“Don’t kill him,” Snoe ordered.
He’d made the order a little late, but the five of them backed away from Arnold’s bloody body. One of his front legs was torn clean off and hung from a demon wolf’s mouth. The shifter was barely holding on as he staggered on three paws and fell in the bed of snow.
“Dox, Gunner, and Joker, take Arnold back to the cottage,” Snoe said.
He stood up. “Smooth, Blade, Nyght, and Wolly, you’re with me. We have to grab his family they saw me and possibly know who I am,” Snoe said.
Wolly shifted. He pushed his purple hair out of his face and crossed his arms over his bare chest. He was standing there naked outside in the middle of winter and looked as comfortable as if it were midsummer and they were visiting a nude beach.
“Please tell me we get to kill the bastards that hurt you?” Wolly asked.
“Maybe,” Snoe said, not promising anything. His plan was in the beginning stages, and he was still trying to see how everything would work out.
As much as he would like that, he couldn’t just go around killing the ones who did him wrong, at least if he planned to get his vengeance on everyone and once again stand at the top where he belonged. Recklessly committing murder would get them caught too quickly and wouldn’t help Snoe get anywhere.
“Come on, he has a family, and I’m sure if we have them he will be a lot more talkative,” Snoe said.
Arnold roared, and Snoe was sure the townspeople heard it. They had a small window to capture the man’s family.
“Let’s go,” Snoe said.
With his demon wolves, Snoe had courage he would have never had before. It was as if he could do anything as long as they were by his side. He gestured for the others to follow. As much as Snoe wanted to smash and grab, he still couldn’t risk being outed as still alive. It only took a rumor amongst humans, and it would spread like wildfire, and Hilde G. Newton-Blake wasn’t to be taken lightly. Snoe saw her take down plenty of people—witches, vampires, and werewolves alike—who got in her way. And she always made sure the blame never ended up at her feet. And as Snoe’s enemy, he had no intentions to fall to her plans. He had to outthink her and her plan at every turn.
He left a fighting Arnold to the others and hurried down the small slope and into the alleyway. They needed to use the shadows to their advantage. People hustled about, rushing out of the stores. A family ran past the entrance of the alleyway.
“Hurry, shifters are ravaging beasts. They will kill us all,” someone shouted.
Humans scurried about, and Snoe used them as cover, slipping into the crowd, his men right next to him. They probably stood out with four naked men, but people in a panic never seemed to pay attention to what was truly happening around them. They slipped behind the dumpster of the discount clothing store.
“Leave.” The same clerk who’d asked Snoe if he needed help rushed people out of her store.
“But—”
“Don’t think I hadn’t noticed that man you were with was a shifter. How could you be with that animal?”
Linda and her kids were shoved away, and the same disgusted look Linda had directed at Snoe was now directed back at her. Linda grabbed her children and turned away from the clerk. She hurried across the street and toward a parking lot.
“We need to grab them,” Snoe said, pointing toward the woman and children.
“Wolly, you grab the brat on the right, Blade the woman, and Nyght the other kid on the left. I will take hold of Master,” Smooth said.
“I’d prefer if no one saw us,” Snoe stressed.
Smooth winked at Snoe, stealing a quick kiss. “We are far superior to the shifters you have in this realm.”
Snoe’s brain took far too long to register what Smooth meant by that, still distracted from the kiss. He turned just in time to see Nyght, Blade, and Wolly disappear. Right in front of his eyes, the woman and children vanished.
“What the hell just happened?” Snoe asked, perplexed.
“This,” Smooth said, scooping Snoe up in his arms.
The world moved by in a blur. Everything looked as if it blended. Snoe had to close his eyes before he threw up his breakfast. The next thing he knew, he was being planted on the ground. Snoe blinked, and the world was normal once again. He held on to Smooth, making sure he didn’t fall over.
Crying children and angry growls had Snoe turning around to see a bleeding but shifted Arnold, his passed-out wife, and his kids huddled together. The sight put a sour taste in Snoe’s mouth, and for a second he thought about just letting them go and walking away.
“I am going to kill you,” Arnold seethed.
The deadly intent showed in his eyes, and if he wasn’t currently being held back by Gunner, Snoe might have done more than flinch away from him.
“That won’t be necessary,” Snoe said calmly.
He had a role he needed to play, and even if it wasn’t really him, he needed to become the man that would soon rule over the witches and bring terror to his enemies. He needed to become like his father. No, Snoe needed to surpass him.
Snoe rolled his shoulders back and took a step forward.
“If you tell us where the other four in your—”
Arnold tried to lunge at Snoe but ended up face forward on the ground. Snoe tied his hair up, giving his hands something to do while he looked at the kids and wife. She was slowly coming to, and so far they were unharmed. If Snoe was being honest with himself, he’d prefer to keep it that way, but his morals wouldn’t take him to the top. And neither would pity.
“Just like all of you told me, there is no one here to hear you or your family scream,” Snoe said coolly.
Arnold’s eyes went wide, and to make sure he didn’t think Snoe was bluffing, Snoe made his way over to Linda. He looked down at the woman, and she groaned at Blade’s feet.
“Shall I?” Blade asked, holding the woman’s head as his fingers shifted to claws. He pressed them against her unmarked neck, a glint in his eyes. Snoe glanced over his shoulder.
“If you give me what I wan—”
“Arnold?” Linda whispered.
Snoe turned to see her looking around in panic. She tried to pull away from Blade but made it nowhere, her head yanked back. The kids were whimpering, and tears spilled from the woman’s eyes.
“Let them go. They’re just kids,” the woman pleaded.
Snoe traveled over to the whimpering young teens, and if he allowed himself, he would cave to the pressure.
“I need the addresses of the other four men,” Snoe said. It was pure luck that Snoe had run into Arnold. He should by all rights be deep within the shifter territory staying near the other Huntsman pack.
“Just give it to him, Arnold. Our kids,” Linda cried out.
It was in Arnold’s hands what would happen next. Arnold tried to shift, but instead of a roar, he screamed as Gunner sliced open his remaining healing arm. Blood dripped to the ground, resulting in Arnold’s children screaming.
“I can’t. I took an oath—they are my brothers, my pack,” Arnold said, sounding so defeated.
More tears spilled from Linda. “And we are your family, does that mean nothing?”
“Not really. You’re a human, and looking at your children, they don’t seem to carry the shifter genes, meaning that when it comes down to it, you are nothing to him,” Snoe said.