Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Orion
Leaving my Little girl with Navin and Brea is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Not because I don’t trust Navin to take care of Cora, nor am I concerned about my own safety. It’s because we’ve only been mated for slightly more than a day. I don’t want to be apart from her.
What I also want is to put an end to Vincent Jones so that I can rest easier. Tonight when I climb into bed with my girl, there will no longer be a threat looming over us.
Pryce, Quinn, and Ronan are with me. Quinn is driving the extended cab truck.
I’m in the passenger seat. It’s late afternoon.
The sun is going down. I have the surveillance cameras Sylas put up on Cora’s property pulled up on my laptop, and I’m looking at split screens, keeping an eye on the fucker as he moves around the homestead.
He’s definitely stomping, just like Sylas informed us. The man lost his slave, and he’s furious. He’s about to lose a whole lot more than his live-in labor.
My phone buzzes. It’s Sylas. “What’s up?”
“Hey. I did a bit more digging into Vincent Jones. He was never a golden boy. Before he moved to this area and married Cora’s mom, he was married to another woman four states away who pressed charges against him for battery.
She filed for divorce soon after. I haven’t been able to hunt her down, but it looks like she eventually dropped the charges and left town. ”
“Asshole,” I mutter. The woman probably just wanted to get on with her life and not end up dragging that fucker through a court system that doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to ruling on such cases.
“And before that,” Sylas continues, “he dated a young woman in yet another state. He beat her so badly she ended up in the hospital. She also dropped the charges.”
I’m seething. This is Vincent’s last day on Earth.
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks. I’ll take all of that into consideration when I make this motherfucker pay.
” I end the call and resume watching Jones’s erratic movements inside the house.
I noticed he has a few gas cans outside.
Hopefully he hasn’t emptied any of them.
That would be a bitch to clean up. Not to mention, I’d rather arrive before he sets the place on fire and burns Cora’s childhood home.
I doubt she’ll be returning here anyway, but I don’t want Jones taking that option away from her.
Quinn parks the truck far enough away that Vincent won’t hear the engine and be alerted to our arrival. Plus, we don’t need the authorities to be aware of our presence here at any time, either.
We finish the trip on foot and walk right into Cora’s home through the unlocked front door.
The piece of shit who terrorized my girl for the past four years is in the living room, and he spins around, eyes wide when we enter. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he shouts.
I assume he doesn’t have a weapon on him since he doesn’t pull it out immediately. Either that or he’s too stupid to think.
“Just paying you a little visit,” I say as I stalk toward him.
“Well, get the fuck out.” He points toward the door the four of us just entered.
“I don’t think so.” I reach him and back him against the wall without touching him. “It’s come to my attention that you don’t actually own the land you were trying to sell to my pride.”
He flinches. “Of course I do. You’re standing in my house.”
I shake my head. “I’m standing in Cora’s house. You stole her inheritance and lied to her. She was just sixteen. And then you spent four years abusing her so you could live a life of leisure off of her inheritance.”
“Not fucking true. I was married to her mother. By all rights, this homestead and the house are mine.”
“Tsk tsk. You know that’s a lie. You’re a thief and an abuser. It’s time to pay the piper. Your gig is up.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? You’re not even human. No one would listen to you in a court of law. You’d be laughed out of the chamber.”
I smirk. He’s wrong. If he believes that, he’s been off the grid a bit too long.
My pride is well respected in these parts.
We’re contributing members of society. We even make sizable donations to the local causes to help improve public perception.
None of us have ever done a single thing to cause the authorities any concern.
And we won’t be caught for what’s about to happen here either.
Ronan steps past me to enter the kitchen. “Sturdy light fixture in here.”
“Good. Set it up.”
“Be right back,” Ronan says as he passes back by me. We planned this, so I know exactly where he’s going. The best way to get rid of a piece of shit like Vincent is to use his own equipment so nothing can be traced back to us.
We’ll wait. Meanwhile, I’m disappointed that Jones hasn’t even taken a swing at me. How boring. I don’t mind him trying to injure me. Any wound he inflicts will be healed before the deputy shows up on our property to question us.
But Vincent is trembling with fear. He doesn’t even try to hit me.
“Been digging around in your background,” I say.
He winces. “You can’t prove nothin’.”
“Don’t need to. I don’t even care what you did to anyone before you met Cora. The way you’ve treated her is enough to make steam come out of my head. But I’m happy to rid the Earth of the likes of you before you find your next victim.”
Vincent fists his hands and growls at me. “Fuck you. Get the fuck out of my house.”
I chuckle. “You want to hear a growl? Yours is pitiful. Have you heard a lion roar up close and personal before?”
He’s trembling now. He glances to the right and left, but Pryce and Quinn are flanking me. He’s trapped.
I don’t usually shift in the house. I’m huge, and I don’t like to run the risk of breaking things, but I’m going to make an exception just for the satisfaction of causing this man to piss himself.
But not here. He needs to pee his pants in the kitchen. I nod that direction. “Kitchen, fucker.”
When he doesn’t move, I lean in and shout, “Now!” I still haven’t touched him, and I don’t intend to unless I have to.
Vincent startles, but he slides around the corner into the tiled kitchen. “You need to get the fuck out of my house before I call the sheriff.”
I chuckle again. “I’d love to see you try to explain yourself to the sheriff. I’ve already informed him of your past troubles with the law.” This is a lie, but I don’t give a fuck. Vincent won’t be alive long enough to follow up on my statement.
Vincent is sweating. The scent coming off him is fear and hatred. I’m good with that. He lifts his hands in the air. “Listen, I won’t sell the land to you guys if you’re that bent out of shape about it.”
What a joke. Does he think I care about the sale of the land over his abusive tendencies?
Ronan returns. “Found exactly what we needed in the garage,” he says, holding up a thick piece of rope. He’s wearing gloves. We won’t be leaving any fingerprints. None of us have touched a damn thing yet besides the front door knob, and I pulled my shirt over my hand to do that.
Vincent gasps when Ronan drags the kitchen table under the light fixture and hops on top of it without using his hands. He makes a nice noose out of the rope and attaches it to the ceiling. Hopefully it’s sturdy enough to hold this asshole aloft long enough to kill him.
“Get on the table,” I order.
“No fucking way. Are you insane? So what if I slapped that bitch around. She deserved it. If she told you otherwise, she was lying. She’s a lazy cunt who needs a firm hand.”
My lion almost comes out at his insulting words.
“She’s my mate, you fucking piece of shit.
Now get on the fucking table before I decide to shift and tear you limb from limb with my teeth.
Do you know how long my incisors are? Are you aware that lions are carnivorous creatures who like to eat their prey live? ”
Vincent flattens himself to the wall. His face is white. He glances around at all of us before returning his gaze to me. “You can’t do this. I have rights.”
“I’m the judge today. I’ve found you guilty. If you’re not on that table in five seconds, I will shift and eat you alive.”
Vincent is sniffling as he climbs onto the table.
“Put the rope around your neck, you piece of scum.”
He shakes his head. “No fucking way.”
I step closer. I’m almost as tall as this asshole from where I’m standing on the floor. “Now!” I shout so loudly that my voice is almost a roar already.
“You’re insane,” Vincent complains.
“You’re making your own choices. Either you hang yourself or I eat you alive. You pick.”
“I’m not going to fucking hang myself.”
I glance at Ronan and nod. My brother shifts into his lion and rises onto his hind legs, roaring. He’s not as loud as he’s capable of, but loud enough to make Vincent lose his fucking mind.
“All I have to do is say the word, and my brother will rip your jugular open and eat you while you bleed to death.” None of this is true.
We are, by and large, a peaceful species.
We may be lion shifters, but we don’t actually live off of meat.
We don’t prey on other animals or roam the mountains eating them.
We eat like regular humans in our homes.
But it’s fun fucking with this asshole in his final minutes.
“This is crazy,” Vincent argues. “I’ll leave the property. That bitch can have it. I’ll leave the state. You’ll never see me again.”
I shake my head. That would never be good enough.
He would find someone else to abuse in no time at all.
I won’t let that happen. “You have five seconds to put the noose around your neck before my brother launches. You choose. Hanging or being eaten alive. Do you have any idea how painful it is to have your throat partially slit and slowly bleed to death while a lion tears the flesh off your arms?” I sound ridiculous, but Vincent doesn’t know this.
He’s so fucking scared that he puts the noose around his neck.
“That’s a good boy,” I say to taunt him in his final moments. “Step to the edge of the table. I’ll let you decide when to step off.”
Vincent is crying now, mumbling incoherently as he inches forward. He probably doesn’t have the balls to actually jump, and I don’t need him to. It won’t be necessary. As soon as he’s on the edge, I leap into the air and shift before my paws hit the ground.
The last step is my incredible roar that shakes the roof. That’s all it takes for Vincent to lose his footing and end his own life.