I feel the tension in the air crackle like lightning.
And Then
“Kali Diana calls, her voice soft, fake kindness dripping from every syllable. “Please, speak to your mate. Talk to Alpha Jack. Tell him to put an end to this madness.
I blink at her. Is she serious?
She steps out from behind Travis, hands raised as though she’s the noble one here—the savior.
“He’s already killed Grace. Isn’t that punishment enough? Don’t let this go on any further.”
She actually dares to smile at me like we’re old friends and she hasn’t spent years making my life miserable.
“This pack took care of you,” she continues, her lips trembling as though she’s truly heartbroken. “We fed you. Clothed you. We picked you up from the dirt, Kali. You were nothing more than a stray dog when we found you.”
My hands clench into fists.
She did not just say that.
“You can’t let your mate destroy everything,” she pleads, eyes now glistening with tears as if she’s the victim“Think of your mother. Your father. This is their pack–this is their legacy.”
For a moment, all I can do is stare at her.
Then I laugh. A cold, bitter laugh that burns like fire and tastes of blood on my tongue.
“You Vile bitch,” I hiss. “You made my life a living hell. You humiliated me. You tried to force your pathetic excuse for a son on me.”
Her eyes widen in shock, as if she’s suddenly remembered what she did–how she stripped me of my clothes and threw me into the mating room for Travis to use me like some toy.
“And now you have the audacity to beg for mercy?” I shake my head, a bitter smile curling on my lips. “You locked my mother away. You broke me in every way you could.”
Her smile falters, finally.
I turn to Jack–proud, furious, standing tall beside him, blood still drying on my face.
“Well, guess what?” I whisper coldly. “Now it’s your turn to suffer.”
I look back at her, eyes blazing.
“My mate is going to make your lives miserable–just like you did to me.”
Jack wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer, and I let him. I want them to see.
The blood on my face.
“Please,” he adds softly, eyes searching mine with something that looks dangerously close to regret. “I was your mate before him. We had a bond, Kali. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I scoff but Jack–Jack erupts.
Shit
A savage growl tears from his chest, so deep and violent it shakes the damn trees again. His grip on my waistightens, so fiercely I’m sure it’ll leave
marks.
“How dare you,” he snarls, voice guttural, dark, and deadly. “How fucking dare you claim to have been mate to what’s mine–and say it to my face like it means something?”
“You must not value your life, boy.”
I blink, startled for a split second.
Of course, he’s jealous.
And honestly?
It’s stupid, and petty, and possessive as hell. Even in the middle of a power shift, jack is acting like a possessive man–child–and somehow, it makes my heart flutter.
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