Second Fate

29

"Look, who it is."

The person I'd turned to wasn't Cara, I noticed that quickly enough. His stare went right through my face, which was turning bloodless, and bore into my brain.

"You", I pressed out, before my voice broke. What the hell was he doing here?

Even though his face was that of a stranger, I recognized his air. I'd met him for the first time during the ambush in the woods, and then again, when he'd had his boot on my throat. I would never forget the yellow-ish glare that burnt like acid on my skin.

I didn't believe for a second that he had any right to come and go in the mansion. And he certainly wasn't a friend of the pack. So, why ...

"Look who it is", shouted the man over his shoulder, without taking any notice of my stunned stare. "Aren't we lucky, Rhett?"

"Quite the happy surprise", Rhett replied with a nod. He'd come up the flight of stairs when he was spoken to, turning to me with a predatory collectedness.

I didn't recognize this man, but I recognized the situation I found myself in. Two wolfs, one prey.

Seems like Meredith's pack has a preferred hunting tactic.

I could feel my heartbeat resounding in my whole body, down to the cold fingertips. "Wh-what do you want?"

"Justice", growled the stranger with the boot. In the half-light spilling out of Vine's bedroom, he seemed less threatening than the man crushing my throat in a dirty alley. His friend was larger and broad-shouldered, but he looked lanky like a teenager, as if he'd shot up too fast. But I couldn't let myself be fooled. I knew his strength first-hand.

"Vine has done no–"

"Shut up about Vine, will you? It's all of you which have hurt us. You're so focused on keeping this perfect family intact that you couldn't care less for anyone else. It's time we punish this pack for Kenna ... and for Kyle."

"Kyle tried to kill m–"

"Don't you dare say his name after killing him."

The image of Vine kneeling on a bloodied and broken body was still fresh in my mind. But I also remembered the cuts and bites and tears on his own skin – and I didn't have to touch my upper arm to know how sore it would feel.

"I didn't – but he had it coming", I said.

The rage flashed on the stranger's face like thunder, and I couldn't help but shrink back. My hip met with a vintage sideboard, rattling the vase on it, when he stormed forward.

He stopped so close to me, I could feel his foul breath on me.

"You'll learn your lesson when I rip your throat out. I'll take my time with you and then I'll work my way through all of you monsters, one by one, until I get to your V–"

"STOP", interrupted Rhett surprisingly. His forehead was in wrinkles as he put a hand onto his friend's shoulder to drag him away from me. "We're not here for revenge, and you know that. We're here to get the children and come back, that's all."

Get the children? My mouth got dry as I registered what they were saying. They wanted the children, for whatever reason they had.

The men were muttering to each other now, with Kyle trying to free himself of his older friend's grip.

"Let me go."

"Not before you've calmed down. This will help Meredith", shot Rhett back coolly. "She'll have someone to treat like Kenna, and it will help her."