Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“See, people with power understand exactly one thing: violence.”

Noam Chomsky

You ever get the feeling that you’re just out of your depth? Last year, when Ava’s faucet broke in the midst of movie night, I (not very sober) convinced her that I could fix it. No professional plumber required.

It wasn’t until her bathroom was half-flooded that I realized I might be out of my depth…that maybe I couldn’t just skirt by on my own cockiness and cleverness.

What I felt as I stood in front of that stage, watching Alpha Enzo command the reckoning, was similar.

Just way worse.

“Last night,” he said, and his voice rang through the silent crowd like a bell, “This man –” He gestured to my bloodied attacker, slumped over at his feet. “ – tried to attack my mate.”

A wave of whispers rolled through the crowd, and I could practically feel their eyes on me. If any of them doubted who I was when Alpha Enzo led me in, they had plenty of clarity now.

I shuffled a little closer to Scarlett – not that her petite frame did much to hide me from view.

“Did things like this happen at your old pack?” I whispered under my breath, so low I wasn’t sure Scarlett even heard.

She shook her head silently.

*Well, at least I hadn’t missed that part of her story.*

As I stared at the man who’d nearly tried to break my arm last night, bloodied and beaten, something close to guilt ebbed at me.

I hadn’t caused this, I knew that. I hadn’t asked him to attack me, hadn’t asked for Enzo’s guards to beat him, and I certainly hadn’t asked for this…this public display.

*Could I stop this?*

*If I called up to Alpha Enzo right now and asked him to end it, would he?*

He hadn’t seemed willing to budge in private, and something told me he’d be even less willing to in front of his pack.

The man, as if finally realizing where he was and what was going on, blinked up at the crowd with confusion. When his gaze settled on me, his expression twisted into a snarl. *“You,”* he growled, and although he was several feet away from me, the anger in his tone was venomous. “I will not take orders from a weak human, and neither should any of you.” His stare swept over the hushed masses. “I was doing you all a favor, saving you from –”

He stopped speaking abruptly, the rest of his sentence coming out in a choked gurgle.

Beside me, Scarlett gasped.

And I stared in horror.

My attacker’s throat had been slit straight across, the wound gushing dark blood at an alarming rate. He stayed upright for another moment, his eyes wide with fear, before he slumped completely over.

The rest of his blood pooled on the stage.

*How the fuck did that…*

I looked at Alpha Enzo, who stared at my – now-dead – attacker with nothing but indifference and the gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

I glanced down at his hands, expecting to see a knife in his hands, but my eyes widened when I saw what really made the cut.

Not a knife or a dagger, but a claw.

His claw.

The blunt tip of his left index finger had transformed into a long, sharp claw, its point stained with fresh blood. From a few feet away, the claw looked large enough that it should’ve belonged to a lion or a Siberian tiger, not a man.

“That’s enough of that, don’t you think?” Alpha Enzo drawled. If it weren’t for the dangerous edge to his voice, you’d think he was cutting off a television program or turning down some music, not slitting a man’s throat.

It was unnerving.

“In case it’s not clear,” he continued, “A threat against my mate, your Luna, is a threat against me. I will consider disrespect to her a disrespect to me.” His lips curled into a predatory snarl that made his sharp canine teeth gleam in the light. “And if for any of you that choose to ignore this warning, I promise that your death will not be as quick as this man’s today.”

There was no sign of disagreement from the crowd. Some of them looked just as shaken by the violence as I felt, especially the young kids that still clung to their parents, while others looked as if they’d been expecting nothing less. A select few even looked excited, like this was the entertainment their Tuesday morning had sorely needed.

But all of them – man, woman, and child – bowed their head in reverence to Alpha Enzo without hesitation.

As for me, I had a hard time taking my eyes off my supposed mate, my body practically vibrating with anxiety. This was not the man who’d fed me breakfast an hour ago, spooned me in bed last night, or let me mouth off to him without so much as an eye roll.

That man was gentle, even as I tip-toed across the line of his patience.

But this man, the one standing proudly over a dead body, was ruthless.

*This* was the bloodthirsty, power-hungry man from Ava’s story. I’d been naive to think that maybe they were two separate entities, that I’d be able to slink away from here without ever meeting him.

*And even more stupid to think that it’d be easy to do so.*

Once he was sure his words had gotten an adequate amount of respect from the crowd, Alpha Enzo’s eyes lost their predatory sheen. “Well, now that we’ve got that nasty business out of the way,” he said lightly, “I’d like to conclude today’s reckoning with some good news. As you’ve all just heard, I have, after more than a decade of waiting, found my mate and your Luna.”

It took a moment, but the heavy tension in the air seemed to recede at a surprising rate as the crowd broke out into loud cheers and clapping.

I glanced at Scarlett, who (thankfully) still looked disturbed. That made two of us.

I leaned in close till I was sure we wouldn’t be overheard. “Okay, we’ve definitely got to get out of here. All of these people are insane.”