Soul Avenged (Sons of Wrath, #1) (48 page)

One snapped
its teeth.

“Wake his ass
up,” Wade said, tonelessly.

A flash of
blue glinted at the end of a taser gun that was placed against
Kane’s skin.

An outcry died
in his throat. Kane spasmed and froze. His muscles tensed and
trembled. An eternity passed before the gun was removed at Wade’s
order.

Wade
chuckled.

Kane slumped,
his muscles lax again, pulling against the strain of his binds. His
feet slipped on blood that had seeped down his legs onto the floor
from his wounds.

The sight of
his tortured body twisted her gut and triggered a sense of panic,
and Ayden fought to contain her tears. She bit the inside of her
mouth until she could taste the salty blood. Tremors rocked her
body, but she squeezed to still her muscles, to keep from rattling
her chains.

“So, you’re
Ayden’s newest toy, huh?” Wade circled Kane and leaned in to his
face. “Guess she forgot to mention how much fucking baggage she
carries.” His fist knocked Kane’s head back and a spray of blood
flew upward. “She also didn’t mention what a cold bitch she can be.
Ain’t a tear shed for you, boy.”

A blow to
Kane’s stomach had his arms tugging against the chains as he bent
forward, yet he made no sound.

“What’s the
matter with you? Ain’t my punches hard enough for you?” Wade’s fist
smashed Kane’s nose with a sickening crack.

Ayden
flinched. A silent cry drummed in her chest. She dared not release
it and risk more pain than Wade had already inflicted on Kane.
Please, God, let him be alive.

“Perhaps it’s
time we let your kin have a go atcha,” Wade said.

No.
Fear smothered Ayden’s breaths as her body tightened into a raging
ball of anxiety. They’d wanted him all along.

To destroy the
wolf that wasn’t meant to be.

The wolves
rocked as if setting their mark for a race.

Ayden wanted
to scream, scream for Kane’s life. The sound of her voice though,
would, only result in more torment.

Wade nodded
toward the corner room, and one of his minions in a white labcoat
opened the door, allowing a wolf to step through. It dwarfed the
man and bent forward to fit through the doorway, its fur an odd
shade of muddy brown.

A large claw
back-handed the man beside it, leaving behind a long scratch across
his face.

Human. Not
Alexi.

Holding his
mutilated cheek, the man scrambled to shut the door before any more
of the wolves tried to emerge. They didn’t, though. Their gazes had
fixated on one thing.

Kane.

As the wolf
swung a claw at Kane, ripping at skin, any thoughts of whether or
not Kane still lived were quickly dismissed when his tortured
outcry echoed around the room alongside the snap of the wolf’s
jaw.

Ayden closed
her eyes and held her breath, stomach muscles tense with each
snarl, each cry.

Wade’s whisper
blasted over the sounds of torture. “Open your eyes and see what
you’ve done to that poor boy. He’s a goddamn shredded mess.” Hands
grabbed her temples and violently shook her head. “I said, open
them!”

At Wade’s
wicked, mocking chuckle, she balled her fists at her side.

“Gotta give
him some credit. He’s a tough little shit. Taking it like a
trooper.”

Ayden opened
her eyes.

Kane’s body,
ravaged and bloodied, hung as dead weight.

Tears streamed
down her temple and pooled beneath her head onto the cold steel.
“Kane,” she whispered.
Oh, God, do something.

***

“What the hell
took you so long?” Gavin asked, irritated when his blond brother
strolled up as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“Had to find
the shithole first. Logan’s not exactly a walking Mapquest. What’s
going on?”

“This is the
Alexi compound.” Gavin nodded toward the building. “About thirty
lycans are inside, according to Logan.”

“So, why are
we out here? Let’s go kick some ass.” Zeke rose and placed his
hands on the fence, his body shaking the instant he did. “Son of
a—” He snapped his palms away and blew the singed skin.

“Oh, yeah.
It’s hexed.” Gavin’s tone remained flat, though he stifled the urge
to laugh. “Logan went to get my demon book. Asshole hasn’t come
back yet. Defied another order. We’re going to have a meeting when
this is done. He does this shit way too often.”

“Consider the
source, brother.” Zeke stretched his hand out as it healed. “You
knew he’d be difficult.”

“Yeah. I just
didn’t think he’d challenge me on every order.” Gavin frowned as he
rubbed at his chest and an odd burning there. “Damn, that’s
weird.”

“What’s that?”
Zeke pulled out a knife and cut at a loose piece of skin on his
hand, where he’d touched the fence.

Gavin drew in
a deep breath. “Not sure. Just a burning I got.”

“Heartburn,
old man.” Zeke chuckled and stuck the knife back into its holster.
“As for Logan, gotta take the bad with the good.” He crouched
beside Gavin and patted his shoulder. “Logan’s had your back a
number of times.”

“Yeah.” Gavin
sighed. “He has. But he’s got ten minutes, or all hell is going to
break loose.”

“So, we’re
just going to camp out here until he gets back, or what?”

“There’s
nothing we can do, yet. I tried to get a hold of Calix and Zayne.
They’re not answering their cell phones.” Gavin glanced over. “And
where the hell is your phone? What’s the point of having it?”

“You’re the
only one who carries two phones everywhere. I got the two-way.”
Zeke said, pulling it out of his coat pocket. “Zayne’s a lost
cause, you know that. And Calix isn’t answering his for obvious
reasons. He’s probably got his dick so deep inside Ava he can’t
hear anything.” He crossed his arms. “I don’t get that
relationship. He can have any girl he wants, and he chases after
some crazy ass, who hides from him every time he gets near
her.”

“It’s called
love. And sometimes you can’t help whom you fall in love with. You
should try it, Zeke.”

“Ha! Fuck
that.” Zeke shook his head. “Guys like Calix have it made. Half
incubus. Shit, what I wouldn’t give to have some of
that
in
me. He walks in a room and every woman there wants to ride his
cock. The rest of us have to work to get that kind of
attention.”

“When did you
ever have to work to have a woman?”

Zeke waved his
hand in a dismissive gesture. “You gotta talk to them. Tell them
they’re pretty. Flirt. Calix just shows up to the party and they
act like he’s some sex god there to save them of their boring,
missionary lives.”

“What’s wrong
with working for their attentions?”

“No offense,
my brother, but where has it gotten you? Don’t you ever get sick of
chasing Ayden’s tail everywhere?”

Gavin sucked
in a breath and rubbed his hands down his face at the ignorance
sitting beside him. “If I wasn’t so pissed off at Logan right now,
I’d smash your goddamn face for saying that.”

“Look, I’m not
trying to bust your balls on this. But don’t you think your body
would have told you if she was the one? You’d be having bonded sex
like a rockstar and she’d be chasing you like some sex-deprived
groupie. Maybe you oughta think about yourself. The Savidon’s
coming for you, bro. Better get as much ass in as you can. I don’t
want to be around when that shit hits.”

“Some of us
don’t look at the Savidon as the end of days.”

Zeke frowned.
“One mate for eternity?” He shook his head. “That’s a death
sentence any way you slice it my man. Look at Zayne. Brother can’t
get it up for anyone else now that Sheyanna’s gone.”

“Zayne lost
the love of his life. Give him a fucking break.”

“Hey, I’m not
saying anything,” Zeke said, throwing his hands up in the air.
“Sheyanna was a great woman for my brother. Zayne is the other half
of me. But let’s face it. Man’s ruined now, because of her.”

“I don’t
suppose the saying, ‘Better to have loved and lost than to never
have loved at all’ means anything to you?”

“Nada.”

“Then, we’re
finished with this conversation.” Gavin stood from the mound of
ass-freezing snow. “I’m going to try Logan one more time.”

~

A gut-wrenching
scream gurgled in Ayden’s chest and hit the room like a gong.

Wade held his
hand up, and Kane’s attacker stepped aside.

Comprehension
suddenly struck.

They’re
following his command. As if he’s the … alpha. Why would they
follow him?

Gripping her
cheeks, Wade held her in place. “What do you think, darlin’? An
improvement, wouldn’t you agree?”

Ayden heaved
at the sight of Kane’s back. Bones stuck out at unnatural angles.
Blood everywhere—the floor, his body, coating the chains that bound
him, not an inch of his skin intact.

“What have you
done?” Ayden spoke past gritted teeth. “You’re the alpha! You’ve
been
commanding
them all this time?”

Wade held his
arms out with a wide grin before tucking them between his knees and
crouching down beside her “You know,” he said in a low voice, “my
daddy used to tell me, a man’s soul casts the shadow of his
demons.” His lips clamped shut before a burst of laughter blew out
of him. “No fuckin’ idea what that means.” He sighed. “He’d have
shit his pants to know demons existed. All his excuses suddenly
scrambling for alibis.”

“You aligned
with them!” Nostrils flared, Ayden lashed at him, her voice
sonorous in the large room. “They follow your command? Lying
bastard! You’ve been arranging these attacks, haven’t you? Having
innocent people killed for your sick fucking cult!”

“Well, that’s
not entirely true. See, people
randomly
provided blood
samples to the hospital. Not like I was picking them. They were
kind of picking themselves.”

His words
confused her, the question buried in her silence.

“Carriers of
the Lywa antibody end up at the hospital at some point. With all
the damn wolves running around these days, it’s easy to run into
some dander. Stir up a bit of an
allergic
response. Problem
is, Lywa causes fatigue, fever, rapid heart rate. Looks like some
kinda infection going on. So the docs can’t help but take blood
samples. And don’t get me started on all the fucking donors.
Bleeding fuckin’ hearts of the world ...”

“How do you
get this information?”

Wade winked.
“I’ve got my connections.”

“And Kane? Why
did they attack him?”

“Your ragdoll
friend over there? Now, that was just a stupid fucking kid with a
testosterone imbalance. Those weren’t my orders. Waste of a
perfectly good news report. Damn good thing Bob was there to clean
up the mess. You did me a favor by killing off that Evan boy.”

“Are you …
lycan?”

Wade smiled.
“Hell, no. Lycans are like any dog. They’ll follow the stronger
species. All I had to do was promise them a step up the food chain.
Our alliance means an end to those demon bastards.” He sniffed.
“Humans been hunted for centuries by these goddamn supes. Killed
off like raccoons in the barn. And we sit and lap up their stupid
fucking excuses.” His hands flailed to emphasize his words. “Wild
animals on the loose. Hallucinations. Unexplained phenomena.” He
waved his hand dismissively. “Bullshit. One day those demon fucks
are gonna go all
un-goddamn-civilized
on us and the whole
human race will be swappin’ stories in the afterlife with Elvis and
the dinosaurs. We’re weak and pathetic. We always have been. We
lack strategy.” A grin stretched across his face, his gaze trailed
toward the wolves. “Not any more. I did humanity a favor by
creating soldiers like you, Ayden.”

“You destroyed
families, you sick son of a bitch!”

“A few
sacrifices. For the good of the whole.”

It suddenly
clicked, rendering Ayden awestruck. “This is what you wanted all
along. You weren’t having us kill lycans to get rid of them. You
were having us kill rival packs, weren’t you? The ones that refused
to align with you?”

“You always
were a smart girl, Ayden. And what does it matter, anyway? You got
to blow off some steam and kill a few wolves. No harm done.”

“No harm?
Filthy fucking traitor!” She tugged at her binds.

Wade’s hand
signaled, and the large mud-colored wolf swiped its claws against
Kane’s face.

“No.” Ayden
curled into her side, against the binds, a silent plea trapped
inside of her.

“What’s this?
Seems I’m not the only one who’s taken up with the enemy.” He
tipped his head to the side. “Do you love this lycan?”

Ayden’s lips
tightened, a tear streamed down her cheek.

“Answer me, or
I’ll let them finish him right here and now.” With his hands still
raised, ready to give an order, he asked, “Do you love this
wolf?”

“Yes. I
do.”

The brunt of
his fist came down hard on Ayden’s cheek. Against the table, the
full force of it smashed her jaw in a crushing hit. She squinted
her eyes shut and swallowed the pain.

“Would you
sacrifice for him?”

Her silence
would rattle him, she knew from experience, confirmed when another
blow came down against her cheek.

“
Would you
sacrifice?
” Wade bellowed.

The
understanding was clear in her mind: Wade had wanted her body from
day one. The way he looked at her, touched her. When she’d denied
him, it’d driven him insane.

If she
submitted, he would do cruel things, punish her. Toy with her mind
in such a way she’d be ruined forever. There would be no coming
back once she entered his chambers.

She’d be
sacrificing all of herself.

“Yes,” she
said.

As if her
words were attached to some electric zap between his legs, his hips
shot forward, and a smirk creased his lips.