Spiral of Need (The Mercury Pack 1)

“Did you think that if you killed me, you’d get away with it?” Ally snickered. “You would have forever been looking over your shoulder at the wolves chasing your crazy ass. You should have just stayed away.”

“I did. But apparently you can’t stay away from me, can you? You just can’t let go of your grudge against me.”

“Maybe if you opened your mouth for more than talking bullshit or giving blow jobs, we wouldn’t have a problem.” Ally’s wolf released a satisfied growl at the angry flush on Rachelle’s cheeks. “I gotta say, those tigers weren’t very competent. I suppose I should pity you for your delusions of tactical brilliance.”

Zeke spoke then. “Tigers? What about tigers? You’re not making any sense.”

“Sure I am.” Ally turned back to Rachelle. “You didn’t expect me to link the incident to you, huh.”

“What incident?” Matt asked. By that point, they had drawn a bit of a crowd, including Clint and Greg—both of whom were scowling at Ally.

“I was drugged and kidnapped by two tiger shifters a little while ago,” Ally told Matt. Surprise and dubiousness wafted from the Collingwood bystanders.

The Alpha gaped. “What?”

“You heard her,” growled Derren.

Matt slid his gaze briefly to his Beta female. “And you all think Rachelle had something to do with this?”

“We know she did.” Derren clenched his fists, barely resisting the urge to plant one in Matt’s face for being so evasive.

Rachelle folded her arms across her chest, regarding Ally like she was ridiculous. “Kidnapped? Yeah, right. Oh, and they just let you go, I suppose?”

“No. I jumped out of the trunk while they were still driving.” Ally rolled back one shoulder. “Hurt like a motherfucker.”

“You persist in seeing me as the enemy.” Rachelle dragged a hand through her hair. “You see conspiracies everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if you faked the kidnapping.” Derren’s snarl made her snap her gaze to him. She sneered at him, “Or maybe it was someone trying to get at you through your girlfriend.”

“I speak Mandarin, Rachelle. I understood every word.” Ally smiled faintly as Rachelle stilled. “You hired them. You were supposed to join us in a few hours at a location you gave them. You undoubtedly meant to kill me. And I’m not down with that. So there’s only one thing left for me to do.” Ally straightened her shoulders. “Rachelle Lavin, I challenge you to a duel.”

Zeke took one step forward, his tone desperate. “Ally, don’t do this.”

“Don’t speak to her,” Derren snapped at him. “She’s no one to you.”

Zeke curled back his upper lip. “Yeah? Well, you’re just someone she’s screwing.”

Derren smiled. “If you were close enough to scent us, you’d know that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Zeke’s chest expanded as he inhaled deeply, straining to pick up their scents. His eyes widened, a hint of dejection in them. “You’re mated.” It was a guttural statement.

Ignoring Zeke, Ally focused on Rachelle. “Let’s get this over with.” Everyone stilled as they heard the sound of another vehicle nearing. Rachelle smirked, undoubtedly thinking exactly the same thing as Ally: if more Collingwood wolves were on their way, the four Mercury wolves could find themselves boxed in. “Worried you can’t take me, Rachelle?”

The Beta female snorted. “I simply refuse to be baited into dueling with someone who isn’t worth my time.” The Mercury males snickered derisively at the idiotic excuse.

As the approaching vehicle entered the parking lot, Derren glanced over his shoulder. And smiled. It was a very familiar Chevrolet Tahoe. Within moments, six Phoenix wolves exited the vehicle—Taryn, Trey, Jaime, Dante, Dominic, and Ryan.

Taryn’s smile had a feral edge to it as she sidled up to Ally. “Shaya called me and told me what happened. I figured having some allies might discourage this pack from leaping to their Beta female’s defense.” She arched a brow at Matt. “We can’t have that, can we?”

“Otherwise things would get extremely ugly,” warned Trey.

“No one will interfere,” Matt assured the Phoenix Alphas, giving them a respectful nod of the head that they didn’t return.

Rachelle whirled on her own Alpha. “You’re sanctioning the challenge? You believe her accusations?” He didn’t speak, so she turned to her mate. “You’re okay with this?”

“No, I’m not.” Zeke raked a hand over his face. “I know Ally’s a good fighter, and I don’t want you hurt. But I can’t interfere.”

“You’re siding with her?”

“You came home smelling of tigers, Rachelle.” His voice was low, devastated. “You’re my mate, and I love you, but you’re—”

“Indisputably neurotic?” supplied Ally.

“A total fucking nutcase?” offered Taryn.

Rachelle whipped her hateful gaze to Ally. “You think you’re so smart? You think you’ve won?”

Ally seriously didn’t understand this female. “What is there to win? This isn’t a game. It never was.”

“You have to die!” Apparently Rachelle had given up on acting like the falsely accused victim.

“Why? Because you believe I’m jealous of you?”