Page 24 of Silver Claw

Remy, Zach, and Sam tensed, ready to take on the trespassers. Eager, even, despite their wounds.

“See, that’s why I sent in some men to rough up your boys there,” Voss said. “I don’t want to fight you, little miss. Women are for hurting in a whole different way.” He winked at me. “A much nicer way.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Your caveman antics don’t impress me, Voss. Why don’t you stop wasting my time and tell me exactly what you think the endgame is here? Because despite their injuries, two of the men at my side are hunters. They want to bag your ass, and I’m not going to hold them off all day.”

Finally, he lost his smile as a sneer curled his lips instead. “Just one more reason why a woman shouldn’t run around playing at being an alpha. Wolves don’t get into bed with hunters, girl. Adam should have taught you better than that.”

“I killed Adam Thorne,” I said mildly. “I really don’t want the responsibility of your pack, but if you return to Silverwood, I’ll bury you, too. Take your goons and get the hell off my land.”

“Look,” he said, taking a small step forward. “I’ve come to this territory because I owed Adam. I don’t blame you for somehow managing to end your alpha’s life. I blame the alpha who helped you do it. He’s the one at fault here, and I aim to retrieve the Stone Moon pack and restore Stonebridge. I’ll kill Jared Walker to do it. And I’m taking Silverwood, because really, that’s Walker’s too, isn’t it? I’ll have it and you, too.” He clapped his hands once, hard, and despite my desire to remain impassive, I jumped. “That, honey, is my endgame.”

“You’ve started a war you can’t win,” I said, hoping he couldn’t sense my emotions. My heart was beating my ribs to death, and fear was attempting to get the upper hand. Because though I saw Voss’s bluster, I felt what lay beneath it. He was mean and dirty, and he was powerful.

He was deadly.

If I’d still had my magic, I believed I would have ended his life then and there. I would have crammed my magic down his throat and killed the threat before he had a chance to bring the darkness lurking inside him.

I took a breath, then let it go. “Don’t take us on, Voss. Go back to Colorado and take care of your people. You don’t want to die here.”

“Join me,” he said abruptly, all traces of humor and bluster gone from his scarred face. “You’re strong for a female and suit me fine. I’ll make you an offer right now. Come to me, and I’ll mate with you. You can tend my pack as an alpha’s mate should. I may even leave you here to oversee the Gray Shadow pack once I end their alpha.”

I didn’t miss the way the warriors at his side stiffened and glanced at him, incredulous. The man on his left opened his mouth like he might say something, rage flashing through his eyes.

“Callen,” Voss said gently. “Is there something you want to say to me?”

Callen immediately blanked his face. “No, Alpha.”

Voss didn’t once look at the man. “My beta,” he explained to me. “Sometimes he gets ahead of himself and I have to put him back in his place. Now, little miss. What say you to my generous offer?”

“Are you insane?” I asked, frowning. “I mean…areyou?”

Remy snickered. “He’d have to be, wouldn’t he?”

Voss speared him with a cold stare. “I’ll killyoufirst.”

“You won’t kill any of us,” I told him. “And this talk is over.” Then I paused, frowning, and hitched my thumb at Remy. “Do you really not know who he is? None of you know the wolves’ boogeyman when he’s standing right in front of you?”

I was gratified when one of the warriors standing behind Voss took a quick step back. “Yeah,” I murmured.“Youknow the boogeyman.”

Voss wasn’t amused. “Listen, girl—”

“No,” I said. “Take your dead and get away from Silverwood. And when you get to wherever it is you’re staying, start tying up any loose ends you might have. Tell your people goodbye and offer your thanks to your beta, who’s about to become alpha of the Iron Fang pack. Because youwillbe defeated, and we won’t want your people.”

I saw a flicker in Callen’s eyes, but I wasn’t sure what it signaled. Surprise, gratification, mockery? I didn’t know.

Voss shook his head, his shaggy hair slithering like snakes over his massive shoulders. “You fascinate me, Kait Silver. You’re a woman, but you act like a man.” Then he grinned, and a gleam of genuine amusement lit his eyes. “I’m never going to believe you’re an alpha, though.”

“If you want Silverwood,” I told him, “you’ll have to challenge me to a fight for it. You can’t sneak in like a coward and attack our backs. Same with Jared.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Dead is dead, little one. If I kill either one of you, your territory is mine. But I don’t plan on challengingyouto a fight. That’d be like a wolf going after a puppy. I don’t fight girls.”

Zach drew the alpha’s attention. “You don’t know anything about Kait Silver. Challenge her. Challenge her and find out.”

My frustrated anger at Voss was tempered by Zach’s complete confidence in me.

“Go home, Voss,” I said flatly. I’d wasted too much time on the alpha and his men, and I was giving him five seconds before I tore into them all like a debris-filled whirlwind.

“I haven’t yet decided whether Jakeston is worth the trouble.” His stare raked my thinly clad body. “But I’m having a good time finding out.” Abruptly, he went from grinning poser to deadly alpha as he turned to his men littering the ground. With a growl, he forced those who’d lost their wolves to shift, and somewhat groggily, they shook their thick bodies and whined as they attempted to heal from the damage.