Page 79 of Bound

“Her?” he asks in confusion.

“The red wolf,” I clarify.

“Oh, he wanted me to kill her and hide the body.” My hands drop to my sides, clenching tightly in restrained anger as I step toward him. Only the knowledge that he still has some information I need stops me from ripping his head off right now.

“And who hired you?” I ask, inhaling deeply to keep my calm.

“I don’t know his full name,” he says, looking panicked.

“Tell me,” I say, firmer this time as my wolf tries to push forward with the need to hurt the man who tried to kill Red.

“He said his name was Kane.”

One moment, the human is staring at me with fear and unease, the next, his lifeless eyes are filled with shock as his blood drips from my partially shifted claws spearing through his chest and into his heart.

“Did you really have to kill him so quickly?” Bain asks, as he frowns at the dead body and rotates the knife around in his palm. “I wanted to have a little fun with him first.”

My wolf presses hard for release, wanting to rip out this man’s throat even though he’s no longer a threat.

“He was going tokillher,” I seethe, baring my teeth at Bain. “He didn’t deserve to take one more breath.”

“Save that anger for your uncle,” he says, flipping his knife closed and shoving it in his pocket. “Because he’s next, and he won’t be as easy to take down.”

My claws retract and my hands clench into fists as I think about my uncle, the alpha of the Westgrove Pack. I never really liked him, but to think he would arrange for our packmate to be murdered? It’s unthinkable and unacceptable.

“By trying to take her from us, he’s just declared war against the Silverstorm Pack,” I say, turning my eyes to meet Bain's. “And I plan to end this war today.”

Chapter 34

Cherry

Someone kisses the top of my nose, tickling me and making it twitch.

“Come on, darling, open your eyes for me.” Gage’s strong, soothing voice has my eyes opening to meet his gorgeous blue ones. His black hair is hanging across his forehead instead of its usual style as he stares down at me with concern.

“Oh, thank the Goddess, she’s awake,” Chase says from somewhere close by.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” As soon as Gage asks the question, he frowns. “Sorry, I meant, are you feeling okay now?”

I take a second to assess myself as I look around. We’re on the couch back at home. Weren’t we just at the BBQ? What happened?

My mind races to remember the rogue, Maddox saving me, then I was overwhelmed by so many people, so I moved to sit in the shade and I must have fallen asleep.

I readjust myself to sit up and look at the others. Hunter and Chase look at me with concern. Did they carry me home? Why didn’t I wake up and why do they look so worried?

“Do you remember what happened?” Hunter asks me.

I shake my head, unsure what I’m missing.

“You remember being at the BBQ?” he asks and I nod just as several loud sets of footsteps come down the hall. We all watch as Maddox and Bain step into the living room, looking like they’re on edge.

“You’re awake,” Maddox says, sounding relieved. As he steps closer, the smell of copper hits me, and my nose twitches as I search him for signs of injury.

When he steps up in front of me, I nudge his hand, where the smell is the strongest, and he opens up his palm to show me his bloody fingertips. But I pull back in confusion when I realize it’s not his blood.

“I’ll go wash up,” Maddox says as he quickly turns and heads into the kitchen.

“We were just catching her up,” Gage tells him before turning back to me. “Do you remember the rogue wolf attacking?” I dip my head in acknowledgment, and he nods. “We’re not sure what happened after that. Do you remember anything else?”