Page 13 of Venomous as a Snake

The new information has me reeling. It’s not about how long they’ve known they were mates. It’s more along the lines of what Fangs and Clay are holding over her head. If this is going to escalate, then we need to stop with the distancing act. We need to be proactive and fucking suffocating until she’s free and safe.

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously. “Clay never found out about the two of you, but he knew about Kody and Walker because they were public with their status?”

Drew takes a swig from his beer before smoothing his hand over the front of his pressed button-down. “Would you call it cheating if you were engaged to a woman who wasn’t your mate, but she was still sleeping with her mates behind your back?”

I scratch my jaw as I work through that cluster fuck of a question. “No? Kody and Clay aren’t mates. Are they? He’s not like… a chosen mate, right?”

“No,” he sings, then laughs. “Definitely not. The four of us were best friends growing up. We thought the three of us were her mates until Walker and I started feeling the pull, but Clay didn’t. He was angry when Kody and Walker broke the news to him. I asked her not to tell him about us yet, to give him time to get over his devastation. It was always the four of us, and suddenly… It was the three of us and Clay.”

“But he didn’t get over it…”

“Not even a little bit,” Drew mumbles, gazing at the dark bottle in his hand like all the answers might lie at the bottom. “Some time after Fangs forced the engagement, Clay caught Kody and Walker together. He threatened them both.”

I wait for details, but he gives none. “There’s more to that. Why did you stop?”

A deep frown creases his forehead. “Because I think Kody should tell you the rest. Or maybe Walker.”

“Right,” I drawl, hooking my thumb at the door. “Let me just jog over there and ask what happened when her arranged fiance caught her sleeping with her mate. Maybe you can give us an hour before you drop in with popcorn and beer for a movie night.”

“They weren’t sleeping,” he replies, distractedly picking at the label on the bottle. “They were fucking. Or had just finished…”

“I gathered that by myself. Thanks.”

Drew rolls his eyes. “Clay and some of his new friends jumped Walker. Beat the shit out of him. They would have killed him if I hadn’t shown up. And they did the same to Kody, only neither of us was there. Clay got a pass because he wasn’t one of the guys who raised hands to her. Martin has been trying to find a way to kill him for years.”

“Martin is Kody’s dad? The enforcer for Snake Eyes, who wants to kill the leader’s son?”

“Yep. Martin and Renee, her mom, took her to the hospital. She was bruised and banged up, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal.”

“And?” I prompt.

He tosses his beer bottle in the trash, watching me as he says, “Clay told Walker if there was a next time, he would kill Kody.”

“So he just left?” Outrage causes my voice to rise, but anger at Walker simmers in my chest, making me clench my fists.

“Not exactly. The threat was a little more detailed than that, and we talked about the probability of him killing her. Since she and I hadn’t been public about our… status, Clay didn’t have an issue with me hanging around. Walker stayed in town for a few weeks, but after another attempt or three on his life, he left. I stayed close until she left Clay last year. Just not close enough.”

I furrow my brow in confusion. Drew smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Clay caught us dancing in the kitchen one evening,” he tells me, as if this is a dirty confession. “And that was the beginning of the end.”

“Dancing?” I repeat. “That’s what ended everything?”

“He didn’t want her dancing,” the honey badger clarifies. “Said it brought too much attention to her, and he didn’t want people looking at what was his.”

I scoff before I can stop myself. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was…” He trails off, shaking his head. “We stopped when he saw us, and I thought maybe he’d let it go if he knew I was the initiator... But he didn’t. All was fine for a day or two. Then he had his buddies hold her down while he broke her ankle. He would have broken the other one too, but she shifted and bit two of them.”

Black stars dot my vision as my temper flares to life. The territorial beast inside me loses his fucking mind, ready to hunt down the man who hurt our mate. My mouth waters, tasting the hint of venom my Komodo dragon wants to use to subdue our victim.

I stomp out of the kitchen, heading straight for my truck as I yank the keys from my pocket. My animal counterpart seethes and claws inside me, and I let Drew’s shouted warnings fade into background noise.

I’m going to kill that motherfucker.

Clay has to die today.

I knew I should let Kody tell Ali about Clay. Yet I still open my mouth and give him the barest of explanations… And he loses his shit.