DAYNE
The only thing Dayne cared about was putting Abel down.
Nothing else mattered.
His wolf was in agreement as Dayne darted through the Dawley National Forest after the wolf who’d not only terrified Savannah, but who’d made Talis’ life hell.
Not only that, but the wolf had invaded his territory, not once, but several times, and had even entered his home, which was… unacceptable.
There was only one thing for it. He had to die.
Although his focus was on chasing down the wolf who was leading him through the forest and toward the Merrick lands, Dayne wasn’t so far gone that he wasn’t aware Abel may well be leading him into a trap.
For Abel to appear near their rental and wait until Dayne had caught sight of him before leading him away was suspicious beyond belief.
Which meant Abel had tracked the route he and the others had taken through the National Forest on their way to rescue Talis.
Dayne hadn’t been trying to hide his movements since he’d always intended on returning to deal with the Merrick pack once Talis was safe.
He was only sorry Abel had terrified Savannah.
Still, Luka would be pissed. Talis too. And that was putting it mildly.
Not that Dayne had any intention of turning back. Abel had caused too much harm to his pack for Dayne to let him get away again.
As he sped through the densely wooded forest, his larger shape meant he had to slow down and pick his way through the trees with more care.
Abel, who was no doubt more knowledgeable about the forest, took advantage to pull further ahead.
With a growl of frustration when he nearly crashed into a tree, Dayne veered around it and swore again when he saw he’d lost even more ground.
For one second, Dayne thought he’d lost Abel, and his fury pushed him to go even faster, despite knowing he might well be stepping into a trap.
But then he darted around another tree, and there he was.
Abel was just ahead, and if Dayne wasn’t mistaken, he was gaining on the ash-blond wolf.
Only, as they crossed over from the public Dawley National Forest and into Merrick pack land, suspicion stirred at how quickly he’d closed the gap between them.
As if the wolf had purposely slowed.
It wasn’t hard for Dayne to guess why.
A trap.
For a second, he hesitated over continuing ahead, or returning to the rental house and gathering the pack in force. But then he remembered all Talis had told him about this wolf.
He remembered the pain in her voice, the trauma of Abel pinning her down and cutting her finger off without the slightest hesitation. Then, her coming too with the shifter taking advantage of her unconscious state to grope her.
Fuck that.
He continued through the Merrick forest.
The shifter had to die, either by his hands or by his teeth and claws. But one way or the other, he would die, and he’d die today.
Up ahead Dayne spotted a clearing and guessed they were fast approaching the house since he recognized it from his and Talis’ moon-blessing ceremony.
The wolf ahead was visibly slowing.
Dayne accelerated.
He pushed himself harder than he ever had before. When he was close enough, he used his powerful back legs to spring himself into the air, launching himself directly onto Abel.
They both went down hard as Dayne took the wolf to the ground.
For a couple of minutes, they tussled. But Dayne’s fury was far and above anything the wolf he was facing down could meet.
Dayne used his shoulder to force the ash-blond wolf to the ground, before he lowered his head and ripped Abel’s throat out, sending an arc of blood spraying over the grass, the soil, and Dayne himself.
Even once the wolf whose throat he had clamped between his powerful jaws stopped moving, Dayne still didn’t release him.
He shook him, squeezed down harder, wanting to be sure, wanting to bring him back to life again so he could kill him again.
At a sharp pain on his flank, Dayne dropped the body of the dead wolf and spun around, already growling.
But before he could see what had caused it, there was another sharp pain that had him snarling.
He shook his head as a sudden wave of dizziness struck.
For a second, he didn’t understand what it could be. But then he caught sight of the man stood on the porch of the house with a rifle pointed at him.
Glynn Merrick.
Then Glynn fired another shot, and Dayne was snarling at another sharp pain piercing his shoulder.
He glanced down and saw at once what Glynn had been shooting at him.
Fucking tranquilizer darts, he guessed, as he fought off an urge to lie down and close his eyes.
Likely with a dose powerful enough to bring down a bear.
It looked like Glynn hadn’t only been picking up scent blockers at his stop in the hunting shop.
Still, while the tranqs were sapping his strength, Dayne knew he still had enough in him to make it across the clearing and take Glynn down.
He was weak, but not that weak. Not yet, at least.
Dayne put his head down and charged across the clearing.
He was halfway there when another shot pierced him on his side. A side he hadn’t been expecting.
With a snarl of pain, he whirled and spotted the shifter standing several feet away with his rifle pointed at Dayne.
Shit. This was bad.
He’d expected a trap, but not this. Shifters weren’t the tranq types, though he should’ve guessed Glynn Merrick would take the lazy approach that put his ass at least risk of harm.
Still, his priority was Glynn. Once he took the alpha out, he doubted he’d get any trouble from the rest of the pack, particularly with their beta lying dead a few feet away.
Shaking off the blurred vision creeping up on him, Dayne turned from the shifter standing under the shade of the trees and continued toward Glynn.
Dayne made it another couple of steps before a shot pierced his other side.
This time it was a woman with short dark hair peering at him with a vicious smile twisting her lips.
It had to be Loren, the female shifter Talis had told him delighted in lashing out at those around her. A type three predator, Talis had called her.
While he’d have loved nothing better than to take her down, Dayne had bigger fish to fry.
He made it another three steps before three darts hit him almost in unison.
Nothing could stop him from sinking to the ground.
No matter how hard he fought to shake off the blurred vision and the confusion in his head, he couldn’t.
With a growl of fury, he slumped to the ground, and everything went black.