pack as I finish laying down the last trap, stomping back toward the house.
I don’t see a point going back inside. Because the house will be full of her. Her scent, her voice, her need.
My cock hasn’t gone down since we found her in the woods with a bloodied arrow in her tiny hand.
She killed an Alpha. Someone just like myself, yet I still wanted her—wanted to protect her because she looked so small and fragile.
Now, I am drenched in blood.
My hands are stained red, marking me as the traitor I am.
We committed treason for her.
And we will soon pay the ultimate price.
I locate the water pump in the yard, washing away that Alpha’s filthy blood from my fingers. Even back when I was a soldier, I’d killed innocents. Plenty, in fact. All in the name of a king I didn’t believe in.
I suppose I really am a hypocrite. Because in the end, I am even worse than Lyra.
A true monster.
A squeaky chittering catches my attention, and I turn sideways, finding Wren’s orange dog inside his pen.
I scoff at the smelly little beast. “And what are you looking at?”
Fidget’s ears pull back against his skull, and then he opens his mouth, making the most aggravating sound.
Hold on a moment. Is he… gekkering at me?
That little shit.
The fox has been with us for three years, and to this day, he still doesn’t trust me. Well, the feeling is certainly mutual as I don’t care for him either or his musky scent.
Heavens, he really does reek. He pisses worse than ever as he’s threatened by my mere presence. He gekkers then pees, letting me know that the pen is his territory, not mine.
The only people he will let inside that smelly pen are Wren and Lyra now, apparently. He liked the Omega the moment his nose sniffed her, and it seems she truly does have a way with animals.
Unlike me.
I still think we should have turned Fidget into a hat. His tail would have made for a nice fur trim on a winter coat, too.
So, when I approach Fidget’s pen, it’s no surprise that he barks louder. Pure, utter hatred and fear radiate from him now as he crouches low, amber eyes glowing wild in the semi-darkness.
His grating fox sounds don’t stop. But I just stand there with my arms crossed, regarding him curiously now.
The poor thing is probably sexually frustrated, and don’t I know the feeling. I often hear vixens barking in the dead of night, making Fidget agitated as he squeals and runs around his pen.
The fox needs to fuck.
Just like I do.
Perhaps misery would like company?
It’s just too bad that he hates me. I can smell it in his pee—the stink of a threatened, territorial male creature, and the stench of death and blood on my person doesn’t help matters either.
His sharp, acrid scent sticks at the back of my throat, but my Alpha hardly deems the little vulpine a threat.
Now, I take a chance, opening the door of the pen. The fox backs up, hackles raised as he attempts to make himself bigger.
I almost hide a smile. He’s just an angry, orange floof with a face now. But I’ll admit, I’m a little impressed.
It takes a lot of guts to go up against me.
I step back, offering him space as I hold up my hands. “Momentary truce?”
The fox doesn’t move an inch, those glowing eyes never leaving me the whole time I back up.
I just roll my eyes, finding a corner that doesn’t smell too strongly of his musk. I suppose I saw a kindred spirit in the fox.
Because there is a certain vixen I can’t get my mind off, either.
Well, it looks like I’m spending the night with Fidget.
Flipping fantastic.