Hunting His Prey (Excerpt Whole Book On Amazon)

Chapter 12

Zane

How could she be so stupid! In our world what she has done to this girl is unforgiveable. I don't give a damn about the girl's life after this, my first and only priority is Penny and my pack of brothers. Everyone else is background noise. "What did you do?" My voice comes out so low it sounds lethal.

She does the only thing she has ever been taught to do, bows her head into a submissive pose. I don't want her submission; I want her to fight for what she believes in and stand by her gut instinct. Even if I do not agree with it. "The only thing I could do." She whispers solemnly. Her voice coming out so low, if I didn't have my wolf hearing, I wouldn't have heard her.

"You could have waited. We could have gotten the girl the proper help she needed." I am a mere few inches away from her. Looking down at her long red locks, as she still has her head bowed. Covering her face from my eyes, I do not care for that. "Look at me." I demand of her.

To my shock, and small delight she keeps her head down. That is until she folds into herself, the stance she would take when she knew her father was about to raise his hand at her. I would never do that! I do not hit women, especially not her. I gentle my voice as I say, "Penny. Please look at me." When I hear a sob fall from her mouth. It destroys me.

I find myself on my knees in front of her. Petting the top of her head with one hand, as I bring the other to her chin. Pinching it between my finger and thumb, I slowly conjure her head up so she can look at me. When her saddened, wet eyes look at me, I get lost in the beauty of them. They look like two lily pads floating in the lake. She is breathtaking.

"Why did you feel you needed to give her your blood?" I keep my voice low, so I do not scare her again. Although, I must fight my instincts, I'm the alpha of my pack. I am so used to raising my voice, making demands, and expecting everyone to answer me when I ask. With her, I will not be that way. Whether I am leader of the pack or not, she is my queen, and I will always treat her with the respect she deserves.

"I cannot bear to lose her. If she were to die, my life wouldn't be worth living anymore." She simply shrugs her shoulders as she tries to look away from me. "Nah uh, you look at me when we speak little wolf." Her eyes grow twice their size as I call her the nickname from our childhood. "You always look at me when we speak. You are not beneath me in any way." I stare her down, hoping she can see the honesty I feel of my words.

"I am not your equal in any way. I am a disappointment as a daughter, not worthy of anything other than becoming a breeder." She bites her lips as she looks at me. "I am a worthless werewolf." The last of her words break as tears begin anew. I've found I am at my wits end with her, and before I lose all my patience, I take hold of her head with both hands.

Forcing her to look at me, our noses are rubbing together as I speak to her in my Alpha tone. "You listen to me carefully, little wolf," her eyes bulge twice their size. I find I can't hold back entirely, my tongue darts out licking both our lips. Hers fall open on an exhale of surprise breath. "You are none of those things. Your father was a piss poor father, which did not, and still does not deserve you."

"He is not a man, but a worthless piece of garbage. You have so much potential, of things I know you are capable of." I tilt her head up a little more as I move higher onto my knees. Our chests are now touching, and I can't hold back the pleasing growl that makes its way up my throat. Closing my eyes, I enjoy the feel of her this close to me. When I open them, I see nothing but pure need in her eyes looking back at me. I know my eyes are mirroring what she sees as she looks at me.

"I will be standing here beside you through everything. Teaching you all I know and making sure you are a force to fear. Do you understand me?" She studies me a moment, before licking her lips. The action forcing my eyes back to her lips. I'm hungry, I know everyone in the room can smell just how much, but first we need to get down to business.

Once I release my hold on her, it takes her a moment, but she shakes her head to get the unscrupulous thoughts out of her head. When her eyes make their way down to her friend once more, I can see the question in her eyes. I give her one slight nod of my chin, "I will stand beside you on this as well. We all will." I held out my arms, letting my brothers know to give her the reassurance I know she needs.

"Damn straight we will." Ethan says from where he leans against the opposite wall, his arms closed over his chest. "We stand beside our packmates." Fang and Hunter say at once. I see Matty step up a little closer, coming out of the dark in the back of the room. "I'm with you both no matter what happens." He gives my mate a boyish smile.

She smiles right back at him, if it were any of the other guys' I'd correct him, but since Matty is the youngest, and completely innocent, I find I don't mind as much. How long that will last, I have no clue. He keeps giving her those googly eyes, we may have a problem in the future. When he looks up at me, what I'm thinking must be written all over my face as he clearly swallows and takes a big step back.

Nodding my head, feeling a bit better that he is showing signs of respect I bring my full attention to Penny. "Now, little wolf, why did you feel the need to give her your blood?" I watch as she squirms in her spot on the couch. Her hand holds Claudette's as she bites her bottom lip with her teeth.

It's a bittersweet site, a big part of me gets turned on by that little nervous habit of hers, while the other smaller part knows I cannot act on the things I want to do to her. So, she needs to stop teasing me with it. "I could smell her internal bleeding. I knew if I didn't act, within the hour she would have died." Her soft voice breaks on the last word.

Watching her now, I can understand what she is feeling. The girl may have been human, but she is a part of Penny's pack. My eyes go from my mate to my brothers, I'm not the least bit surprised that all of them are already looking at me. I can see it in their eyes, hear them all speaking to my wolf inside my head. "We stand by you all." Their voices come out strong and fierce.

Meaning no matter what happens from here on out they will be here with me and my mate. If that means seeing the girl through her transition and training her to be a wolf like the rest of us, they will. Both women are now a part of our pack, and we would die protecting them if it came to it. Unfortunately, for our enemies we are not going down so easily. A devilish smile forms my lips with the thought of taking my father and his best friend down. Soon.