The Alpha Assassin novel Chapter 65

He put his full force into it, but I ducked under him. When I turned on my heel, he was on the ground, shaking. His eyes bore into me, holding the hatred I had suppressed toward him for years.

A slow smile spread across my face.

“Going to shift already?” I asked, pouting. “That’s no fun.”

I untied my pouch and cast it aside while Raymond fought for control over his wolf.

“No, no, go on.” I motioned toward him, slowly removing my gloves. “I don’t want to keep your wife waiting in the afterlife for long.”

His torrent of anger overtook him, and he roared. I sensed some of the others backing up further. When he saw he didn’t affect me, his face twisted into a horrible mix of disgust and confusion.

“You-” he snarled.

“Bitch, whore, something like that?” I asked, waving my black gloves in my hand.

Tia appeared at my side and took my gloves from me, bowing her head. I didn’t know how she managed to get so close to an Alpha like this, and I admired and loved her for it.

“Thank you, Tia,” I told her, and she gave me a smile that I had never seen from her. It was genuine and, bright, and raw.

She was radiant.

“No-” Raymond growled after her. “You are my Omega.”

Tia froze, and I slowly looked at him. “Not for much longer,” I explained. “Besides, even Omegas can choose where their loyalties lie. She does not have to stay here like a slave.”

“I -” he blustered. I crossed my arms, tilting my head, waiting for him to dig a deeper hole for himself.

His rage felt hard as it lashed out.

I had a careful leash on mine from years of practice, but he had never felt grief like this, anger like that.

And though I wished it was more of a fair fight, without the pain of his losing his mate, this entire thing came together better than I had even imagined in my far-fetched fantasies.

I let my anger out again, but mine knew me; it was my constant companion, and I was its master.

I studied him with an impassive stare that I hoped looked bored; he was fighting everything not to shift.

“Fine,” he snarled, his wolf speaking through him. “You want a fight?”

He was bigger, but that could be a disadvantage if he didn’t know how to wield it. I hadn’t seen him fight ever, and I was fairly certain he didn’t even train anymore.

He started to move towards us and balled his hand into a fist.

His fury made him unsteady, and instead of calculating his moves or the end goal of winning, he was only focused on the immediate satisfaction of seeing my pain.

Something I wouldn’t give him; he had seen enough of it.

He pulled back his fist, and I steadied myself, readying my dominant leg. He came barreling toward me and waited until he was close enough, and his weight was fully on one foot. I ducked, kicking at his shin, before twisting out of the way.

There was a satisfying crack of bone, but it was soft; no one besides us two would have been able to hear it.

“You are no Alpha.”

He was finally able to sit up a bit, and I let him.

“You should have killed me,” I smiled down at him. “But because you didn’t, you will die instead. Because of your own arrogance.”

I whispered only to him now. “I will kill you, dismantle your pack, and erase you from history.”

He grabbed at me, and I jumped back, but he managed to grab some of my loose hair; it ripped out, and my scalp prickled and burned.

He was shaking uncontrollably, his anger almost stifling. I knew he was going to shift, and I needed more time than he did.

Ready? - I asked Aksala, pushing away every thought of the pain.

Yes. Let me take over.

So I did.

The pain rippled through me, searing every nerve ending. It wasn’t as bad as the first time, but it was bad.

Before we had fully transformed, a large, muddy brown wolf stood over us, snarling.

He lunged, and we tried to move away as much as we could, but he managed to clamp down on my leg.