Chapter 25 Backing out

Chapter 25 Backing out
Tyler’s POV

I woke up the morning after the dinner with a clarity that had been missing for weeks. While my brothers were busy losing their minds over Elsie, I had been formulating the final strike. We had tried humiliation and we had tried jealousy but we had never tried pure isolation.

I marched into the private study where Tristan and Topher were already drinking coffee. They looked tired and defeated but I felt energized by the brilliance of my new plan.

"I know how to break her," I announced without a preamble. "We stop playing games and we stop inviting her to dinners. We take her to the Northern cabin and leave her there alone for a week without supplies. The isolation will force her wolf to seek our bond for survival."

I waited for their agreement or at least a nod of approval. Instead, Topher sighed and set his cup down with a heavy clatter.

"I am out," Topher said simply.

"What do you mean you are out?" I asked as I stared at him.

"I mean I am done with this," Topher clarified as he stood up. "I am not going to hurt her anymore and I am certainly not going to starve her in a cabin. She won, Tyler. Just let it go."

"I agree with Topher," Tristan added quietly from his spot by the window. "We have pushed her enough. This feud needs to end before we destroy the pack structure."

My jaw dropped. I looked between them and saw the weakness infecting their eyes. They had been compromised. The slave had gotten into their heads and twisted them until they were unrecognizable.

"Is this a joke?" I demanded as I slammed my hand on the table. "You are just going to give up? You are going to let a common slave bend the rules and walk all over us like she owns the place? We are Alphas!"

"We are acting like children," Tristan corrected me. "I am going to the office."

"I am leaving too," Topher said as he moved toward the door.

"You are going nowhere," I snarled as I stepped in front of Topher to block his path. "You sit down and act like a Ross man for once in your pathetic life. If we stop now she owns us."

"Move Tyler," Topher warned with a low growl that surprised me.

Before I could shove him back into his chair, the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floor drew our attention to the hallway.

Elsie was walking down the stairs. She looked fresh and rested in a simple sundress that showed off her legs. She didn't look like a girl who was fighting a war. She looked like the lady of the manor greeting her subjects.

"Good morning Topher," she said with a bright smile as she reached the bottom step.

"Morning Elsie," Topher replied instantly with a softness in his voice that made me want to vomit.

"Good morning," Tristan added with a respectful nod.

I stared at them in horror. They were greeting her. They were treating her like she was their equal. The betrayal burned through my veins like acid.

Elsie turned her gaze to me. Her smile didn't falter but her eyes held a challenge that mocked my anger.

"won't you greet me Tyler?" she asked innocently. "It is polite to say good morning to your guests."

Something inside me snapped. The frustration of the last few weeks and the betrayal of my brothers and the arrogance of this slave coalesced into a blinding white rage.

"I will teach you manners," I roared.

I didn't think. I just reacted. I raised my hand and put my full Alpha strength into the swing.

My palm connected with her face with a sickening crack that sounded like a gunshot.

Elsie didn't just stumble this time. The force of the blow lifted her off her feet and threw her backward. She flew through the air and slammed headfirst into the sharp corner of the marble pillar at the base of the stairs.

She hit the floor with a heavy thud and didn't move.

"Elsie!" Topher screamed as he shoved past me.

I stood there breathing heavily as my hand stung from the impact. I waited for her to get up. I waited for her to yell at me or glare at me.

But she lay still.

Then I saw a dark pool of red liquid began to spread out from beneath her head. It moved fast against the white marble.

"She isn't breathing," Tristan shouted as he dropped to his knees beside her and checked for a pulse. "You killed her!"

"I didn't," I stammered as the rage evaporated and was replaced by a cold terror. "I just slapped her. She is faking it."

"There is blood everywhere!" Topher yelled as he pressed his hands against the wound on her head to staunch the flow. "Look at what you did!"

Tristan scooped her up into his arms. Her head lolled back limply and her skin was already turning a terrifying shade of gray. The blood dripped from her hair onto Tristan’s expensive suit but he didn't care.

"Get the car!" Tristan commanded Topher with a panic I had never heard before. "We have to get her to the hospital now!"

Topher scrambled up and ran for the door. Tristan turned to me with eyes that were black with his wolf’s fury.

"If she dies," Tristan promised with a voice that shook the walls. "If she dies Tyler I will kill you myself."

He ran out the door with Elsie in his arms.

I stood alone in the foyer. I looked down at the puddle of blood on the floor. It was too much blood for one person. My knees gave out and I sank to the floor. I stared at the red stain and felt the mate bond in my chest go silent.

I hadn't meant to break her. I just wanted to win. But as the silence of the house pressed in on me, I realized I had just lost everything.