<b>Chapter </b><b>87 </b>


    GRAYSON


    “Hold the damn hands!”


    I shiver. Not because I’m cold. But because for a second I swear, I’m on the cold floor of the trainingpound, knuckles split open, blood on my tongue, a man twice my size choking me out while my father’s shadow watches–arms crossed, silent judgment heavier than any blow.


    Fuck.


    It’s just another nightmare, Grayson.


    I nced to the side and I found her. Jessica’s asleep. Out cold. Probably exhausted because I couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t stop needing her like I’m afraid she’ll disappear if I blink too long. My hand’s still resting against her hip, and I don’t even remember keeping it there.


    I ease away slowly, not because I’m afraid of waking her–but because I’m–afraid of what I’ll do if I stay.


    The mirror catches me on the way to the sink. I stop.


    I look like him.


    Jaw tight. Eyes dead. Shoulders like walls. I smash the faucet on, ice cold, and scrub my face with dry hands like it’ll peel off the part of me that still obeys him.


    Alpha Grayson Westwood.


    He’s going to lose his fucking mind when he finds out. That I threw it all away–for a girl he warned me about. The second word gets out that I’m walking away–that I put Jessica above the title–I be the threat. The disgrace. The disappointment that needs correcting.


    And he’ll try.


    He’ll try to pull me back in. Chain me to the throne he built out of fear and obedience. Make an example out of me. Out of her.


    And I swear to god, if he touches her–I don’t know what I’ll fucking do.


    Jessica will probably sleep for more hours but I couldn’t. So I ran. Shifted the second I was outside. Didn’t wait for the pain. Weed it. Invited it like an old friend who never asks questions.


    I ran until the trees blurred, until the wind peeled my skin back, until the beast in me stopped gnawing at my ribs. I ran like something was chasing me.


    Maybe it was. Maybe it always is.


    I don’t even know if I’m more afraid of losing her or what I’ll do if someone tries to take her from me. I’ve already given up the title. I’d burn the whole damn pack before I surrender her.


    Which, of course, makes me just like him. And I’d rather fucking die than be that man. I don’t want to be Alpha if it turns me


    into him. But I don’t know who I am without it either.


    10:07 Fri, 22 Aug


    I run deeper into the woods like if I go far enough, fast enough, I can outpace the voice in my head.


    Fuck that.


    42%


    I leap over the creek bed andnd heavy, muddy water sshing up my chest. Keep going. Keep tearing through bark and stone and memory until something snaps–something real. Something I can kill.


    Because I can’t kill what’s rotting me from the inside.


    +38)


    I shift back mid–stride, pain ripping down my spine like a serrated knife. Copse into a stumble, bare skin scraping dirt and stone as I hit the ground on all fours, heaving. Naked. Animal. Shaking.


    I drag myself to a tree and lean there, pressing my head against the rough bark like I can anchor myself to it.


    However, I’m still regaining my strength when I feel a strong presence. My body moves before my brain does. I twist, low and sharp, just as a heavy boot swings toward my ribs. It grazes, not enough to drop me–but enough to piss me off.


    “Wrong fucking move,” I growl.


    I surge up, still half–feral, and m my shoulder into him. He grunts as we hit the ground hard. I see his face for a split second- recognition res. Traitor.


    “You!”


    Theo growls, eyes shing gold, voice low and venomous.


    I snarl back, grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him closer until our foreheads nearly crash. “You’ve got some fucking nerve showing your face.”


    “Yeah?” he spits, teeth bared. “I heard you lost the girl, Grayson.”


    I swing–he sidesteps. Fucking smirking. I try <i>to </i>grab him again, ws half–out, but he ducks under, ms his shoulder into my gut, and we both go down hard, crashing into the forest floor.


    “You’re sloppy,” he mutters near my ear. “<i>You </i>used to hit harder. Guess heartbreak makes you soft.”


    I shove him off, breathing fire, blood pounding in my ears. “You want to die that bad, Theo? I can make it hurt.”


    “See, I thought you’d be pissed,” he says casually. “But this?” His head tilts. “This is tragic. You’re not Alpha. You’re just some lovesick mutt howling at the wrong moon.”


    I lunge. He dodges again. ms his elbow into the back of my skull and I go sprawling forward, bark and dirt grinding into my cheek.


    “Still fast, huh?” 1 grunt, getting to my knees.


    “Faster now that I’m not dragging around a fucking leash.”


    His boot connects with my ribs, Crack. I grunt, clutching my side.


    “But don’t worry,” he drawls, circling me again. “I’ll take good care of your pack. And your girl.” He leans in. “I’m going to feast on


    her.”


    I snap. My body shifts halfway, ws out, bones snapping, eyes glowing. I tear into him,nding a clean strike across his chest-


    7


    deep enough to draw blood. He stumbles back, finally snarling, dropping the act.


    But then–heughs.


    “There it is,” he pants. “There’s the Grayson I came to bury.”


    He shifts fully. Silver–grey fur. Massive. Brutal. But something’s off. It’s not just size. It’s not just the speed. His wolf–It doesn’t look right.


    And fuck me, it’s stronger.


    He prowls closer, paws sinking into the soil like he’s poisoning the ground he walks on.


    “What the hell did you do?” I rasp.


    His wolf grins. It fucking grins.


    I lunge again, desperate, reckless. I don’t care if I tear his throat out or die trying.


    But Theo’s not alone anymore.


    Two more wolves appear from the trees, then three. Rogues. Wild, unmarked, eyes shining with sick pleasure.


    Fuck.


    I try to shift back, outmaneuver, but teeth mp down on my hind leg and rip me to the ground. I crash hard, air punched from my lungs.


    Before I can even lift my head–Theo’s on me again. His jaw ms into my shoulder. A searing pain explodes down my spine as he drives me into the dirt.


    I snap at him, but another wolf mps onto my side. Another ws at my nk.


    Too many.


    They came to take me.


    I thrash, snarl, kick, but the weight of them is <i>too </i>much. One digs ws into my ribs. Another bites down on the back of my neck, pinning me like prey.


    And Theo?


    Theo shifts back. Stands over me like he’s already wearing the crown.


    Chest heaving, mouth bloodied, hair stered to his face.


    He spits on the ground next to me.


    “Look at you,” he mutters, voice sharp with satisfaction. “Alpha? You’re not even a fucking fight anymore.”


    I snarl through the blood, vision flickering.


    I try to rise-


    10:07 Fri, 22 Aug O


    He kicks me in the ribs, hard. I choke on air.


    “Should’ve stayed down.”


    My muscles seize. My limbs give out. My body quits on me.


    I hear metal. Chains.


    No–silver.


    42%


    438)


    The scent hits first, then the burn. Agonizing. They wrap it around my wrists, my throat. It hisses against my skin, drawing smoke. I


    can’t even scream.


    Someoneughs. Then a voice behind me snaps: “Tie him up! Let’s bring him to the Alpha.”


    Hands grab me. Drag me. My head lolls, blood in my mouth, my bond to Jessica screaming through my chest.


    I try to reach her–through the link, through anything–but everything fades.


    Thest thing I see is Theo’s smirk as he watches me disappear into the dark.