Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Shaya waved that away. “Ally, I’m still not drunk. Help me.”
“You got it,” said the Beta.
The hinges squealed as Trick pushed open the heavy wooden door. It scraped noisily against the plank floor. Unless there was a captive, no one set foot in the hut. They deliberately neglected it, wanting it to look as miserable and grubby as possible.
It stank of dirt, dust, and rot. It was bare apart from a hard chair, a torn mattress, and a red bucket. The windows were smudged with dirt, and there were stains on the floor thanks to the leaky roof. Dead flies dotted the windowsills, and there were some very elaborate spiderwebs in the corners of the ceiling. This far away from the cave dwelling, all that could be heard was the whine of mosquitoes and the tree branches scratching the outer walls.
Trick’s gaze immediately went to Drake, whose arms and legs were tightly bound to a chair by a thick rope. Rope was also looped around his chest.
In short, Drake wasn’t going anywhere. And he seemed very aware of it.
Rather than thrashing around, fighting his restraints, he sat very still. He wasn’t sweating or breathing hard. Though his heartbeat was a little fast, it wasn’t pounding with fear. Drake knew he wasn’t getting out of this alive, and he’d apparently decided to accept that.
Trick’s wolf wanted his fear. Wanted to see and smell it, just as he wanted to see and smell his blood.
The boards creaked with each step Trick took forward. Trey, Ryan, Dante, and Dominic fanned out behind him. Their captive didn’t look good at all. His hair was greasy and unkempt, and his clothes were wrinkled and scruffy. Wherever the guy had been hiding, he clearly hadn’t had access to clean clothes or a shower.
Drake glanced around Trick. “Your girlfriend isn’t with you? Shame. I like her.”
He seemed to genuinely mean it. “She broke your nose,” Trick reminded him.
“And almost bashed my head in with a hammer. She’s a fighter. I like that.”
“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my mate.”
“Well, that explains a few things. Like why you had your pack mate run me down like a rabid dog.” He flicked a look at Ryan.
Trick folded his arms across his chest. “From the things your Alpha said, that’s pretty much what you are. He suspended you as Beta. And he claims to have cut you loose too.”
Drake scoffed. “Nash is no Alpha.”
“True. And you’re no Beta.”
“True,” allowed Drake, unoffended. “So how is this gonna go? Execution? Brawl? Torture? In your position, I’d go the torture route. I would have tortured your mate if I could have. Well, not until I’d fucked every orifice in her body.” He sighed when Trick didn’t allow himself to be goaded. “Not easy to rattle, are ya?”
“It’s hard to take that kind of stuff seriously when it’s streaming out of the mouth of a guy who got his ass kicked by a girl.”
“She didn’t kick my ass.”
“No, you did the kicking. Cracked a rib. You also bruised her jaw. Put a goose egg on her head. Fractured a bone in her leg. Pricked her neck with your claws. And almost dislocated her shoulder.” Anger thrumming through his system, Trick took another step forward. “So tell me, Drake, what do you think I’m going to do to you?”
“Tit for tat,” Drake guessed, his voice flat, his eyes dull.
“That’s right. I’ll revisit every injury you gave her right on back to you—only each wound will be ten times worse.” And Trick would relish every fucking moment of it.
“If you hadn’t knocked me down at the meeting, Nash wouldn’t have sent me your way.”
“You came after me in the restroom to get even.”
“On Nash’s say-so. He told me I’d lose the respect of the pack if I didn’t retaliate. It wasn’t until later, after my failed attempt to follow his order to kidnap your girlfriend, that I realized he was playing us all.”
Trick lifted a brow. “You think he’s playing us?”
“I’m not the brightest lamp on the street, but even I can see he was using me. If I’d killed you, what would your Alpha have done?”
“Demanded that Morelli hand you over for execution.”
Drake gave a lazy nod. “That’s right. And then your Alpha would have owed Nash. What do you think Nash would have asked for? An alliance, right?”
“It’s a possibility. But it wouldn’t explain why you tried to kidnap my mate.”
“He wanted Trey to go to him for help. I told him it wouldn’t work. I told him that your pack’s tracker would be sent to find her. But Nash was sure that Trey would want his help, and then everyone could work together. Nash planned to call Trey to say he’d ‘found’ your girl. He said he wouldn’t demand an alliance for handing her over. Said he wouldn’t have to. He thinks you’d have felt like you owed him.” Drake let out a long breath. “I wasn’t convinced it would work out that way, but I followed orders.”