BrinleyI stared at Alpha in horror. He would do it. I could see it in the evil glint in his eyes. He would turn his own son rogue. I had to do something. I had to stop this. I blurted out, “The mark doesn’t belong to Coal!”His blackened gaze snapped to mine, a hiss releasing from his throat, “What the fuck did you just say?”“It’s not…Coal’s mark,” I desperately tried to keep the tremor from my voice. “It’s Langdon’s. He’s the Wolf that marked me. I…I love him. We…we’re going to be together.” I was thankful now that Langdon had thought to cover me in his scent, and understood why it hadn’t been enough just to rub his skin against mine. He’d needed to kiss me…because Alpha leaned in and sniffed at my mouth and lips, his nostrils flaring from the scent.I held my breath. Maybe, just maybe, Alpha would believe me and let me go…But in the next instant, Alpha crushed all of my remaining hope. His large hand wrapped around my throat. I could feel his course fingertips pressing my esophag

CoalKill him! Tear him apart!Limb from limb. Until there are no identifying pieces left! My Wolf raged in my head, his words ringing in my ears. I’d heard everything Aatos said. He wanted Ryder to go back to his kingdom with him—over my dead body!I salivated for his blood.The bastard vampire turned, finally realizing his end was near.I saw the telltale signs, his body shifted position, equally ready to fight.“Wait!” the female vampire yelled.I was shocked when she darted in between us. Maybe she had a death wish. Fine, I’d be happy to take care of her as well.She glared at the male vampire. “You’re not helping! We have a job to do here. You may report to my father and not to me, but let me remind you...he’ll be pissed off if you fuck this up!” Her eyes blazed furiously.Her father?Her father was this elusive king in question?What did that make her? A princess?Aatos kept his eyes trained on me, and replied through his teeth, “I suspect I don’t have a choice in the matter.

His eyes glazed over. I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to me or just uttering his memories out loud. “Deep down, I knew she truly wanted it…because it killed her to watch me fuck other shewolves…which I frequently did in front of her, because she just never learned. On the outside, she was the perfect example of submission, but on the inside, I saw her obstinate refusal to face the truth right in front of her! So I forced her to face it, I wouldn’t let her turn away. I made her watch me fuck wolf after wolf, just to remind her what she could have had, but she choose to throw away! Her tears told me the truth. Her mouth was full of lies, but the tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched me pleasure other wolves and heard them scream my name…no, she couldn’t deny her true feelings!”I thought I’d heard every ugly and the vile story possible about him. I was wrong. So ridiculously wrong. He was far worse than even my worst nightmare. I swallowed thickly to keep the bile from coming

Coal's povWe drove in silence for four hours. One hour more and we’d be there. Abruptly, Ryder called out from the back seat, “Pullover!”My head snapped up to look at him, but I did as he requested, pulling the vehicle to the side of the road.Ryder was intently studying the map. He looked up and to the right, pointing into the forest. “It’s just over two ridges in that direction. If we run, we’ll get there in thirty minutes.”“Okay,” I grunted and got out of the SUV.We took off into the forest at a sprint.But I didn’t get more than a hundred feet when without warning, my chest felt like a building had slammed into it!What the fuck?I stumbled and fell, clutching at my chest. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt before like I was being ripped apart from the inside. Ryder fell to the ground next to me yelling, “Coal...what is it?! What’s wrong?!”I could barely get the words out, gasping, “That bastard...is...is trying to break...my bond!”My Wolf was roaring.Another Wolf was

My body reacted on instinct. Several of their strikes found purchase in my flesh, but I was able to hold them off. Their attack was meant to kill, but their faces wore matching expressions of dread.Langdon grunted as he surged forward, throwing strikes hard and fast, one after the other. I blocked each and every one, keeping time with his incredible pace. I worked hard to defend myself, but not hurt them. I didn’t have it in me to harm them. I wasn’t compelled like they were. But the longer it went on, the more tired I grew and the more I realized the horrible truth I had tried to deny—I was just delaying the inevitable.Abruptly, Jax made contact again, his fist striking hard into the side of my face. My head whiplashed to the side. For a moment my vision went black before it cleared again. The hit was hard enough to knock me to one of my knees. Amber took advantage, flying in fast.I didn’t have an option not to hurt her. The only way to stay alive was to strike back and strike bac