Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
“Ben,” she whispered. “I told you not to come.”
“It’s going to be all right, Ashley,” he promised. Hands still on his head, he walked forward and dropped to his knees before Sandoval.
His father’s nemesis curled his lip, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
“Take me,” he said. “Have your revenge—lord knows, you deserve it. But let her go.”
Sandoval’s face split into an ugly smile. “Look at this, Rodrigo, he’s begging already, and we haven’t even started.”
Some of Ben’s clarity chipped away. He shook his head, keeping his hands glued to it. “You don’t have to prove anything,” he promised the drug lord. “I know you were wronged. I heard about what happened to your family,” he said, referring to the deaths of Sandoval’s wife and daughters. “If I could change the way things happened, I would. I would change a lot of my father’s misdeeds.”
Sandoval looked angry now, as if the very mention of Tomás Solís enraged him.
Ben plowed forward before Sandoval stopped him. “For what it’s worth, I think it was an accident—that you were the intended target—but I honestly can’t be sure. My father was a real asshole. He wanted you out of the picture, and he took the coward’s path instead of just challenging you. He lost his honor and I’m not proud to be his son.” His eyes traveled past Sandoval to his son, who sat beside him. “I didn’t come to his aid when he called me back to fight you. But I will offer myself up now. Do not hurt Ashley. She has nothing to do with this.”
Sandoval’s smile fell away and he regarded Ben with a narrowed gaze. His son looked uncomfortable.
Ben would have appealed to Sandoval’s honor, except the man had even fewer scruples than his father had. He glanced at Ashley, who had tears streaming down her face. She shook her head at him, as if trying to communicate that Sandoval could not be trusted.
Sandoval stood and walked toward him. “I lost my wife and both my daughters because of you,” he said.
“Not me,” Ben said. “I wasn’t even in the country. I didn’t know anything about it.”
Sandoval pointed a shaking finger at him. “You should’ve stopped him,” he shouted.
Ben closed his eyes. Sandoval’s sanity appeared to be slipping, which didn’t bode well for his plan of sacrificing himself to save Ashley. “You’re right,” he said. “I should have. If I had known about it, I would have,” he said, even though it was a lie. He had never stood up to his father, had only run away from the abusive and controlling parent.
Sandoval walked to Ashley and cut the tape from around her ankles, yanking her to her feet.
He tensed.
“I want you to suffer the way I have suffered. The way Mia and Sofi and Ana suffered.” He bent Ashley over the table and lifted her skirt.
Ben tensed, his vision changing, a roar in his ears.
As if from a distance, he heard Sandoval saying, “You’re going to watch while every one of us has his way with your woman and then you’re going to watch her die.”
Ben shifted before Sandoval had finished speaking, launching for his throat. Sandoval fired a bullet into the back of Ashley’s calf and she screamed. Two wolves met Ben’s launch midair and brought him down, snarling.
“Freeze or she’s dead,” Sandoval shouted, the gun at Ashley’s temple.
A second gunshot rang out at the same moment the glass in every window of the room broke. Ben leaped once more for Sandoval, but he already lay on the floor in a confusing pile of blood and bodies. Ashley was under him, screaming. Wolves were flying in through the windows, snarling and attacking the South American pack. He recognized Zolla and Mark, Stanley and others.
He tore Sandoval from Ashley and found him dead, shot through the back of his head. Crouching over Ashley to protect her, he bared his teeth and growled, but no threat came. Though jaws were still snapping and bodies still tussled, the Denver pack had taken control. A few moments later, they subdued the remaining South American wolves to whimpers and tucked tails.
He whimpered and licked Ashley’s bloodied face. She moved her face away from him, but did not seem wholly conscious. His heart beat in his throat.
The wolves around him began to shift back to human form. He was dimly aware of Mark taking charge of the scene, reporting to law enforcement and requesting an ambulance as sirens sounded in the distance.
Ben shifted as well, blinking to take in Ashley. She was covered in blood and he couldn’t tell how much was hers and how much was Sandoval’s. Her eyes fluttered open, but her face was pale. “Ashley, oh, God. Where are you hit?”
“Don’t rip my clothes off,” she said with a weak smile. “It’s just my leg. I’ll be okay.”