Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Tyrant alpha: Kabanata 241 - Kabanata 250

When Darragh reaches Miller and Jones, he roars, and his claws slice through the thick black vests, through the skin and muscle, their screams cut off abruptly as their throats are ripped from their necks. Their bodies crumple to the ground.I bow my back, throwing my weight against the chains.Darragh’s eyes find mine again. I feel them.“Now,” Lenox says from a distance.A quick succession of snicks erupts from the surrounding woods. Darragh throws his arms wide to block my body from whatever is coming. In slow motion, between one step and the next, he falters. The black of his pupils explode, obliterating all but the thinnest sliver of gold.“Mari,” he mouths as he sways, and then with a terrible thud, he slams face first into the ground like a felled oak. Ten darts with red feathers stick out of his back. He lies there motionless except for the rise and fall of his breath.Smith comes to loom over him, and with an air gun that came from nowhere, rapidly empties another several dar

“I don’t want what happened between us in my head,” I say quietly, head bent. “That was the worst night of my life.”“I— If I’d been awake, it never would have happened.”“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about earlier. In the cabin.”For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. The blood drains from his face. His eyes go black. His hands curl into fists.I figure he’ll stop talking now. Males don’t acknowledge criticism. Not in Quarry Pack.I lower myself to my knees, tucking my tailbone to hide my pussy as best I can and wrapping an arm across my breasts. I rest my bare butt on my feet, careful so it doesn’t graze the floor. The box isn’t dirty exactly, but it’s a used cargo container. There’s a grime to the cold metal.When he speaks, his voice is hard, but underneath, there’s a note that pierces my skin, punctures my heart. “I hurt you,” he says. “I tried not to, but I did anyway. I’ve gone over it a thousand times in my head—what I should have done.”“What should you have done?”

In my head, I’ve built him up to be the world’s biggest asshole. He rejected me because he’s a tormented loner or whatever, which holds no water with me because my father tried to kill me when I was a baby, and my mother chose the freezing river over her only child. I’m tormented, and I didn’t give up on him without a second thought.Or maybe it was because his wolf wants me dead, but who knows if that’s the real reason? He didn’t even bother telling me why. Clearly, he can be around people sometimes. But with me, he wasn’t even going to try.So he’s a fucked-up asshole, right? Another Quarry Pack tough guy who’s too broken to function.And underneath all these assumptions is the idea that I wasn’t worth the effort to him. Just like I wasn’t worth it to my mom.That he could have made it work if he’d tried.But this male in chains across from me—he came for me. He put his body between them and me and flung his arms wide, even though he must have known he was outgunned and outnumbered.

Smith snickers. “I think you’ve definitely blown your chance, Len. She hates you.”Lenox’s bland face doesn’t show the least concern. “My scent is registering to her as noxious. Like fecal matter or spoiled meat. It’s a physiological reaction among shifters to encourage pair bonding between fated mates.”“So, you’re saying that you literally smell like shit to her?” Smith barks a laugh. “Now I’ve heard it all.”Lenox is unruffled. I want to know where he comes from. I bet he’s Moon Lake, using words like “physiological reaction.”Smith slaps his hands together. “Excellent. How long before Conan over there goes into rut?”My gut cramps. That’s not happening. Hell, no.“Once she’s in full heat? I’d give it twelve hours minimum. Maybe forty-eight on the outside.” Lenox taps the wall. “There’s minimal ventilation in here. That should speed things up.”Smith frowns. “The last clients fly in tomorrow evening. They’re not going to want to wait to hunt.”“I told you to hold off a day or two s

“Nothing gives you the right to decide things for me,” I press.“I’m not trying to do that.”“You literally just did. You don’t need that shit in your head. That was you. Your words.” It feels strange to flat out needle an alpha, but I’m fully invested, and every time he doesn’t rise to the bait, I want to fight him even worse.It must be the heat. I’m nice and good and easy to be around. That’s my thing. As sweet as she looks.“You’re treating me like a pup,” I throw at him.Darragh braces his shoulders. “I’m not telling you shit that’ll upset you more.”“Not telling me upsets me more.”He hikes his chin and tries to fold his arms, but the chains won’t let him. He growls in exasperation and compresses his lips.I ball my fists. My heart knocks around in my chest, and I don’t feel nice or good or easy or sweet. I feel like I want to fight him.I feel like for four years, I’ve accepted it—the rejection, the not knowing why, the guilt meat, which was just a constant reopening of the wou