“Call them off, Chase!” I demand.
“That’s my family’s vintage Belgian shotgun,” Chase says with a look of anger.
“Yeah, you guys have a lot of guns in your home, and ammunition. Now call off the dogs, or I use it to blow your face off.” I walk up closer to him, keeping the gun raised towards his chest.
I get within six feet of him, and the fuck smiles at me. “You lost, Lancelot. It’s over. I am your Alpha. The Cain’s lost. Get over it. I’ll be running this town, not you or your father.”
“I won’t ask twice, Chase,” I say pumping the shotgun and aiming at his face.
Chase smiles. “The rules are if you kill a member, you face—”
I fire the shotgun into the air to get his attention. “Enough of your shit. Don’t make me kill you.”
Chase sighs. “Such a sore loser, Cain.” He takes out a dog whistle from inside his jacket pocket and puts it to his lips. In the distance, I can see one of his dogs start to head back towards us, but the other is not stopping. Chase looks at me with a sly smile. “That must be Jill. Girls never listen.”
I poke the smoking barrel of the shotgun into Chase’s cheek. He recoils in pain and looks at me in rage.
I smile at him. “You will still be handsome, Chase, but if you keep this up, you won’t have a head to worry about.”
Chase blows into the whistle several times. After a few moments, I see his other dog running back towards the kennel. I hold the shotgun towards Chase’s chest until both dogs are in the kennel. Chase continues to pat the red circle on the side of his face while looking at me with rageful eyes.
“Lock the kennel,” I demand. “Any quick movements, and I’ll fire.”
“Would you believe me if I said I was unarmed?”
“Not remotely.”
Chase nods his head and locks the kennel door. He turns to me with his arms open. “What now, Lance? You ruined my chances at being Alpha. You broke I don’t know how many rules…” He takes a deep breath. “And you mutilated my face! What now?”
“I haven’t thought that out yet, but I do enjoy aiming this fancy shotgun at you.”
“It was you who killed them, wasn’t it? Jaxson and Nathanial? I thought it could have been Elle, but you have been helping her this whole time. Tell me, who was that other guy you killed by the lake? They still haven’t identified him.” I don’t answer him but watch his movements. I know Chase is a marksman. If he has a weapon hidden, he could easily end our conversation. “I knew you wanted to be Alpha, but not this bad. This goes so far against the rules, I don’t even want to know what’s going to happen to you.”
“Fuck the rules. Fuck Alpha. This is not a game, Chase. What they were making us do is wrong, very wrong. Can’t you see? Or are you so caught up in our family’s rivalry that you would do anything to win?”
“You and your father treat my family like second class citizens! The Cain’s throw their power around with ease, pissing all over the Aldridge’s name! Enough! My time is coming! You think because you come off like you don’t care about having the Cain’s name matters? You think just because your cunt mother died in some car crash everybody will feel sorry for you? They don’t!”
I quickly take the muzzle of the shotgun and blast Chase in the face as hard as I could. Chase crumbles to the ground, unconscious.
“Always with the big fucking mouth.”
Chapter 8
Elle
Jill continues to run towards me. I grasp the long branch in my arms. I know my chances against a trained animal are slim. I know this could be painful.
All I knew is that as soon as Jill came close enough, I’d swing and try and hit her as hard as I could.
Jill slows her pace when she gets closer to me, as if hearing my thoughts. She raises her ears and looks behind her. After another moment, she turns and runs back towards Chase.
I know what’s happening. I heard the blast of some powerful gun when I was running into the woods.
Chase wants to kill me himself. He wants to hunt me.
I know better than to bring a stick to a gun fight. I continue to run deeper into the woods, as fast as I can.
His property line must end somewhere, and when I find it, I’m not stopping until I get the fuck out of Ryland.
From the corner of my eye, I see a road through the tree line. I realize it’s the main town road that goes straight through Ryland. When I run to it, I kneel on the paved road and take a deep breath. I have a good idea where I am now.
I am not out of the woods yet, though. Chase may not be as far behind as I think. He may have even gone to his sports car, realizing the head start I have, and try to catch up with me. He could be coming up the road any minute.
I know there is a restaurant another mile or so up the road. I could have an Uber waiting for me and go back to the city. I could get to Candice’s house, and we could leave the whole state. I would not be able to let the Uber driver take me close to Candice’s home though, plus I have no money. Once in the city, at some point, I would have to dash on the driver at a red light.
Not exactly nice, but I could give him a five-star review later.
I take out my cell and turn it on. The cell does not turn on, and I’m about to panic when I hit the button again and the screen lights up. I take a deep slow breath out, but
