Russel spit a gob of blood to the ground, his face seeming to warp and twist as it continued its efforts to heal.

“You know I won’t do it. I don’t care what happens to me, but I will not let myself turn into that again,” he said.

“I guess there’s nothing left to say then. You remain a…” He paused, his face twisting into rage. “A complete disappointment. I didn’t want to kill you. I wanted to beat the living shit out of you. Teach you a lesson or two along the way, but I was honestly going to let you live. Lick your wounds for a few days. Take time to get over that filthy pet’s death. Then come back and be stronger than before. I guess that’s just a father’s delusions.”

“You will not do a damn thing to Lola. Do you fucking understand that!?” Russel screamed.

“And what do you think you’re going to do to stop me?” Carter asked. He raised a hand up, his fingers poised to snap. “All I have to do is snap my fingers and her life is just gone. You can try to get to her but I can assure you, Zeo and Enok over there will be much faster than you. They will cut her throat before you can even take one step toward her.”

Lola struggled against her captors, Zeo and Enok apparently, but it was no good. They were strong and no matter how good she’d gotten at taking care of herself, she knew she was no match for the two of them. They would kill her without question.

“Why?” Russel asked. It was a burning question of his, but one he hadn’t had a whole lot of time to really consider. None of it made any sense. Why would the king of a werewolf nation have any reason to kill a human girl tucked so deep inside Alcroft, she could hardly be considered a threat to anyone?

And yet not one but two werewolf royals wanted Lola dead. Drake also tried to kill her. Had even wiped out an entire village to get the job done.

Just what was going on and why was Lola at the heart of the whole thing?

“Why?” Carter asked. “What other reason do you need from me except for the simple fact that I decreed it? You do not question my orders. You follow them.”

His gaze turned to Lola again and that look of pure disgust crossed his face again.

“And you couldn’t even do that much.”

Carter flexed and then did a little hop from one foot to the other and back again several times as if preparing himself for a fight. He cracked his neck again and then stood for a second to look at his youngest boy.

“At least you brought the bitch with you. It’ll make things easier on me. Less fun, sure, but easier.”

He advanced on Russel as his son’s face twisted with that rage again.

“I told you not to fucking talk about her like that again,” Russel said.

“And I told you to kill her. I guess neither of us is getting what they want today.”

Carter hurled himself at Russel, much the same way Russel lunged at him before. The attack was sudden and fast. Way too fast for Russel to track with his eyes. In just seconds, Russel found himself falling and stumbling backward. He rolled and rolled for several feet until he fetched up against a column. The back of his head smacked into it and the blackness to his vision suddenly came back. Again, he had to force it away. It was a close call this time, though. Much closer than he liked. A few seconds later he would have slipped into unconsciousness.

“He’s coming! Get up, Russel,” Lola screamed. There was a surge of panic in her voice. It helped spur him into action.

He shook his head to clear it…and saw a huge fist coming straight for his head. He jerked it to the side at the last minute and the fist collided with the column instead. He rolled out of the way and hurried to get away from his father. More powerful blows rained down but by some miracle, he managed to avoid those as well. Finally, he got to his feet.

“Quit fucking running, you coward. As if I needed another reason to cull you, boy!” Carter screamed.

Russel was still trying to get his bearings, his head still ringing. His vision was still blurry but there was no mistaking the giant form of his father coming for him again. There was a wilder air about him. His eyes were glowing with brighter, blue light and as he watched, his father was getting even bigger. More animalistic.

He was letting the wolf take control.

There were no more chances now.

If he didn’t do something, they would definitely die.