“What the fuck are you doing here, Enforcer,” Marlon sneered.
The inflection in his title an insult as the Beta did his best to outface him. Zohar returned the look, his own eyes filled with loathing and disgust. “I’m here to take you and that sorry excuse for an Alpha down, Marlon. Fuck, Marlon, Jermaine, what kind of names are those for Shifters? Sounds like you should be in one of those boy bands instead of leading a Pack of Wolves.”
The insult hit hard, Marlon’s jaw clenching so tight that Zohar was surprised he didn’t hear the sound of teeth crunching as they broke in the man’s mouth. Instead the Alpha laid a hand on Marlon’s shoulder, holding him in place, as he addressed Zohar.
“Why are you here? Has someone from my Pack made some kind of complaint? If so, I’m sure we can sort it out amicably. I’m always willing to work with the Council to sort things out.”
Zohar kept his eyes trained on Marlon as he replied, “I don’t need to remind you that I do not have to divulge any information to you. All the information you are required to know is that you are no longer Alpha and your men are relinquished from their positions of power. This goes down one of two ways, Jermaine. One is that you and your boys pack up and leave within the hour. If that doesn’t suit you, then we take you into custody and you will be transported back to Council Headquarters where you can lodge a complaint and take it up with them on how to proceed.”
Zohar paused, waiting on the man to interrupt, which, of course, he did.
“What? You can’t do that. This is not acceptable. No way am I just walking away from my Pack.”
Zohar held his hand up, his gaze still on Marlon as he growled, “I can, and I have. My power is absolute in this but I’ll give you a piece of advice for free . . . go for option one. Option two rarely ends well and although, to be honest, I’d actually enjoy you ending up in our prison for the rest of your miserable life. I’d much rather get to work putting this Pack back together again. But, as I said, the choice is yours.”
“This is my Pack,” Jermaine whined. “They are my people who I love. I’ve devoted my life to them, I protect them, I . . .”
And that’s when the unexpected happened . . . the tiny female who sat on the ground cradling the body of her dead friend leaped up, claws drawn, and attacked the Alpha.
Her voice was also a surprise, not a high-pitched scream, but a low growl as she pounced at Jermaine. “You’re a fucking liar. You abuse, threaten, and kill. You’ve never protected any of us and you just murdered one of the best people in this fucking Pack.”
She was attempting to rake her nails across Jermaine’s face, unfortunately she was too small to reach. Marlon’s arm snapped over, grabbing her hair and hauling her off his Alpha. “Fucking bitch. I should’ve done the same to you, that I just did to that damn whore.”
Fury consumed Zohar, a red haze filling his sight, his anger so vast he couldn’t comprehend the intensity of the feelings overwhelming him. A partial shift overtaking him within the blink of an eye as he sprang forward, his claws sinking into Marlon’s shoulder as he hauled him back.
“Get your stinking hands off her.” His voice barely recognizable as human.
The girl fell to the ground as the Beta yelled in pain before spinning around to face him, snarling viciously. “You and me, Zohar.”
No other words passed between them as they both transformed, Zohar in seconds, Marlon taking far longer. Zohar could have taken advantage of the Beta’s delay, but he waited until Marlon’s light brown beast was before him then padded backward, away from the woman on the ground. Her bright green eyes wide as she watched his every move.
Danko’s voice shouting a warning around the camp. “Stand back!”
Again Zohar paused, giving the assembled She-Wolves enough time to get out of their way, but Marlon did not. His Wolf leaping high into the air and heading straight for him. Zohar’s Wolf was in a frenzy, out for blood, standing his ground until the very last moment and then he dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. Then he bounded up and on top of Marlon, opening his jaws wide and sinking his razor sharp into his opponent’s shoulder.
He held on tight, shaking his head and tearing free a chunk of muscle, blood spurting to cover him and dripping down to sink into the dirt. Marlon’s beast howled with pain and anger, crawling out from under him and getting to his feet, spinning around to face him again. His lips curled back, froth oozing from his mouth and covering his lower jaw.
Zohar’s beast spat out the meat, growling and pacing back and forth. A vision of Marlon manhandling the girl whose tantalizing scent had affected him swirling around inside his brain and sending both man and beast into a furious rage. He didn’t show quarter to the wounded Wolf before him, his anger knowing no bounds as he attacked again.
Everything else disappeared, the buildings, people, everything. One word ringing in his head: destroy.
And that’s what he did, literally. Minutes later Marlon’s Wolf lay in pieces after Zohar’s had torn him apart, limb from limb, until finally he ripped the head from the already dead body, throwing it into the air with a final roar of anger and triumph tearing free.
His Wolf prowled back and forth before lowering its head and turning around, stalking back toward the girl with piercing green eyes who still sat
