Page 42 of Come for Me
After walking past numerous cells, we come to a halt in front of the one housing the filthy mutt. Standing before him, I breathe in his rancid scent. I sensed him on Alaina earlier, and the smell has been lingering, permeating the air with his spilled blood. My shoulders square,preparing to deliver a hard reality that apparently needs to be an interactive lesson.
Seeing my mate with the mutt’s lips over her, who’s defied my orders and publicly challenged me, made my wolf deranged.
Hearing Alaina’s angelic voice ask to stay with me nearly broke my resolve earlier. I hated sending her away with Sam, butpolitical niceties were necessary to keep her and everyone else safe.
It won’t be an issue for long, as we’ll be mated soon enough, making it clear to Olivia my choice is Alaina. While having Olivia here is an inconvenience and not ideal, the political necessity is temporary and easily fixed without the consequences of war. Once Alaina accepts me as hers, Olivia won’t want to stick around. Olivia may be desperate in her seductive attempts and unhinged when angry, but she’s also prideful.
And when Olivia’s gone and Alaina safe from her potential wrath, I can devour all things Alaina. Already, she has become a salve for my soul and comfort for my wolf while dealing with politics. In mere minutes, I was able to rid myself of Olivia’s embrace, but panic and unease overcame me upon hearing Alaina was gone.
Immediately, vengeance flooded my sight, and my wolf took control. My wolf sorted through every scenario of what could have been happening to her, whether she was taken by my enemies or hurt, making it my fault because I failed to protect her and brought her into my world—when protection was the very reason for not marking her after she pushed me away.
I would burn down the world, I thought. Immediately, my wolf alerted me of some unknown danger to our mate. Something had to be horribly wrong for her absence to last so long. My men should have found her within minutes. The only logical reason for the lack of her presence was that she was taken.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered she wasn’t taken at all but was with the mutt himself, after I had forbidden it. The broken wolf, now slumped in a chair before me, hardly resembles the insolent mutt.
My wolf howls in my head, preening with the thought of teaching him and my mate a lesson they will not forget. I planto make sure he knows not to push me and for her to take my orders seriously regarding her safety. Otherwise, extreme measures are taken, like killing someone when I don’t have to.
This is a lesson I enjoy, as it sets the expectation for their submission. The one I only ever have to teach once, the moment I show people that my reputation isn’t just a myth and that I am its legend in the flesh.
The silver-coated chains binding the mutt to the steel chair singe their marks into his arms. Its purpose is to torture and weaken my prey for my enjoyment.Oh, how I can’t wait for this mutt’s demise at my hands.
But I have to calm my eager wolf. I want this lesson drawn out. No tools or implements join the mutt in the cell—only the chair keeps him company. The mutt and my guards, who have now seen the mutt defy me twice, know I don’t need tools, that I’ve had the power to take his life at any moment. Letting him go and his subsequent defiance is a reminder of why my men are trained not to leave room for mercy. And why I never do.
My wolf intends to join in the fun, and I plan to let him loose. Flashes of my wolf flinging his limbs across the cell play out in my mind. The mutt doesn’t intend to fight me—he knows he can’t, especially in his current state. He plans to take everything like the little mutt he is. But his surrender won’t grant him immunity. He and his wolfwillfeel my canines rip off those hands he’s so carelessly used to touch my mate time and time again.
My mate, not understanding the consequences of her actions, left Sam’s side, roamed the kingdom unguarded, and found her way to danger. With vampire and rogue attacks increasing near my territory, it’s dangerous for even the most talented she-wolves to be outnumbered in a fight. If she were discovered unmarked, they’d tear her to pieces and deliver her to my feet.Nothing would protect her from the foes who dared to challenge me, but my mark would give her a chance of survival.
Finding Alaina wrapped in the mutt’s arms, his lips bloody and reeking of alcohol, was worse than any fate I could fathom. It was one thing to imagine her wandering off and being attacked by my enemies and another to see the mutt I should’ve killed to begin taking advantage of her.
I saw his intention to follow that command before I let him go and Alaina’s plan to follow my orders. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered she was with the one wolf I had told to stay away from.
I didn’t even need my powers to piece together what the mutt had attempted. Between the cheap beer clouding his senses and weakening his resolve and the blood on his lips my mate inflicted, he deserved it.
My mate wasn’t scared of the pathetic little mutt. I would’ve felt that in her aura. She was brave, did what she needed to defend herself, and faced the situation like a queen. But she felt remorse when she hurt him, from having to draw the blood of someone she cares about.
That, I understand too well. Luckily for her, with my abilities, my mate won’t ever have to worry about guessing someone’s true intentions again. I will prescreen anyone near my mate and make sure they have the utmost purest intentions. I don’t want her to ever second-guess her safety under my care.
However tough it was for her to hurt him to save herself, the message served its purpose, as the mutt didn’t have aim to advance further when I arrived on the scene.
He has little mind for what he has done, and every atom of his pathetic being would pay. While the mutt will die today, death is a kindness—I could make this into a long torture, but because my mate is intact and I’m eager to claim her, his end will be quick.
Seething savagery courses through my veins and inebriates my soul. My wolf drinks in the chaos, and adrenaline accelerates my pulse, while mercy for my little mate’s sake has been tested and reached its limit.
My guys open the cell, and the door creaks. Still holding her arm, I push her into the cell first.
She brings her hand to her mouth, shocked. “What have you done to him?” When she moves toward him, I cage my arm around her stomach, holding her close to me.
I lay a soft kiss next to her ear, smiling as I whisper, “Say, thank you, my king, for not killing the mutt.”
She shivers at my words, and I smile at the effect I have on her.
She should be scared and is about to find out just how devilish I can be. My words, although patronizing, couldn’t be more serious. It takes great restraint not to kill him on sight, and I feel I’m owed some credit. But he needs to be alive as my mate receives a lesson. While I’m proud of how she handled herself, she needs to witness what’s next—her actions have consequences. Had she listened and remained where I told her to be, where I knew she’d be safe, this could have been avoided.
Disgusted by my words, she whips her head in my direction, her eyes wide.
If my words alone create such a look, then she’s in for a rude awakening.
“You’re insane,” she spits at me.
