Chapter Twenty-Six #2
The crowd screamed, and Shannon grabbed for Brandon, who tried to turn and help his friend. Shannon fought to keep him close as blood poured from Derek’s lips. The Omega ripped the blade from his back and slipped off her mask as she stepped in front of him.
“What did you always say to me? Keep your eyes open while I stuff you, kitten.” Lynn grabbed his face. “I wouldn’t want you to miss anything.” She grinned as she slammed the blade into his chest.
Derek coughed blood as he pulled his face out of her grip.
“You…stupid…bitch.” He coughed again and grabbed for the knife.
But Lynn was too quick. She ripped it from his chest and slammed it into his stomach.
“I’m going to kill you.” He laughed as blood dripped from his lips.
“You think this is your revenge…but in reality this is your funeral.”
Everyone surged to their feet. The Omegas, the real ones, took off.
Low-ranked, weak wolves screamed and took off running too.
But the men and women who were higher ranked all converged on Lynn.
She pulled out a second blade and, instead of attacking anyone else, she laughed.
It was boisterous and slightly manic as she turned and stabbed Derek over and over.
The look in her eyes made the closest men pause.
Because she looked insane, rightfully so.
She screamed in triumph as she kept attacking him.
Vince bellowed for everyone to freeze. He slammed his aura out, and all of his men froze.
Which was the dumbest move that Vince could have possibly done for Derek.
Because I had already commanded Lynn to ignore all other Alpha commands, and I was more powerful than Vince.
So she didn’t hesitate; she kept stabbing Derek over and over until she grew tired of the knives and threw them away.
Derek screamed. He bellowed his pain and tried to struggle, but Vince’s command froze him in place, like everyone else. Everyone except me, Rowan, Lynn and Garith. “Stop!” He begged, but Lynn just laughed as she grabbed his chin.
“I remember I begged you to stop. You and your friends, but you just laughed at me. You said that eventually I would come to beg for it, for you…” She leaned in as she started to shift her claws. “Tell me, mate…are you begging for it yet?” She screamed, her eyes a little wild.
Garith stood and strolled down the aisle. “It lor kina sizet.” Lynn froze. Her claws had just formed, and her fangs descended. “Look at you.” He continued walking towards her, and I could see the panic flash in her eyes. “You’re so ferocious for a kitten.” He laughed darkly as he finished walking.
“What did you do?” Vince called out.
Garith turned his head towards Vince. “What you failed to do.” He grinned as he leaned against the pew Rowan was seated on.
“I froze everyone but myself so I could save your Beta, and kill the king. Now that the crowd is gone.” He pulled the mask from his eyes.
“There we are.” He turned to Shannon and waved the masks.
“While it hid my face like I requested. It was fucking annoying.” He tossed it to the ground and sighed.
“Well now. This is interesting.” He slid down beside my mate and leaned over.
He twisted his shoulder so he could look up at Derek.
“How are you feeling? You look rough, boy.”
Derek turned his gaze to Garith and smiled, blood coating his teeth. “It’s just a scratch.” He laughed, but blood poured from his mouth. He coughed for a few seconds, trying to clear his airways.
Garith shook his head as he pulled back and settled back against the pew. “I doubt that. Those blades right there? Those blades are silver.” He pointed to the two daggers on the ground. Garith laughed. “You can smell the silver from here. Isn’t that right, kitten?”
Lynn snarled. “Don’t call me that!” She was frozen, but her entire body was trembling. I couldn’t tell if it was from fear, or from her straining to move. But either way, she was cornered. Her eyes turned to me, and I could see panic there, but also resignation.
Her wolf ran from the trees. Get your mate and run, Amy. Don’t worry about us. Then she turned back and was gone.
Nix turned to me. She’s planning on dying.
Well. I shook my head. We all know that’s not happening.
Lynn’s eyes flashed to a burnt copper. Her wolf was upfront, and she was not happy.
Her panic won over, and her eyes snapped back to her human eyes.
“No one will ever call me that again.” She trembled for a few seconds before her wolf pushed forward again, and I watched her body grow still.
Her voice became a little smokier. “But you are right, old man.” Her smile grew as Derek’s eyes rolled to meet her gaze.
“These knives are silver. And you…you are dead.”
“Derek!” Brandon tried to run to him, but Garith just laughed.
“Are you stupid, boy? Or do you not listen? Everyone is frozen.” Garith shook his head.
“Save him!” Brandon screamed his frustration at losing his friend, but Garith just chuckled.
“No.”
“No?” Brandon’s face fell for a second. “What do you mean, no?”
Garith lifted a shoulder. “Well…No is a word people use when they are denying a request. Which is what I am doing.”
“But why?” Brandon sounded like a little boy.
“Well. There are a few reasons. The first is that he is too far gone to save. The second is that he brought this on himself. He tortured this girl; it’s obvious.
While I love a good torture session, he made the mistake of letting her live.
” He leaned down to look Derek in the face again.
“If you torture someone to the point their mind shatters, like this girl, then kill the person. Or else you end up here if you aren’t lucky.
And last, I think this is an excellent lesson for you to learn, boy.
” Garith turned to Brandon. “You won’t be able to rely on anyone but yourself going forward.
You have spent too many years relying on this imbecile.
And look where that has gotten you? You are mated to a she-wolf who is clingy, unranked, and carries herself as an Alpha.
The delusion in this pack is insane.” He sat back again.
“The boy deserves to die for thinking his rank would save him in this exact scenario.”
Brandon’s voice dropped low. “I will kill you.” He was staring at Garith. Shannon and Vince both whimpered softly. I think the sound woke him up, because Brandon turned to Lynn and snarled. “I swear it here and now, I will kill you.”
Lynn just smiled. “Stupid boy. I died the minute he touched me. Nothing you can do will change that.” She cackled. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have sworn she was crazy.
She’s playing them to think she was alone in this. Megan whispered. She thinks we are going to leave her to die.
Well, she is as stupid as Brandon is. Nix huffed. I agreed. She wasn’t going to be left behind. Never again.
Garith turned to Rowan. “Kids these days.” He shook his head as if he were one of their parents. “Stupid and disappointing. But what can you do…we need someone to carry on the line, right?”
“You have a few, apparently. Verity…Gavin.” Rowan’s words rippled over the remaining men. A few guards looked confused as they waited to be unfrozen.
Garith chuckled as he nodded. “I do. But Gav…he got too big for his britches.” Garith repositioned.
“That’s why I had his brother and sister.
I had him exactly where I wanted him when I realized my mother was whispering to Gav.
” Brother? My dad has a brother? Garith groaned.
“My meddling mother…I was excited when she fucking died.” His words sent a shockwave through me.
“Although I was disappointed that when I killed her she had already sealed her magic away from me.”
He killed his own mother. Megan looked at me, and I could feel her anger. Our magic spiked, and the flame that she had been tending shot up. He killed his own mother…We were told it was rogues.
Her words hit me in the chest. Rogues. Of course it was rogues. I wanted to scream, to move, but I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Calm yourself, my love. Her soft voice whispered next to me.
I knew it was going to happen before it did.
Carl helped me prepare. I felt her hand slide down my arm, and slip around it, so she was holding me.
I sealed my magic away in the book. When you found it and cracked it open, my magic transferred to you.
You were always meant to inherit everything.
And before you open your mouth, it was designed this way by the Goddess.
Our magic settled, and she kissed my cheek. You know what you have to do, my heart. Stay the course. I don’t need to be avenged; I did that myself when I kept my magic away from him. Just protect your mate and save your kind.
You know…no pressure. Nix scoffed as she stood. But she is right. We might want to rush in and kill them all, but we have to be smart about it and wait for the perfect opportunity.
I agreed and stayed silent. Verity stood up from wherever she had slunk off to and started walking up the aisle. “How is she moving?” Brandon’s eyes rolled between Garith and Verity.
Garith shook his head. “She is my daughter.”
“So?”
Garith shook his head. Verity passed Brandon and Shannon, and she patted his cheek. “You really are stupid, aren’t you?” Shannon growled low, but Verity just kicked her. “I have my own magic. If you know the spell, then you break it with the counterspell. Obviously.”
Garith just turned back to Rowan. “Now…what are we going to do with you?”
Verity smirked as she slid into Rowan’s lap. “There now…doesn’t that feel better? You could have had me, you know…if you had just played ball, we could have kept you alive.” She patted his cheek, ignoring his growl. “You are so big and strong, aren’t ya?” She laughed as she stood and then swung.
Her slap echoed throughout the makeshift room. “Verity, that’s enough.”
“Actually, I don’t think it is. You don’t know what he fucking did to me. How fucking embarrassing it’s been.” She slapped Rowan again. Both of my wolves started to growl, low and menacing.
You two are making it hard to keep my composure.
I can manage the magic for a minute. Go see your mate and calm down.
I sent them both to Rowan. They needed to see Erubus was fine, and I needed a minute to collect my fraying nerves so that when they escalated, as I knew the father and daughter pair would, I wouldn’t blow our cover.
Lynn laughed, causing Verity to whirl. “What’s so funny?” She screamed into the Gamma’s face.
“You are.” Lynn laughed louder. “Just look at you. You are just like Shannon.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to look at Lynn. Verity took a step closer and grabbed Lynn’s face. “What did you say?”
Lynn smirked. “I said you are just like Shannon.” I watched her eyes dart towards the girl on the ground at Brandon’s feet.
Verity squeezed her face. “What do you mean by that?”
Lynn’s eyes darted between the two women. “Look at her. She is frozen at Brandon’s feet, begging him to notice her. Chasing after a mate that isn’t hers.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Verity bared her teeth as she leaned closer to Lynn.
Lynn snorted. “You can play dumb all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are the same. You might not be begging on the ground for Rowan to notice you, and you might have more power than Shannon does. But you are still chasing after a mate that isn’t yours.”
Verity scoffed. “It was all a part of the plan we had in place.”
Lynn puffed out a breath. “And when you say it like that, I could almost believe you. But I was close enough to see how hurt you got when you saw the king’s mate mark. When you realized he was too far out of your reach now.”
“Shut up.”
“I think you convinced yourself that if you managed to mate the king that you could turn him. Nevermind that you killed his father, hunted his kind to extinction, and then manipulated him into scenarios that he would have never done.” Lynn laughed low.
“Shut up.” Verity squeezed more until Lynn’s lips were puckered. “You don’t know what the fuck you are talking about.”
Lynn looked at Verity for a second. “I pity you.” Verity dropped her face as if she had burned her.
“You what?”
“Pity you…because I might be insane. But I can still see that you had no chance in hell of convincing Rowan to mate you, nevermind being able to convince him to switch sides.”
“SHUT UP!” she screamed again as she whirled on Rowan. “We could still do it. We have him surrounded.”
Rowan chuckled. His voice a deep rasp. “The council? Will be disbanded and executed. The traitorous royal guard? Will be handled as well. I have already set it all in motion. Dead or not, you won’t have any leverage to use against my Luna.”
Verity made a choking noise. “Your Luna?”
Rowan looked over at Garith. “You really settled for the dumb ones, eh? At least Gavin knows what he is doing.”
Garith just smiled. Then he turned to look around the room. “You.” His finger pointed at someone. “I need you to bring me my implements.”
“Your implements?” A guard pointed at himself, but Garith shook his head.
“Omega…the bag I left on the last pew. Bring them to me.” I felt the command in his words, but I stayed still. He rolled his eyes. “You.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see.” Rowan coughed out a laugh. “Your spell has her frozen like the rest of us, dumbass.” Garith turned back to him. “She can’t move, no matter what command you give the girl.”
Garith growled. “Itsi blugh dor not ihnas.” He pointed at me, and I could feel the spell release me. “Now, bring me the tools on the bench.”
I stumbled and caught myself on the back of a pew. Before I hurried over to the tool kit. I could smell the silver before I grabbed it. I walked with shaky steps to the front of the room, all eyes watching me until Lynn started to laugh again. All eyes shifted to her as I stopped next to Garith.
“He’s dead.” Lynn’s laughter turned to heartbreaking sobs. “He’s dead, and he can never touch another wolf ever again.”