The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 39 - Wrath and Ruin

"Okay," I said. Best to be level-headed about this. "Kill the engine. Let's not draw attention. They would have a hard time breaking into a locked car, so we're safe for now. Call someone else down here — and have them park up on the dry ground."

The older of the two fighters blinked at me, as if he was seeing me properly for the first time. "Yes, Luna."

I did feel a bit sorry for them both. They'd just been handed a very high-stakes job with no warning, and they were probably asking themselves what I was doing so close to a warzone in the first place. I was wondering that myself. I kept my head down, but I wound down the window a fraction so I could hear what was going on.

It looked like Jace was actually approaching the river now. He stopped while he was still in the cover of the trees out of an abundance of caution before he replied to whoever had been ceaselessly shouting for the last few minutes.

"Pull your men back," he called out. "Then we can talk."

"They'll stay where they are," Darren snapped back. I was sure it was him now — I could even see his silhouette. "I've got no plans to attack you. I mean, for Goddess' sake, why would I? I just want you to admit that you put him up to this."

That made Jace pause. The silence seemed to hang in the air for a long time before he said, "What on earth are you talking about?"

Darren let out a burst of humourless laughter. "Is that the way you want to play it? Look around and see how seriously I take it when you mess with my daughter."

"I wouldn't hurt Lizzie," Jace said. "I mean for Goddess' sake, Darren, she's underage."

He didn't seem to hear a word of it. I watched him spit on the grass, and I felt my muscles beginning to coil. He was much, much too angry, and it didn't feel like a negotiation to me. What was this about? What, exactly, had happened to his daughter?

"She's not mated to your dickhead of a brother," Darren snarled. "I don't care how much he shouts about it. If you think it'll save him ... then you're a lot stupider than I thought."

He didn't mean what I thought he meant, did he? Because if Jaden's mate was not some random Riverside pack member and instead the Alpha's daughter ... that was messed up. It was starting to sound like Jaden might have come straight here from the lodge, just like he'd said.

Jace had gone uncharacteristically quiet — I was willing to bet those same worries were running through his mind. When he finally spoke again, it was in a low and apprehensive voice. "Darren, whose blood is that?"

My heart skipped a beat or two. I hadn't seen any blood, but I was so far away. Even as I watched, the Riverside Alpha lifted a hand, examining his own knuckles. He looked to be smiling.

"Guess," he said.

Jace wasn't moving ... or speaking. He was just stood there. I tried to reach out to him through the bond, but I was met with walls unlike any I'd ever seen before. He had boxed himself in so tightly that I couldn't even see the flicker of his thoughts, let alone whatever emotions were swirling around in there.

It was a long time before Jace spoke again, and when he did, it was quieter than usual. "Is he dead?"

"Not yet!" Darren replied cheerfully. "But don't worry — they're bringing me the execution warrant now. You want to watch?"

Jace didn't answer him for obvious reasons. And Darren wasn't waiting for an answer anyway. He gestured at someone behind him, and a minute later, a pair of men emerged from the trees. They were dragging someone between them. That person was handcuffed, splattered with blood and seemingly unable to support their own weight.