The Wolf and His Wife (Wolf 2)

I walked toward him, my gun stuffed into the back of my jeans. It was loaded and ready to fire. All I had to do was click off the safety. I’d never thought I needed protection around my father, but now I saw him as a serious threat. He’d nearly killed me at the house—and he would have killed my wife if I hadn’t stopped him.

He stopped in front of me, several feet in between us since this was a hostile meeting. The outdoor lights provided enough illumination so I could see the sour look on his face—and I was sure he could see mine. He was probably packing under that jacket. Why else would he be wearing it?

He was the one who had called this meeting, so I stood silently as I waited for him to speak first. Maybe this was all a ploy to kill me, to take a cheap shot under the flag of truce. If he were anyone else, I would eliminate him immediately. It was always a bad idea to let a threat go unchecked. But our shared blood made me soft, made me hope for a more optimistic resolution.

He stared at me with the same hatred, like he was ashamed I carried the DeVille surname. With beady black eyes that blended in with the night, he watched me without blinking. “Have you put her down yet?”

His men kept tabs on Arwen and me, so he already knew the answer to his question. He was just trying to make a point. “Arwen is different from us. She saw two innocent women who needed to be rescued—so she rescued them. I know that thwarted your plans, but it wasn’t personal.”

His eyes narrowed. “You aren’t a teenager anymore, Maverick. Why are you still so weak for pussy?”

I stood my ground and didn’t react, even though it was such a crass thing for a father to say to a son. “You’re the one who made me marry her. All of this happened because of you. You brought a stranger into the family. If you hadn’t done that, then she wouldn’t have let the girls go. Cause and effect.”

He took a step closer to me. “It was necessary.”

“We would have found Ramon on our own—eventually.”

“If she’s such a burden, then put a bullet in her damn head. Be done with it.” His hands hung at his sides, and they both tightened into fists. “All she had to do was keep her head down and shut her mouth, and she would have had a nice life. She’s lucky to wear such a respected surname as DeVille. But if she doesn’t understand loyalty, she doesn’t deserve it. Put her in the ground.”

Her father was long gone, and she did betray my family when she snuck around behind my back. She hijacked our plans and took matters into her own hands. If one of our men did the same, they would be executed. We had every right to dispose of her, to give her the ultimate punishment. I’d be a bachelor once more, having that house to myself without a wife to protect. She was a woman who easily attracted the obsession of men, so I had to chase them away with my frightening growls and sharp teeth. Not to mention, I had a seven-foot mutant to worry about now. Killing her was the pragmatic choice. It was a choice I was justified to make.

“Maverick.” My father lowered his voice, turning lethal. “Kill her.”

I could go home right now and put a bullet in her head. I could stand over her bed while she was sound asleep. She wouldn’t even know what happened because it would be over so quickly.

He took another step closer to me. “Did you hear me?”

It was dead silent in the middle of the night. Of course I heard him.

“She doesn’t deserve your protection, Maverick. She’s a two-timing whore. She deserves to die a whore’s death.”

My eyes narrowed on his face, unnerved by the insult she didn’t deserve.

“Kill her. Or I’ll kill you.” Now, we were close together, our eyes locked and full of menace. “Put that bitch in the ground, or I’ll do it myself. And then I’ll throw you in with her.”

My father had threatened to kill me several times now, and each one was more painful than the last. Without my mother on this earth, I was easily expendable. There was no love in his gaze, no affection in his heart. At least Arwen remembered my birthday. At least Arwen asked how my day was. At least she was there for me when this demon never was. “I choose her.”

The rage that took over his face was indescribable. Two explosions happened in his eyes, and his eyebrows furrowed as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. Like a billowing cloud about to drop a storm, his eyes grew darker and darker.