Chosen Destiny

3

Guys, he’s gone, Jack linked, and we all felt his trepidation. There’s no sign of him, not even his scent. They must have had a witch here.

My mate was gone. He’d been taken from me. And this man not even fifteen feet away was the cause. Maybe not directly, but he’d killed my parents and set all of this into motion.

All the wolves have retreated, Miles replied.

Anger boiled within me, and I stood up straight, my mind clear and begging for Zeke’s blood. “You,” I snarled and lunged at him.

CHAPTER TWO

Zeke stumbled back a few steps, but I countered each move, my wolf surging forward, wanting blood as desperately as I did.

His eyes widened as I barreled into his chest, both hands punching his ribs.

“Get off me!” he spat, but I heard the fear behind his voice.

Good. I wanted him to feel what my mother had felt before the explosion. I wanted him to die the same way—terrified.

I punched him in the face as my arms tingled from my wolf surging forward. He fell backward and landed on his butt, me half on top of him.

A hmph escaped him as the impact jarred us. Hoping he was distracted, I snaked my left hand around his waist, trying to pry the knife he had to defend against Kel’s wolves away from him as my wolf pushed forward. She wanted to taste his blood as much as my human side wanted to make him bleed. In animal form, I could make both of those things happen.

The sound was damn near intoxicating. I wanted to watch as his blood pooled under him from my teeth in his neck. I wanted to see him slowly bleed out as the life drained from him.

Who knew I’d ever be like this? But after everything this bastard had done, my humanity faltered.

“Callie!” Samuel shouted, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me back.

Oh, f**k no. This bastard was the reason my parents were dead, why I’d lost so much time with my brother, and why his pack had abused me for most of my life. I also suspected he’d been involved in this latest attack, which had resulted in my mate’s disappearance. Death was the punishment he deserved.

I elbowed Samuel in the face and clawed Zeke’s cheek. My nails dug into his skin, scraping his cheek raw, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to hurt him more.

Pain flashed through my connection with Samuel, but hot rage blinded me. All I could see was Zeke’s face and the hell he’d put everyone through.

Another pair of arms snaked around my waist just as Zeke loosened his hold on the knife, and I swiped it from him.

What’s wrong? Lucas asked as he tried to pull me off Zeke.

I tried to elbow him in the face, but Lucas had anticipated the move, and I missed my mark. I tucked my legs underneath me, striking out and landing a fist in his stomach. Lucas grunted but held firm as I desperately swung the knife at Zeke’s chest, aiming for his heart.

For whatever reason, my wolf couldn’t surge forward any further, which was okay with me. I could inflict a bad enough injury in my human form. It’d be a slower death this way, anyway. The scent of fresh blood hit my nose, making my wolf eager for more.

“Callie, I hate the guy too, but we need to focus on finding Bodey.” Samuel’s voice came out more nasally than usual.

I froze.

Bodey.

He was right. The more time I spent on Zeke, the farther away Bodey would be. I stopped fighting, and Lucas lifted me with ease and placed me on my feet.

I stared at Zeke, unable to tear my gaze off him. I’d missed his heart by inches, stabbing him in the upper right chest. I hoped I’d hit a major artery.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Zeke grunted as he sat up and glared at the knife protruding from his body. “That was an unwarranted attack! If that’s—”

“Unwarranted?” Rage had my skin boiling uncomfortably. “You killed my parents and would have killed me too, if it hadn’t been for my mom!”

His face blanched, and his eyes widened.

“You got your memories back?” Samuel moved to my side.

I glanced at him, and bile burned my throat. His nose was slightly crooked, and blood poured from it. I flinched as remorse slammed into me. I’d hurt my baby brother—the last blood family I had left. “Yes, I did. And I’m sorry for doing that.” I gestured at his face.

Zeke tried to get up, likely to escape but groaned from his injury.

Wolves dotted the tree line, and Lucas hurried to Bodey’s Mercedes SUV and popped the trunk. Luckily, Bodey had left the keys in the car when he’d raced to open it in the hope we could get Sybil away before the wolves learned about our plan and attacked us in the open.

My heart thundered as I searched for the human who’d witnessed the bloodbath. No more humans had driven by yet. Blessedly, Halfway was a small town.

The human lay unconscious on the ground ten feet away from Zeke, which was probably a good thing. We needed to bring a witch here quickly to alter his memory.

Lucas grabbed a black duffel from the back seat of the SUV and raced toward the tree line. Miles, Jack, and Jasmine had to be there, wanting to shift back into human form.

Now that I’d calmed from reliving my memory, logic was catching up to me again. Finding Bodey and getting him back was my priority, even over killing Zeke.

We need more wolves out there, searching for Bodey, I linked with Blake, his twenty pack members, Theo, Lucas, Samuel, Jasmine, Jack, Miles, and the former advisors—Michael, Dan, Phil, and Carl.

Don’t worry. The four of us are still searching the area, Michael linked. They couldn’t have taken him too far yet.