Andrei
Zane is walking toward the treeline to dispose of the body when I tackle him. As his body hits the ground, the rogue’s lifeless body is flung into the grass.
Zane rolls beneath him, and I straddle him as I pull back my fist and punch him, breaking his nose on impact.
“What the fuck are you playing at? Are you trying to sabotage everything?” I scream at him. I don’t hesitate as I plow my fist back into his face, my rage burns through me like gunpowder has been set off.
He holds his arms up to block me, but my blows force his own hand to smack him in the face. He turns his head to spit a stream of blood then turns, glaring up at me.
“I fucking told you last week the braces were loose and wouldn’t hold much longer! You wanted him tied down there, I fucking did what you asked,” he snarls back at me, but his words do nothing but anger me even more.
I growl at him.
“He did tell you, Andrei, this is your fault,” Donnie interrupts me, fighting for control.
I fall off Zane, landing straight on my ass. I clutch the sides of my head when Donnie finally lets go of control. “Fuck!” I scream at the top of my lungs.
I need an outlet, I need to hurt something. I was so fucking close, and I fucking ruined it.
“It’s ok, I will get rid of the body. You need to sort your shit out, Andrei. Sage was right. You didn’t have to kill him,” Zane mutters as he rolls onto his hands and knees.
I glance at my Beta right when he grabs his nose and breaks it back in place so it won’t heal back crooked.
“I had to kill him. You know I had to, Zane.” I snap at him as I run a hand through my hair and grip it.
This is so fucked up. One step forward and ten back. I can never catch a break.
“Did you, Andrei? Or did you just want to? Because the way I see it, besides the ones that tortured Sage, the rest didn’t deserve death, you could have let them go,” Zane argues, sounding suspiciously like my little mate.
“They would have come back and killed her!” I press. I know I am in the right here, it’s just that Sage and Zane refuse to see it. Sooner or later they will understand. I’m doing this for the pack, I’m doing this for Sage.
After a brief moment of silence, I glance at Zane, and he shakes his head at me. He wipes his bleeding nose on the back of his hand and spits out another stream of blood. “Is this about Sage or Angie? Not every rogue is the one that attacked us. The entire pack is petrified of you. This isn’t you, Andrei. You don’t just torture people for no reason.”
“They have been scouting us for weeks, trying to gain entry.” I remind him of the issue we have discussed and tried to deal with for so long. How could he forget?
“No, you just think they have. You have fucking lost it, Andrei! Sort your shit out before we all walk. Angie is gone, you can’t bring her back, but you will lose Sage and your pack if you keep going like this. We have men out searching for their mates that are too scared to bring them back, even if they do find them,” Zane informs me, and I stare up at him.
“Who is too scared to bring their mate back?” So far, I haven’t heard from anyone who has even found their mate yet.
Zane scrubs a hand down his face. “No one, not yet, but they have been talking. They don’t want to bring anyone back here in case you scare them off if they do.”
“I wouldn’t hurt anyone’s mate, Zane,” I tell him.
“And what if they are rogue? You see a rogue, and no matter what information you get, you kill them. Doing that won’t bring Angie back, it won’t bring our families back either. Let it go. We all did or are trying to, but you are stuck living that day on repeat and you’re tossing everything else away for vengeance you will not get. It will never be enough.”
“Listen to him, Andrei. Zane is right,” Donnie agrees, but I shake my head, not wanting to listen to this shit. Am I really the only sane person left in this pack?
How can I let go so easily when I lost so much? We all did. We lost everything worth living and fighting for. Wasn’t that enough? Should I just give up and welcome those bastards in again, just so they can kill the remains of the pack we still have?
“What about the rogue attacks, then? Why are they scouting?” I demand.
Zane rolls his eyes at me as if I just said the stupidest thing he has ever heard. “Lior said he was scouting for food. The mountains are bare of everything this season.”
“Lior?” I ask, and he points to the man at his feet.
“Lior, the rogue. He had a name before you killed him. The camp isn’t far from here. They have been scouting because they could smell the crops here. I believed him when he said he meant no harm.” Zane pinches the bridge of his nose and hisses as he does. I guess it hasn’t fully healed yet.
“Then why didn’t you fucking say something?” I snap at him, unsure about what I am angry about anymore. Is it myself that I am angry with, or Zane?
“Would you have listened?” He retorts.
I sigh. He is right. I wouldn’t have listened. I still would have interrogated him myself.
“The other camp?” I ask.
“Not affiliated with the camp he comes from,” he says.
Zane’s head whips to my house when light moves over the grass as Sage flicks on the main light in the bedroom. I can see Sage’s tears streaking her face from over here. She slogs across the room and enters the bathroom in the bedroom.
When she shuts the door behind her, Zane clears his throat. “By the way, you should buy new curtains; those clearly do nothing to stop you from seeing in,” he comments, looking back at me.
I chuckle and shake my head. How hadn’t I noticed before? They are completely see-through.