Chapter 13
Sherry finally finished her transformation and lunged for Hayley, missing her by a mile. Her moves were slow and almost cartoonish. Her turns were wider than normal, with a growl that sounded like a siren that had outlived its lifespan by a decade or more.
“Trevor, you need to stop this. She isn’t right. Jesus!” Hayley pleaded with him to do the right thing. Why she thought he was capable of being a good human or shifter was beyond her. But in this instance, she’d really hoped he would be.
Sherry snarled and lunged again. Hayley quickly stepped out of her path once more, frustrating her opponent. Her wolf begging to be set free. She pushed back against the animal, knowing that if she let her take over their body, Sherry would die. Though Hayley had lived as a human for years, her wolf was far more formidable than Sherry had ever hoped to be.
“Are you afraid to shift? Or have you forgotten how?” Trevor shouted.
“I can shift just fine. Don’t you worry about me,” Hayley snapped back, keeping her eyes on Sherry.
“Then why don’t you?” Trevor mocked her.
“Because this is wrong. This woman clearly has something wrong with her. I’m not going to kill her because you want me to. What the fuck is wrong with you? With this whole pack you have assembled?”
“There you go, thinking you are better than everyone else. Your parents were the same. They acted like their shit didn’t stink. Fucking holier than thou pricks. That’s why they died, Hayley. That’s why I killed them. I should have killed you, too, instead of letting you get away,” he snarled.
“Let me free so we can end him!” Her wolf roared in her mind.
The words tore through her soul. Her parents were good people and even better wolves. It wasn’t that they thought they were better than anyone. They had huge hearts and were filled with compassion for others. They lived by a set of standards all wolves had once lived by–that the pack had lived by–until they were corrupted by Griffin and his thugs.
It was becoming harder and harder for Hayley to keep her wolf reined in. She wanted to free her beast to show Trevor she was no longer a kid on the run. Though, it would be stupid. He had her outnumbered twenty to one. If she attacked him, she’d bring all of the Red Fang Pack down on her head.
A sharp pain pierced Hayley’s side as she found herself suddenly airborne. Trevor had done a thorough job of distracting her, allowing Sherry to get a hit in. All it took was that single moment for Hayley to lose the tight grip she had on her wolf.
Magic swirled around her, engulfing her and burning through her veins. It was a welcome relief from the pain of Sherry’s hit. Her body started knitting itself back together, healing the damage the other woman had done.
Gasps sounded all around her as she landed on four paws instead of two feet. It was the first time Trevor had seen her since she was a young woman. Like her human self, her wolf had not only grown but blossomed into a truly stunning beast. She was easily double Sherry’s size. Her fur was thick and full, unlike Sherry, who looked like she was sporting a bad case of mange.
“I should take you for my own—as one of my mates. We need a few more good women who can replenish the numbers in our pack. You’d be good for breeding.”
Hayley ignored his disgusting remarks, knowing Hell would freeze over before she allowed him to touch her like that. She would die before she’d ever agree to mate with him.
Sherry tried to slink off, unseen, as Trevor’s attention was diverted when he saw Hayley shift into her wolf form.
“Go! Go! Go!”Hayley silently chanted in her head. She really didn’t want to fight the woman. There was no glory in this situation, and it looked as if Sherry had learned her lesson—at least, she prayed she had.
Hayley kept her gaze on Trevor, hoping he wouldn’t notice Sherry’s attempted escape. It would have worked had Sherry not tripped over something on her way out, drawing everyone’s eyes directly to her.
Trevor nodded at a few of his men. The silent command stopped Sherry in her tracks as the others quickly encircled her.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Trevor growled at Sherry. “You know what we do to traitors and pussies. You’d be good to take note of this, Hayley. Just in case you’d forgotten.”
Hayley felt the pull of magic in the air. The magic was darker than hers—heavier. It smelled wrong, almost foul. Bile burned in her throat, the stench nearly choking her.
Trevor shifted quickly. His wolf was larger than her own, but not by much. His coat looked like it had seen better days and had patches missing. She wondered if someone had ripped them out or if he had done the ripping on his own.
His wolves pushed Sherry further from her escape and closer to Trevor. Hayley’s heart sank as she realized what was about to happen.
“No!” she screamed, but no words came out. She watched in horror as Trevor attacked, ripping her throat out in a single move. Sherry fell to the ground, pools of blood spreading around her.
Trevor turned his glance to her and growled. If Hayley had to guess, he was trying to make her submit to him.
“He’s such an idiot,” she said to her wolf. He had to have known that his Alpha had no control over her as she was not a member of his pack. Hayley remained standing, staring directly at him. Feeling a slight twinge against her skin, she assumed he was pressing his control even harder against her. The members of his pack started to whimper, showing their discomfort with his power play.
When he realized his display didn’t have the intended effect on Hayley, he shifted back to his human form and huffed his displeasure with her.
“No matter. In time, you’ll answer to my will. All we have to do is break your bond with your mate and that pathetic thing you call an Alpha. You can come the easy way or the hard way, Hayley. It makes no difference to me. But mark my words. One way or the other, you will be coming with us.” Trevor nodded again, his crew closing the distance between them and her.
Hayley stood firm, refusing to give in to his commands. She would choose the hard way a thousand times over. There was no way in Hell she was going with them of her own volition. They would have to drag her kicking and screaming.
Her heart raced as her wolf steeled herself against the coming onslaught. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The wolves moved with agonizing slowness. She wanted to scream for them to hurry up and get it the hell over with, but she didn’t. Her wolf didn’t seem to be all that concerned, and for the life of her, Hayley couldn’t figure out why. Their doom was literally surrounding them. Now was a good time to panic.
Trevor watched her closely, waiting to see what she was going to do. She really hoped like hell her wolf had a plan. Her earlier bravado started to subside. Standing up to them would be suicide. Though, she didn’t believe that Trevor would allow them to kill her. He seemed far too interested in her for that to be allowed.
That may just be her saving grace.