Chapter 11 #2
But the moment the alpha stretched out his hand, Lash exploded, releasing both me and the tether from his grip. For the first time since he’d tied me up last night, I was free.
Well...somewhat free.
I stumbled back a few steps, desperate to keep my balance as the two alphas erupted into a flurry of slashes and blows.
It was a mesmerizing sight—brutally fast and violent. My eyes couldn’t keep up with every hit. My ears echoed with the sounds of cracking bones and splattering blood. It was almost impossible to look away.
But I had to.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Nelissa was just as caught up in the fight, her eyes glued to every savage strike.
This was it—the chance I’d been waiting for. No one was paying me the slightest attention.
If I didn’t seize this opportunity, I might not get another.
Inching away from the stone cliff and caves and toward the dense cover of the forest, I slowly bent over, my fingers sliding down the side of my boot.
My heart leaped as my fingers made contact with metal, warmed from a night spent pressed against my skin. I curled my finger over the trigger and pulled the weapon out into the light.
Steadying my right hand with my left, I lifted the revolver. My arms shook with a combination of exhaustion, nerves, and fear, but somehow I kept them up. Trembling, I cocked back the hammer with my thumb.
To my ears, the sound was slight, barely even audible above the grunts and growls of two full-grown alphas duking it out. But to the ferus, that soft click must have been as loud as an alarm.
In a heartbeat, all movement stopped. Every head swiveled my way. Every eye narrowed, focusing on the heavy revolver.
“Everybody be cool,” I said, my voice shaking almost as much as my hands as I shuffled back a few more steps. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Bizarrely, it was the truth.
After fantasizing about getting my hands on the gun all night, I suddenly found myself hesitant to pull the trigger. The idea of murder, even in self-defense, pressed down on my shoulders, making the already weighty revolver feel even more leaden. The last thing I wanted to be was a killer.
Not unless I absolutely had to.
“I just want to leave,” I told them. “Please don’t make me shoot.”
A bitter chuckle rolled across the clearing. Silvan. His lips curled back, baring his long, yellowed fangs as he tilted his head.
“What is that little thing?”
He didn’t know? “It’s a gun,” I answered.
“I don’t think so,” the alpha shook his head. He let go of Lash as he turned to face me head-on. “Those army men on the other side of the Wall, they have guns. Long, black, flashy things that spit out dozens of slugs a second. What you’ve got there looks more like a child’s toy.”
Maybe to his eyes.
“You won’t think so when one of these bullets flies through your heart,” I assured him.
But the bastard’s smug smile only widened.
“Bullets?” he laughed. “They feel like bee stings.”
Bees stings? That was how an alpha described being hit by a military assault rifle?
No. He had to be bluffing.
Except I couldn’t spot even a shred of deception in his eyes. The only thing Silvan looked was slightly amused.
I snuck a quick glance over at Lash to see his reaction, but apparently that was the opportunity Silvan had been waiting for.
The second my eyes slid away, the alpha launched himself across the forest floor, claws and fangs aimed for my throat. There was no time to think about consequences.
Stumbling back, I pulled the trigger.
The blast was deafening. For a moment, my ears rang so loud, I feared I’d burst the drums inside. Stabbing pain shot through my wrists as they fought to contain the gun’s recoil as the massive bullet whistled through the air…missing Silvan completely.
Shit.
The suddenness of his attack had thrown me off balance, and the shot had gone wide. A spray of bark and tree pulp rained down from the giant redwood where the bullet had hit a few feet away.
Desperately, I tried to pull back the hammer again for another shot, but it was clear there wasn’t time.
Silvan was now just inches away, ready to land on me with all the violent fury of a rabid dog.
But just before his claws made contact, something knocked him out of the air, slamming him down on the ground.
No, not something. Someone.
Silvan let out a blood-chilling cry as all ten of Lash’s claws pierced his back, stabbing between his ribs and burying deep into his chest. The alpha bucked, flailing in a mixture of panic and agony, desperate to throw his attacker, but it was no use. Lash clung to him tight.
“I warned you, Silvan,” Lash growled before pulling one hand free, only to plunge his razor-sharp claws back in a second later.
Over and over, he repeated the move, pummeling the other alpha with his fists and claws so mercilessly that the bastard’s back became nothing more than a slab of bloody red meat.
Hot bile rose up in my throat as gore flew through the air, arching high before splattering on lush green fern fronds and redwood sorrel.
No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t look away from Lash’s vicious attack.
This is who he is.
This is what he is.
A brutal killer.
A beast.
This is the man you dreamed of making love to.
A shiver ran through me, but I struggled to discern the emotion behind it. Disgust? Fear? Awe?
Now wasn’t the time to try to figure it out.
But seeing his violent temperament on full display, one thing was clear—just how much he’d controlled himself with me the night before.
Watching him now, I had no doubt he could have killed me a dozen times over. And not just me, but Sophia too. And Chuck.
Hell, Lash could probably take out the whole town of Goldwood without breaking a sweat if he wanted to.
So, after all the shit I pulled, why was I still alive?
“Kirre whore!”
The high-pitched screech was loud and close enough to cut through the ringing in my ears.
With the revolver’s hammer now cocked back and my arms still locked in front of me, I swiveled around just in time to catch Nelissa flying toward me with her claws out. Apparently, I’d been so fixated on Lash’s savage show that I hadn’t noticed her sneaking up on me.
This time, I didn’t miss when I pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through the lower left side of her face, ripping a large chunk of flesh from her cheek as it sailed through her. Blood and skin sprayed over my face, causing my stomach to twist.
That was no fucking bee sting.
But it wasn’t a lethal shot either.
Grasping her wounded face, Nelissa stumbled back, howling in frustration and pain.
“You’ll pay for this,” she rasped as she retreated, heading back in the direction of the camp. Honestly, I couldn’t figure out how she was managing to talk. Spite alone must have been propelling the words. “You’ll both fucking pay.”
For a long moment, I could only stand there, shivering in shock as I watched her disappear into the darkness of the forest. Knees trembling and stomach churning, I knew I had to do something…but what?
I was lost in the Wilds. Miles from the Wall. Utterly alone.
“Felicity.”
Lash’s voice floated up from the ground.
No, not alone.
There was still one ferus here with me.
The most dangerous one of all.
My eyes widened as he rose up from the mangled body beneath him. With thick rivers of blood raining down from his claws, Lash’s dark eyes locked with mine. He opened his mouth to speak, but all I saw was the deadly flash of fangs.
Oh, God.
A new surge of adrenaline burst into my bloodstream.
Fuck the useless gun; instinct demanded I run like hell.
So that’s exactly what I did.