Malcolm threw down the gauntlet, and I picked it up and ran with it. Before he could process what was going on, I shifted and made quick work of scaling over the fence. Serafina and Oz were right behind me. In the distance, I heard the sound of fights going on as my club breached the compound’s fence line.
I killed two men before they could even shift, then I was facing more than one fox. They seemed to come from everywhere. There were only twenty or so when I scaled the fence, now they were everywhere. I felt claws rip through my flesh, teeth sink into my muscles, but I ignored it and kept fighting. For everyone I took down, another was right behind him.
Blood coated my mouth as I ripped out their throats one after the other. I smelled him, I was getting closer to Malcolm, his alpha stench was easy to follow. Like a coward, he was hiding behind the shifters he was supposed to be leading. Fucker.
I drew up and came face to face with another. She was bigger than the others, but not as big as the alpha or his son. My cat drew back and hissed at the fucker, but she didn’t attack. Her eyes held mine, and I felt it. The small push inside my head.
You have to help her. She’s dying.
Help who? The fox was asking for my help, not trying to attack us.
The alpha’s human mate.
The fox looked over her shoulder and shrank down when she noticed her alpha staring back at her, teeth bared with hatred in his eyes. She crawled on her belly away from me, and I’d had it with this fucker. I moved toward Malcolm; the smell of evil hung in the air around him.
My world faded around me as we circled each other. The only thing that mattered right now was getting rid of the piece of shit that thought he could fuck with my mate and her mom. They belonged to me now. They were mine to protect, mine to avenge.
I waited patiently for his first move, and he didn’t disappoint. He jumped toward me, and I quickly dodged his sharp claws and bared fangs. He overshot his mark, and I took full advantage of his impatience. I attacked from his side, my claws cutting through his fur-covered skin. I backed away as he turned in anger, his teeth bared, ready to strike.
When he came at me again, I met him head-on. The prick picked a fight he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at winning. My cat was easily twice as big as his fox and outweighed him by several hundred pounds. I would’ve kept toying with the bastard, but if what the female had said was true, then Twistie’s mom was dying and I didn’t have time to let this drag out.
I rolled to the side on his next attack. When I moved up from underneath him, I dragged my claws along the length of his underbelly, cutting into his flesh, getting the gutless asshole that preyed on those weaker than him. He was dead before his corpse hit the ground. I rolled back to my feet, looking around at my club, standing victorious over the bodies of the fox family.
Come quick. I felt the female invade my mind again. When I looked for her, I spotted her across the yard, still waiting. I looked around at the cats surrounding me, then notched my chin, silently communicating for them to start disposing of the bodies.
I felt Serafina’s and Oz’s cats fall in step beside me as we moved toward where the female was leading me. They stayed close in case it was an ambush, but something told me it wasn’t. She seemed to genuinely want to help my mate’s mother.
We followed at a short distance, still in cat form. I didn’t trust her enough to shift back, but as we approached the end of the last hall, she surprised me by stopping. I heard the familiar sound of bones popping as she shifted back into her naked human form.
They are through there. Please, my son. She swallowed hard; He’s lived his whole life following in his father’s shadow. He’s just as bad, if not worse. She looked at me, spoke to me without opening her mouth to be overheard. I can’t save him, I’ve tried. You’ll have to put him down like you just did his father.
To say I was shocked was an understatement. This woman was the mother of Malcolm’s second—Twistie’s stepbrother, and she was telling me I needed to put him down. She was in my head and heard my thoughts.
Yes, I love my son, but I couldn’t protect him from his father. I couldn’t keep him from walking the same path. If you don’t put him down, he’ll never relinquish control of the skulk, and he’ll never stop coming for revenge.
I searched her face. She was a beautiful woman, but she looked weary, like she’d been wearing the weight of the world on her shoulders. For a mother to give up on her son, he must have done something to show he was so far past redemption that there was no going back.
I’ll take care of it, I said silently, letting her hear my thoughts.
95
Camilla
I heard the rumble of bikes coming in the distance, followed by the sound of screeching tires. Kitty led the way outside the clubhouse as we waited to see who was coming back.
My heart was in my throat as the bikes rode into the lot, but I didn’t see Six astride his motorcycle. The screeching tires were from the van I recognized from the compound. They were in a hurry, which told me someone was hurt bad.
“Wait, Twistie. It might not be as bad as you’re thinking.”
“It could be worse,” I growled out. I couldn’t lose them both. If Mom was even still alive. Without them, I’d have nothing. My eyes watered,
