Page 99 of Wolf It Down, Knot Me Up

“I watched my best friend toss away his future for a shit Omega like you.” His stare burns into me, and I hug myself harder, keeping my lips tight. “Jerry and I had a life of luxury all planned out. Heists that would give us easy money, then we’d have all the Omegas we could dream of. But then he met you.” His words are venomous, spitting toward me. “You know what he told me? ‘Bryan, you can go fuck off because my future’s with Lucy.’ ”

Behind him, the other two keep slamming the hammers, the sound booming through the dark house. My head is whirling, as I have no idea where he’s going with this. He was jealous that Jerry and I got together? Is that why he’s here? What the fuck?

“Well, Bryan, I can’t help you. I didn’t even know you existed. Jerry never mentioned anyone called Bryan to me.”

“See, that’s the issue. He never even spoke about me!” he hollers, and I flinch. “Because of you, he cut me out of his life. Back then, I would set up plans for him and me, including a deal with a gang to get some cash, but then he shoved me aside. And guess who was left to pay back the debt? They beat me short of dying.”

“How is that Jerry’s or my fault?”

“Shut the fuck up!” he yells, shoulders rising, then he settles back down and cracks his neck. “As I was explaining,” he says in a soft tone. “You have no clue who Jerry really was, the kind of man he’d been. Once I called him a friend, and when he turned on me, I had only one option.” He grins, and a shiver rolls down my back at hearing his words. “You know how easy it was to make his death look like an accident?”

The world spins around me, heart throbbing in my temples. “Wait!” I breathe out. “You were responsible for Jerry’s death?”

He chuckles, and I shake furiously, hands curling in my lap. “Technically, the tree killed him. I guess I just helped it fall. Same trick I tried at your place, just a pity it missed the house.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You son of a bitch! And what, after five years, you’re still bitter? Killing him wasn’t enough, you bastard?” I grab the small vase of plastic flowers on the coffee table without thinking and hurl it at him.

He knocks it aside with his arm, and it hits the floor, smashing. Much like the damage those beasts are doing to the lodge. I grieved for Jerry for five years, and I had no idea this asshole in front of me murdered him and destroyed my life.

“Listen here, bitch.” He inches forward. “An eye for an eye. You took my life away from me, so I took yours.”

Rage climbs through me, twisting on the inside, tearing me apart. “Then why the hell have you returned?”

He reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a cell phone. “I ain’t finished with you yet. Now, we can do this quick and easy, or the hard way. Your call.”

I just glare at him.

“Okay, call your grandmother and tell her you’re leaving town tonight and not returning. You’re going to convince her it’s in her best interest to sell the lodge.”

My shoulders shoot back, and anger roars through me. “No, I’m not doing that.”

The sledgehammer crashes through a side table by the wall, sending shards everywhere. Bryan grins, shoving the phone toward me. “Call her. You do anything to tip her off or anything else, and she won’t survive the night. Someone’s with her.”

I swallow the thickness in my throat, my stomach rolling with dread. “W-why do you want the lodge?”

He narrows his gaze at me, his phone still between us. “Fuck if I want this craphole. I get paid for this job, and that’s what I care about.”

“Who’s in charge?” I ask quickly.

Bryan chuckles. “Call your grandmother before I start breaking bones.”

A deep, guttural scream erupts from the front of the house, sharp and loud. I jump in my own skin.

Bryan’s on his feet, twisting toward the front of the lodge, shoving his phone into his pocket. There’s only one man standing there in the moonlight with his hammer, glancing outside.

“Where the fuck’s Chris?” Bryan demands.

The muscle guy shakes his head. “I swear he was just there seconds ago. Now he’s gone, and I think he just screamed.”

“Go and fucking check on him,” Bryan barks, and the man marches outside, lifting his weapon. Then Bryan’s at my side, snatching me by an arm, drawing me to my feet. “Looks like it’s time we left, and I’m not leaving your side until you make the call, understand?” His fingers dig into my arm, his other hand still grasping his blade.

He drags me, and I stumble alongside him, terror punching in my chest. Outside, the muscle man stands at the other end of the driveway, shrouded by night, both hands clutching the sledgehammer, shadows crowding around him. “Something’s not right, man.”

Bryan’s hauling me toward the sedan parked farther from the house. “Move!” he growls at me.

In that same heartbeat, I glance back just as the muscle man is yanked backward into the darkness of the trees.

I shudder at the sight.