His Trouble Maker

Chapter 87

GRAYSON

“Hold the damn hands!”

I shiver. Not because I’m cold. But because for a second I swear, I’m on the cold floor of the training compound, knuckles split open, blood on my tongue, a man twice my size choking me out while my father’s shadow watches–arms crossed, silent judgment heavier than any blow.

Fuck.

It’s just another nightmare, Grayson.

I glanced to the side and I found her. Jessica’s asleep. Out cold. Probably exhausted because I couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t stop needing her like I’m afraid she’ll disappear if I blink too long. My hand’s still resting against her hip, and I don’t even remember keeping it there.

I ease away slowly, not because I’m afraid of waking her–but because I’m–afraid of what I’ll do if I stay.

The mirror catches me on the way to the sink. I stop.

I look like him.

Jaw tight. Eyes dead. Shoulders like walls. I smash the faucet on, ice cold, and scrub my face with dry hands like it’ll peel off the part of me that still obeys him.

Alpha Grayson Westwood.

He’s going to lose his fucking mind when he finds out. That I threw it all away–for a girl he warned me about. The second word gets out that I’m walking away–that I put Jessica above the title–I become the threat. The disgrace. The disappointment that needs correcting.

And he’ll try.

He’ll try to pull me back in. Chain me to the throne he built out of fear and obedience. Make an example out of me. Out of her.

And I swear to god, if he touches her–I don’t know what I’ll fucking do.

Jessica will probably sleep for more hours but I couldn’t. So I ran. Shifted the second I was outside. Didn’t wait for the pain. Welcomed it. Invited it like an old friend who never asks questions.

I ran until the trees blurred, until the wind peeled my skin back, until the beast in me stopped gnawing at my ribs. I ran like something was chasing me.

Maybe it was. Maybe it always is.

I don’t even know if I’m more afraid of losing her or what I’ll do if someone tries to take her from me. I’ve already given up the title. I’d burn the whole damn pack before I surrender her.

Which, of course, makes me just like him. And I’d rather fucking die than become that man. I don’t want to be Alpha if it turns me

into him. But I don’t know who I am without it either.

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10:07 Fri, 22 Aug

Chapter 87

far enough, fast enough, I can outpace the

Fuck that.

42%

muddy water splashing up my chest. Keep going. Keep tearing through bark and stone and memory until something snaps–something real. Something I

what’s rotting

+38)

ripping down my spine like a serrated knife. Collapse into a stumble, bare skin scraping dirt and stone as I

tree and lean there, pressing my head against the rough bark

low and sharp, just as a heavy boot swings toward my ribs. It

move,” I

grunts as we hit the ground hard. I see his face for a split second-

“You!”

flashing gold,

snarl back, grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him closer until our foreheads nearly crash. “You’ve got some fucking

spits, teeth bared. “I

half–out, but he ducks under, slams his

ear. “You used to hit harder. Guess heartbreak

shove him off, breathing fire, blood pounding in my ears. “You want to die that bad,

“But this?” His head tilts. “This is tragic. You’re not Alpha. You’re just some lovesick mutt

dodges again. Slams his elbow into the back of my skull and I go sprawling forward, bark and dirt

grunt, getting to

that I’m not dragging

boot connects with my ribs, Crack. I grunt,

circling me again. “I’ll take good care of your pack. And your girl.” He leans in. “I’m going to

her.”

My body shifts halfway, claws out, bones snapping, eyes glowing. I tear into him, landing a clean strike across

7

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enough to draw blood. He stumbles

But then–he laughs.

pants. “There’s the Grayson I

Silver–grey fur. Massive. Brutal. But something’s off. It’s not just size. It’s not

fuck me, it’s

into the soil like he’s poisoning the ground he

hell did you do?”

grins.

care if I tear his throat out

Theo’s not alone

wolves appear from the trees, then three. Rogues. Wild, unmarked, eyes shining with

Fuck.

clamp down on my hind leg and rip me to the ground. I crash hard,