Chapter 268 268
Aurélie POV
The lake.
We needed to get to the lake.
The attackers were positioned at the front of the house, waiting for us to bolt straight into their line of fire in blind panic. That was what they expected. But I needed my family safe first needed them away before I turned back and unleashed my own retaliation.
I wouldn’t let them get away with this.
“Oh, Aurélie…”
Her voice slithers through the night, playful and cruel all at once.
Even with the Lake House burning behind us flames roaring, crackling hungrily through the quiet stillness of the lake I know that voice instantly. The wicked lilt of it. The delighted, unhinged cackle that follows as she calls out again.
“We need to get to the water,” I whisper urgently, the fire beginning to snap and groan as it crawls upstairs through the floorboards. Time is bleeding away from us. I would get them to safety then I would come back and end this bitch once and for all.
“There you are.”
Her voice rings out as she rounds the side of the Lake House toward the back, near the decking almost pleased to see that we hadn’t escaped yet.
And she isn’t alone.
Stéphane follows closely behind her.
A growl tears from my chest at the sight of them at her standing here, at the audacity of her presence. But even as the sound leaves me, I feel it: my wolf’s threat is hollow, stripped of its usual power.
She feels it too.
And beneath the fury, my wolf is heartbroken at the sight of the flames devouring our sanctuary.
“Sabine,” Geneviève purrs. “What a surprise.”
They stop with one foot already on the decking my decking. My fury spikes at the sheer nerve of them. Invading my home. Attacking my family. Again.
“What do you want?” I shout, fists clenched tight at my sides as I step forward, instinctively shielding my children behind me.
She’s psychotic. And she never knows when to stop.
“Sabine is coming with us,” Stéphane dares to command.
“I’m the Alpha here, you piece of shit,” I roar back, the sound ripping through the smoke-choked air.
“It’s very simple,” Geneviève says with a bored sigh, as if this were all terribly inconvenient. “Sabine comes with us and I’ll spare them.”
She already looks tired of our hesitation. Tired of my Lake House burning to the ground. Tired of the flames licking closer, of the smoke clawing its way into our lungs.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” I snarl.
“Final warning, Geneviève. Take one more step and I’ll strangle you with my bare hands.”
Her smile turns demonic, her head dipping slightly while her eyes never leave mine.
“Now that does sound tempting.”
I don’t see Stéphane draw the gun from the waistband at his back my focus is locked on her but I hear it. The unmistakable click as he cocks it, preparing to fire.
“Last chance, Sabine,” he announces, raising the gun toward us.
Sabine steps forward.
My heart lurches.
She’s going to hand herself over but I can’t let her. I won’t let her be used again. As currency. As leverage. As power. I yank her back by the elbow, dragging her behind me.
“I’ll shoot,” Stéphane snarls, aiming the gun squarely at her now. “Don’t test me. You freed me you knew I’d come back for you. You wanted out!”
What a way to repay someone who saved your miserable life.
“No,” Sabine answers, her voice trembling despite her resolve. “I thought you’d see it as a chance to start again. But you can’t even think for yourself. The first thing you do is run back to Geneviève.” She shakes her head. “You’re pathetic. I wish I’d never done it.”
“I’m pathetic?” he bellows, a grown man raging like a wounded teenager.
“You don’t even understand what’s happening. What you’re worth. I’m sure Gaston will pay very well for you.”
“Which means you can’t shoot me,” she says, smirking as she steps in front of me shielding me instead.
“You want to hurt Aurélie? You’ll have to go through me.”
“You’re right,” Stéphane replies with a monstrous grin. “We can’t hurt you…”
Then he fires.
A scream tears through the air.
Something slams into me, hurling me onto the decking. Pain explodes through my body. For a split second, panic overwhelms me Have I been shot?
I can’t breathe.
Is it my chest? Did he hit my chest?
I scramble for balance, gasping only to realize it isn’t a bullet at all.
It’s Geneviève.
She’s on top of me, hands wrapped tightly around my throat, squeezing with vicious intent.
Strangling me.
Her fingers dig into my neck, cutting off my air.
I’m stronger than her.
I should be stronger than her.
My wolf surges forward, finally ready to rip her apart. I reach for her desperately, begging her to take over to shift to end this.
She answers me.
I feel her trying.
But I can’t.
I can’t shift.