Chapter Thirty-Five
Caleb
I’ve realized something about myself. I don’t carry negative emotions well, and it takes a lot to cause me pain. I’m a sadist, not a masochist. So, when I feel pain, I immediately want to find another person to offload it all on. Someone who can take it.
And Jay . . . I chuckle. Oh, Jay can take it. That’s why when she passed out, I knew she had to be in absolute anguish. Someone pushed my little masochist too far.
And they will pay.
My head is aching from the events of last night. Fear and rage has never hit me like this. I cared—and still care for Alaina—but not like this. Never like her.
Because an attack on her is an attack on us. It’s personal.
Is it? I challenge my wolf. Or is it business?
Speak more, he says. Which is his caveman-like way of verbalizing his need for more information.
Is it because she’s my mate or is it because my pack is defying me? I clarify.
Both. We care for mate and pack.
I shake my head. It can’t be both. We have to pick a side.
Why?
Because she’s a killer, remember?
My wolf tilts its head sideways in confusion. If killer, why lover-shaped?
If I could leave him at home, I would. The mate bond has clouded his judgment and arguing with him is pointless.
Then he stumps me with the question, Can mate have killed and not be a killer?
I’m not sure how to respond. His argument that past actions do not define who we are is sound. It reminds me of that book of hers. But in this case, is he right?
Great, now my headache has upgraded to a migraine.
The emotional turmoil weighs heavily on me. I have a lot of baggage to unload. And I know exactly who I want to unload it on.
I stomp up the front porch steps to my neighbor’s cabin. I knock on the door because I have manners, and my mother raised me right. But it won’t be long before nature overpowers nurture.
Mrs. Dell answers the door. The imbecile still lives with his mother. She’s probably been begging him to get his own place. Don’t worry, I’ll find him one.
“Caleb. What a pleasant surprise!”
“Hi, Mrs. Dell,” I say with such sweetness. “Is Kevin home?”
“Uh, yes. He just got home an hour ago.” She calls him down from upstairs. “Kevin! Someone’s here to see you!” She turns back to me. “Oh, honey, you’ve got blood all on you.”
I glance at my button down and peer back up to her, smiling. “Oh, yes, I’ve been hunting.”
“Oh, that reminds me. Make sure to tell your mother I said thanks for the steaks. We can’t get enough of them.”
My hands are behind my back, and I rock onto my tiptoes. “I’ll make sure to tell her.”
Kevin appears, and he pales. He’s mistaking me for a ghost, but what he’s really facing is a demon.
“Hello, Kevin.”
“Well, I’ll leave you two kids to it. Caleb, it was nice to see you.”
“You too, Mrs. Dell.”
She shuts the door, leaving us on the porch.
My grin doesn’t leave my face when I crook a finger at him, making a come-hither motion.
He gulps.
***
At the next house, it appears no one is home, but my tracking says otherwise. My guys, including Tyler, let themselves in and march upstairs.
“You were right. He’s here. Sleeping,” Tyler mindlinks me.
How he could sleep soundly after what he did is beyond me. It’s unacceptable.
“Bring him to me.”
Tyler and my guys drag him out of bed. Trent is demanding to know what’s going on when he’s awakened from his guiltless slumber.
I’m standing at the front porch’s steps with my hands behind my back, sporting the same grin I gave Kevin.
Once they reach the front door, my men launch Trent across the threshold. He tumbles down the steps and lands directly in front of me.
He looks up at me and gulps.
“How’d you sleep?” I ask.
“I, uh . . . not good?”
“No? That’s a shame. Nightmares getting you down?”
“Uh . . . Uh-huh.”
He’s so confused. I love it.
“I’ll give you one chance to tell me why you might be having nightmares, Trent.”
He laughs nervously. “Beats me. I don’t know. Probably all the sugar I’ve been—”
“Oh, come on, Trent. You took something that doesn’t belong to you. Didn’t you?”
He gulps. Then he lies.
And I hate liars.
“Let’s make a bet, shall we?” I tap my chin. “I bet . . . I can make your nightmares seem like a fairytale after I’m done with you.” I bend down to his level. “Want to bet against me?”
***
We’re rounding them up, one by one.
I use his face as a battering ram, breaking the front door right off its hinges. He tumbles down the steps and keeps going.
“We grew up together, Cody,” I yell after him.
I catch the slight shift of his foot, dirt stirring behind his heel, the first sign he’s about to run. He tries to scramble to his feet, but I’m on him first.
Where could he possibly run to? I can chase him to the end of the earth. There isn’t a place he can hide from me, and he knows I never lose track of my prey.
“Oh, you’re not getting away that easily.
Come here,” I growl. I grab the back of his collar and drag him backward.
As punishment for running, I kick him in his side.
I’m not going to lie, it feels good but does little to ease my rage.
“It’s pretty rude to run away when I’m speaking to you.
” My fist cracks his cheek, and he falls forward at my blow.
He’s about to push himself up, but I press my boot to his temple, smashing his face into the dirt.
“Stay awhile . . . We have much to catch up on.”
***
The other two involved were Shane and Destiny, a newly mated couple. I’d say happily, but Destiny lives on the fine line between inappropriate and unfaithful.
They’re the entitled bullies of the pack.
My parents have held several conferences with their parents, who are surprisingly the kindest people you’ll ever meet—except for Destiny’s.
Her parents aren’t the most attentive, and they’ve always enabled her behavior.
I hoped real life would hit Shane and Destiny, pushing them out of this behavior.
But their personalities hardened and grew worse.
I’m not going to be as nice as my parents were—I won’t tolerate. I will obliterate.
Their door comes off its hinges at my force. Newlywed bliss hits my nose. Disgusting.
I follow the smell, leaving scratches as I drag my claws along their hallway wall. As I get closer, I hear their exchange.
“What was that?” Destiny asks.
“I don’t know,” he says. “It’s probably nothing.” He goes back to advancing on her, and she pushes him.
The poor fucker is just trying to get it in, and here I am to ruin it.
“Well, go check.”
He huffs and groans, getting out of bed to face me like the knight in shining shit he is. Shane opens the bedroom door to what he thinks is an empty hallway. Without looking, he turns to Destiny. “See? Nothing.”
At the sight of me, Destiny screams and covers herself with the sheet. That’s when I grab Shane and send him rolling down the hallway. I don’t bother with Destiny. Tyler will make sure she comes with.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Shane flips onto his back, staring up at me with fear. He’s crawling backwards, toward the front door, as I approach.
“Years, Shane. My family has brought you years of peace. Multiple second chances. And this is how you repay us? You think because my father is gone that you can do whatever you want and get away with it?” I stomp on the floor right next to his dick.
I want his fear now, his screams later.
He holds out his hand to me. “Please, I don’t know what you heard, but it’s not true.”
At his lie, I tear a frame off the wall, and it shatters upon its impact against the floor. Shane covers his head from the glass. I grab the console table in their entryway and throw it to the ground. “I’m done. Your time is up.”
Tyler passes me to deal with Destiny. He grabs her, and she squirms in his grasp. “What do you want me to do with her?”
I grab Shane by the scruff. “Bring her.”
***
All are lined up and tied by silver chains to targets. I’ve had their faces painted to match the red and white bulls-eyes. To make a spectacle out of their mishaps, I’ve invited the entire pack to the Hunter’s Quarters to bear witness.
“Someone here thought it was a good idea to put this.” I hold up the bear trap and show it off to the crowd. “On Jay’s leg. Then, they planned to leave her in the hands of our unfriendly neighbors. They also killed a young boy.”
The crowd murmurs and gasps. Our pack doesn’t behave this way.
“Let me see it,” King Dax says, opening his hands to catch the bear trap.
I toss it to him.
He turns it, inspecting it at every angle with glee and a twinkle in his eyes.
“Actions have consequences.”
And the consequences I have in mind for them is a personal tribute to Jay. I turn to my targets.
They’re sweating now. Their hearts are pounding at impressive rates. They watch in fear as I’m handed my bow and arrow.
“Let’s get on with it, shall we?” I raise my bow at Cody.
And Cody immediately sings. “Wait! I-I-I’ll tell you whose idea all of this was!”
“Dude, what’re you doing?” Trent snaps. He whips his head at me. “H-He’s delirious, doesn’t know what he’s saying.”
I pause, but I don’t lower my bow. Ignoring Trent, I remain focused on Cody. “Go on.”
“It was Kevin. All of it was his idea—including the bear trap.”
Kevin stares straight ahead. The pissed-off look he’s trying to hide tells me all I need to know. He’s guilty as hell. And he doesn’t even seem the slightest bit ashamed.
Trent, Shane and Destiny try not to bring attention to themselves or get thrown under the bus with him. If they could move, they’d step far away from Kevin and Cody.
“Yeah, yeah. He thought it’d be funny.”
I point my bow at Kevin. “Since you’re being thrown under the bus, I’ll give you a chance to respond.”
He smacks his teeth, pretending he’s not scared of his fate. Yet, for someone who isn’t afraid, it’s strange he won’t look me in the eye.
When he doesn’t respond, Tyler steps up and barks, “Your alpha is speaking to you.”
“He’s not an alpha yet.” Kevin spits blood and saliva at the ground in my direction.