“Not at all,” one of the twins said. “It will be anything but easy. We’ll do it, anyway.”
I believed them, but it changed nothing. They were still my prey, and I still hungered for their flesh. They were underestimating me, and that was the last mistake they’d ever make.
Taking a deep breath, I allowed my mind to drift into the crimson. And as the chaos took over, I smiled. I knew that no matter what the males said, they could never defeat me.
* * *
Rowan
When I saw Luna’s consciousness being consumed by the chaos, my heart fell. I’d expected it, of course, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. From the moment she’d leaped out of the hut and snarled at us, I’d known we were on a bloodstained path, one that could easily lead us to our deaths.
But I wasn’t willing to give up on her. I’d told her the truth when I’d said I was willing to hurt her if that was what it took. I didn’t want to, but I would.
As the madness of her bloodline took over, I allowed my fury and frustration to flood our bond. It was a dangerous move, since it might empower Luna too, but I had no choice. Sam, Nate, and I needed to be in complete sync to pull this off.
Luna wouldn’t have normally been a challenge for us. It just wasn’t possible for one Omega to beat three strong werewolf males. It went against everything we’d been taught. But in my heart, I knew things weren’t so simple. And when she jumped on me, still in human form, that guess was confirmed.
I grabbed her arm, ready to throw her off, just like I’d done earlier when she’d been a wolf. This time, it didn’t work. The disadvantage of using this humanoid form was that she could get a better grip on us. When she was like this, she wasn’t built to be one hundred percent predator. But a werewolf’s human form was sometimes even more dangerous than their lupine one, and Luna was the perfect example.
She buried her claws in my shoulders, stubbornly holding on. I rolled us on the ground, trying to crush her under my larger bulk, hoping it would get her to let go. She snarled, but didn’t release me. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my chest and tried to bite my jugular, to tear my throat out.
Left with no other option, I ripped myself out of her grip. Pain exploded through me, her claws leaving behind deep gouges in my flesh. But that was all right, because this would work well for our plan.
When the scent of my blood assaulted her nostrils, Luna faltered. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe it would snap her out of her trance, but I hoped it would at least distract her. And it worked, because when she got up, she looked a little woozier.
This was Sam and Nate’s cue to jump in. They grabbed her arms and pinned her down to the ground. She tried to struggle underneath them, and she actually managed to shove Nate off. Sam ended up almost getting his face clawed off in the process—and once again, his pain helped us.
When Sam got up, we had to reassess our approach. I focused on our bond, and so did Sam and Nate. I sought the void in the connection where Luna had been, where she was still supposed to be. We could still reach her. We just had to beat the chaos.
“Oh, yeah. Brilliant plan, Rowan. Beat the chaos, huh?”
I ignored Sam’s sarcastic quip. Despite his comment, he was just as determined to make this work as I was.“If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s us.”
I thought about the time when I’d first gone to track down my mate, only to run into the two golden wolves. They’d been my enemies then, even if, unbeknownst to me, we’d already had a bond.
I’d hated them, and I’d hurt them. I could hate Luna too.
Hate her. Love her. Hurt her. Tear her apart. Bring her back. Make her kneel.
The litany of thoughts flashed through my head in a chaotic, nauseating symphony. I drowned in it, in the overwhelming, conflicting emotions. And I knew it never would have worked—that I never could have hated Luna—had Luna herself not been there and hated us.
It was a strange thing, to feel her hostility and desire to kill us coursing through our link. Our hearts had touched when we’d bonded, and it had been beautiful and so very different. We’d embraced our shared savagery, and through it, we’d surpassed our past confusion and mistakes. But now, Luna had sunk deep into an abyss she couldn’t crawl out of.
I could almost see through her eyes, and all I saw was the crimson. The chaos pulsed through my veins like a living thing. But for a Savage, that was just routine, and I wasn’t thwarted.
The three of us surrounded Luna, and Luna watched us carefully, licking her lips. “Come on. Come to me. Show me your strength then, Rowan Savage.”
The sound of my name on her lips made something inside me snap. Following my instincts, I lunged toward her. She laughed, since I hadn’t tried to disguise my approach or be stealthy. Her claws raked over my throat, and it was only my Alpha nature that saved me from dying at her hands. I kept going, anyway. Sam and Nate jumped on her too, ignoring the danger.
Fuck strategy. This was all about flesh, death, and blood, and we would never win if we didn’t take charge.
Luna fought us every step of the way. She shifted back into her lupine form and bit Nate’s shoulder, but I grabbed her snout and forced her to let go. When Sam tried to immobilize her paws, she changed shapes again and kicked him in the face.
With every second that passed, she seemed to be getting stronger. She punched me in the sternum and I felt a bone crack. I ignored the pain. I’d known this would happen, and it would only get worse from here if we didn’t stop her.
The hate had worked beautifully, and she was distracted. Our strength might be coursing through her, but hers was coursing through us too. Now, it was time for something else.
I thought about our first time together, about how beautiful she’d been during her first heat. I thought about how tight her pussy had been around my cock, about the way her fire and passion had almost consumed me.
