His Trouble Maker

Chapter 176

Chapter 176

GRAYSON

“You’re not going to kill me, aren’t you?”

Stupid Jack.

Sometimes, I wonder why his pack has chosen him to be their alpha.

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It’s fucking scorching, and I might as well melt under this bastard sun. Sweat drips down my spine, sticking my shirt to my skin, and every step kicks up more dust than I care to breathe.

Jack’s ahead of me, shoulders tense, jaw tight, pretending he’s not feeling the heat. He’s good at pretending always has been. Doesn’t make me want to kill him any less.

“Not gonna kill me, huh?” he throws over his shoulder, voice casual, baiting me.

I snort and grab the back of his neck, squeezing until I feel the tremor in his pulse. “Keep talking. See what happens.

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He stumbles when I shove him forward, boots crunching on dry earth.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“You’ll see.”

—

The rogues are a mess. Starved, broken, wild. A dozen cages lined up like some kind of execution ground, shadows slicing across rusted bars. One hybrid throws itself against the steel, frothing at the mouth, claws leaving bloody streaks. Another crouches in the corner, ribs sharp under mangy fur, its eyes glowing like coals in a pit.

Jack slows. Instinct. His wolf knows what this place is.

“Relax,” I say, voice flat, cold. “They’re chained. For now.”

He shoots me a look over his shoulder, lips curling back from his teeth. “You enjoying this?”

I grin, slow and sharp, like I’ve got all the time in the world to break him. “You have no idea.”

I walk past him, claws sliding free, just because I know it’ll piss him off. The rogues rattle the bars as I move, the smell of fear and fury thick in the air, coating my tongue like copper.

I slam my fist into the nearest cage, iron groaning under the hit. The wolf inside shrieks, ears flat, tail tucked. Jack flinches, a tiny twitch of muscle I almost miss.

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this is what happens,” I say, voice carrying over the snarls. “Why

“Because you’re not giving

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…

:

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Chapter 176

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hand fisting in his collar

“Stronger?”

can handle it,” he bites back, lips curling, breathing hot between us. “She’s not some delicate thing for you to

and dangerous. “You think I guard her because she’s delicate? No, Jack. I guard her because she’s mine. And because this filthy thing ruined her-” I slam him harder, the cage rattling violently, the rogue inside yelping. “-enough and I

straining under his skin, but he doesn’t push me

Yes, Logan.

improvement with him. We’ve been doing everything that we

status.

I drag healers down here, make them comb through blood and bone for answers,

with nothing but more bodies

can do is end them. Put them down like rabid dogs before they rip through what’s left

gods help me, they’re all mine. Every last one of these creatures in these cages used to wear my crest, used

skin, hybrids twisted into something feral and

I

anymore, not the bright shade I remember. They’re black pits, rimmed with red veins, hollow of anything human

name on his cracked lips

enough to taste the rot on his breath, close enough to see

threat, claws screeching sparks off the bars. “Talk to me. Don’t you fucking fold on

Smart. One word from him right now and I’ll rip his fucking throat out just to quiet

“Logan!”

time, unblinking, wolf and man both gone from those eyes. And then, slowly, he laughs again, a horrible, broken sound that echoes through

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Chapter 176

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he says it makes my skin crawl–mocking, sing–song, dripping rot and madness. He tilts his

So much worse than the last time I

strangled yelp tearing out of his throat,

“Kill me! Kill me!”

name, but it only makes him