Chapter 70

He put his full force into his movement, but I ducked under him. When I turned on my heel, he was on the ground, shaking. His eyes bore into me, holding the hatred I had suppressed toward him for years.

A slow smile spread across my face. “Going to shift already?” I asked, pouting. “That’s no fun.”

I untied my pouch and cast it aside while Raymond fought for control over his wolf.

“No, no, go on.” I motioned toward him, slowly removing my gloves. “I don’t want to keep your wife waiting too long in the afterlife.”

His torrent of anger overtook him, and he roared. I sensed some of the others backing up further. I settled deeper into that place of cold calm. When he saw he didn’t affect me, his face twisted into a horrible mix of disgust and confusion.

“You-” he snarled.

“Bitch, whore, something like that?” I asked, waving my black gloves in my hand.

Tia appeared at my side and took the gloves from me, bowing her head. I didn’t know how she managed to get so close to an Alpha like this, especially her Alpha, and I admired and loved her for it.

“Thank you, Tia,” I told her, and she gave me a smile that I had never seen from her. It was genuine, bright, and raw.

She was radiant.

“No—” Raymond growled after her. “You are my Omega.”

Tia froze, and I slowly looked at him. “Not for much longer,” she said with a quiet resolution, her lip quivering in rage or fear.

“Every pack member can choose where their loyalties lie,” I told him. “She does not have to stay here like a slave.”

“I—” he blustered. I crossed my arms, tilting my head, waiting for him to dig a deeper hole for himself.

His rage felt hard as it lashed out.

I had a careful leash on mine from years of practice, but he had never felt grief like this, anger like that.

And though I wished it was more of a fair fight, without the pain of his losing his mate, this entire thing came together better than I had even imagined in my far-fetched fantasies.

I loosened the lid on my tight well of fiery grief. It danced up, but mine knew me; it was my constant companion, and I was its master.

I studied him with an impassive stare that I hoped looked bored; he was fighting everything not to shift.

“Fine,” he snarled, his wolf speaking through him. “You want a fight?”

He was bigger, but that could be a disadvantage if he didn’t know how to wield it. I hadn’t seen him fight ever, and I was fairly certain he didn’t even train anymore.

He started to move towards us and balled his hand into a fist.

His fury made him unsteady, and instead of calculating his moves or the end goal of winning the challenge, he was only focused on the immediate satisfaction of seeing my pain.

Something I wouldn’t give him; he had seen enough of it.

He pulled back his fist, and I steadied myself, readying my dominant leg. He came barreling toward me. I waited until he was close enough and his weight was fully on one foot. I ducked, kicking at his shin, before twisting out of the way.

There was a satisfying crack of bone, but it was soft; no one besides us two would have been able to hear it.

It was better than nothing, though; I would give myself that instead of feeling disappointed. I knew that would only intensify and lead to my sloppiness when I was counting on his.

He moaned and fell to his knees.

Enough playing. Show him what a true Alpha can do - Aksala growled.

I stood above him, thrusting my hand up to his nose; it gushed blood. “That is for my family,” I seethed.

His hands came to his face, and I honed in on his jugular, hitting it with hard precision, cutting off the oxygen to his brain.

A cheap shot, but I wanted his humiliation—and I got it.

He slumped back, lying on the ground in an awkward angle. I circled around him, waiting for him to come to. After a few minutes, he blinked. I leaned over him, making sure I was the first and only thing he saw.

“That is for my pack.”

I pulled back a little, ensuring my voice carried. “Everything that has happened to you is because of your own actions. The fact you are lying on the ground in front of your pack and the leaders of our territory with a so-called little girl standing over you is because of your choices.”

I stomped down hard on his stomach, reveling in his groans and stifling any words bubbling up in his chest.

“Your son's and your mate's deaths are because of you,” I seethed.

His face reddened, veins bulged, and he spluttered. It only made it harder for him to catch his breath. “An Alpha that cheats is no Alpha at all. You have no honor.”

I circled around him, studying my prey.

“You are no Alpha.”

He was finally able to sit up a bit, and I let him.

“You should have killed me,” I smiled down at him. “But because of your own arrogance, you didn’t kill me, so you will die instead.”

I whispered only to him now. “I will kill you, dismantle your pack, and erase you from history.”

He grabbed at me, and I jumped back, but he managed to fist some of my loose hair; it ripped out, and my scalp prickled and burned.

He was shaking uncontrollably, his anger almost stifling. I knew he was going to shift, and I needed more time than he did.

Ready? - I asked Aksala, pushing away every thought of the pain.

Yes. Let me take over.

So I did.

The pain rippled through me, searing every nerve ending. It wasn’t as bad as the first time, but it was bad.

Before we had fully transformed, a large, muddy brown wolf stood over us, snarling.

He lunged, and we tried to move away as much as we could, but he managed to clamp down on my leg.