James roared out, “His name was Sean. He was mine.” Angry tears fell down James’s cheeks. He pushed Kayla to the side slightly as if he wanted to get to me, as if he was tired of using her as a human shield. “He was my best friend. I loved him, and you took him from me.” He slammed his fist against his chest. “He saved me, not just my literal life”—he points to the scar across his neck—“but my sanity too.” He looked at Kayla and snarled. “He was there when I almost died, when I was attacked and my head almost cut clean off. He stayed by my bedside, nursing me back to health. He was my everything. He saved me from the desolation of being alone. He was mine, and I was his, and you took my future away.”
I was stunned speechless, which in fact had never happened before. The vampire in question, Sean, had been one of my soldiers. One at the bottom of the hierarchy pole, but an asset to my army nonetheless. Or he had been until I found out he betrayed me, and I killed him.
“Sean was your mate?” James didn’t answer, just kept breathing hard. I shook my head. “Sean was a lying, cheating motherfucker who was going behind my back and stealing from me. Syphoning funds, building his own empire. He was a greedy fucker. He not only put others in danger with his sloppy selfishness, but he in fact killed his own kind for that power.” I narrowed my eyes. “He betrayed our kind. He betrayed you.” I slowly straightened my arm and pointed my finger right at James. “Mate or not, a traitor gets handled accordingly, and I wasn’t about to let him continue on the same path where others were damaged because of his selfishness.” Now I did smile, but it couldn’t be called anything but violent.
I needed to change the trajectory of the situation enough that he came after me, his anger so monumental that all he saw was his rage for me. It was a risky tactic, but I could see James was already unstable, his rage transforming him so all he was seeing was tunnel vision right to me.
He may’ve wanted to hurt Kayla to get at me, but more so he wanted to hurt me himself, with his own hands. He wanted to take my life himself.
“I could kill him fast,” Odhran said. I’d forgotten he was standing there, forgotten about everyone and everything else but James and Kayla.
“No, I’ll handle this.” I wasn’t about to let the wolf get near my mate, not when his priority wasn't her, and if she got hurt, he wouldn't think twice.
I was terrified for her, the very thought of James taking her from me tearing at my very soul until all I could think about was how slowly I’d make James suffer.
I gestured for him to come forward.
“You want a go at me, then come on. May the strongest win.” I remembered clearly how James had gotten the scars, how he’d been ambushed by a horde of Therabus, those nasty-as-fuck Katara Otherworld assholes who gained their power from syphoning it out of others. They’d scarred up his face, draining his life force as they all but sawed off his head.
I knew Sean had led a group that saved James, had helped the vampire heal, tending to him around the clock. But shortly after was when I found out about Sean's betrayal.
A traitor was a traitor who got no mercy. And so I had to take matters into my own hands.
“Or are you too much of a pussy to take me on?” I laughed. “You know how I killed him?” Keep that rage on me, fucker. “So fucking slowly, James. I cut his tongue out first—”
James roared out and shoved Kayla aside, bracing his upper body forward, his eyes flashing red for battle. I tensed in readiness and anticipation, felt aggression at his rough treatment of her. I bared my teeth in rage and fear when I saw the knife had cut into the side of Kayla’s throat, smelled copious amounts of her blood spilled.
She’d been pushed to the side hard enough she fell into Salvatore, who placed a gun to her temple at the same time he placed his hand on her neck, adding pressure to the wound.
I wasn’t dumb. The fucker didn’t want her dead, because he—the Assembly—would use her to get to me. They’d use her against me, because they knew she was my only real weakness.
Not the sun, not even death could bring me down like the very thought of my mate being hurt could.
My heart jumped into my throat, and I saw literal red as I crashed into James.
Odhran made inhuman sounds right before everything else faded, and all I was focused on was taking this piece of shit out fast.