Nash
Marissa clutched my hand so hard my fingers started going numb, which was impressive for a weak little human.
She was terrified of vampires after what she had been through in that freaky fucking circus, so being in the vampire capital day after day watching Montgomeryâs trial was hard on her. In spite of her near constant fear, sheâd still given testimony in front of the queen about everything sheâd seen. Her voice had been a squeak, and she had broken down crying multiple times while my wolf freaked out.
The only reason I hadnât tried to kill Montgomery when things got really bad for my mate was because Alpha Jason used an alpha command on me not to when I was about to jump up and rush for him. Heâd never used one on me before, and it pissed me off so much my wolf had wanted to attack him, too. We hated being told what to fucking do.
I didnât actually let my instincts loose on my alpha though, because, fuck it, maybe it had been a good thing not to interrupt the trial. He usually knew what he was doing, even if it annoyed the piss out of me to admit it.
Now, we were sitting in the crowd along with the other observers. Luna Carrie was beside me, probably here to babysit me this time since Alpha Jason had other obligations, and they thought I couldnât be trusted.
They were right. I really couldnât be trusted. My wolf was a savage I could barely control and normally didnât really want to try.
I had been waiting to watch the clown who had tortured my mate die for way too long now. The actual trial had taken years because these accord vampires moved slower than pack pups, which shouldnât have been possible, since pack pups were always yapping about a bunch of stupid shit and never actually getting anything done.
Testifying against Bluegorge at that yammering assembly had made me want to blow my brains out...or all the yipping alphasâ brains. Whatever. Anything to shut them up and get some quiet.
And these bloodsuckers were so much worse than even the puffed-up alphas. Their reputation for being fast was a complete lie. They moved like snails on a downer.
It was well known in the wilds that a rogue was twice as fast as a pack pup since weâtheyâdidnât spend all their time hesitating before getting things done. Live fast, probably die young, but that was fine because at least weâtheyâwerenât cowards who needed a bunch of hand holding to move forward.
I hated being a pack pup. Originally, Iâd been planning to temporarily join so that Alpha King would get off my back, but then when I found out my brother and his mate were joining, I couldnât spy on their pack. Westâd been so happy his mate was going to have a pack again, how could I fuck that up for them? Especially once I found out Nash was going to have a kid. Deep down, he didnât want his kid to be a rogue.
So, I ended up stuck, cursed to life as a pack pup. Schedule this, task that, restrictions, drama, rules, yadda yadda, constant annoying nagging bullshit. I missed living free. It was enough to make my wolf want to jump out of my skin and run until he collapsed somewhere far away from it all.
But we didnât do that, because on my other side sat Marissa.
She was nothing like my first mate. My first mate had been a fucking savage bitch, and I loved that about her. She had been unpredictable and wild and sheâd been uncontrollable like wildfire when I was between her legs. Best time of my life, hands down, at least until Mar.
Mar was nothing like that, but I didnât really give a shit about that. My wolf loved her as much as I did, and she was so hot I could spend all my time with her naked if sheâd let me, which she wouldnât, because humans were even more hung up on wearing clothing than pack pups were, which was saying something.
Still, I always did what she wanted, even when I didnât feel like it, because those damn Sang leeches had really fucked her up. For her, Iâd pretend to be a tame wolf, even if I didnât always enjoy it. She was afraid to live with the other weak humans now that she knew what was out there, and she was comforted having a wolf and a pack to protect her.
I levelled my glare towards the clown on trial. He looked like a cartoon circus ringleader, with his stuffy clothing and cocky loud mouth. My wolf wanted his blood more every time he saw him, and weâd seen a lot of him, and doubly so when he spoke. I jiggled my leg with my wolfâs impatience.
The Sang ringleader was sitting there looking down his nose as if he were the alpha instead of the prey. I imagined ripping him into unidentifiable little pieces, and the thought made my mouth water.
Vampires didnât taste good, but that revenge sure would. My favourite fantasy that didnât involve getting Mar naked was of running into Montgomery in the forest at noon and toying with him for hours until he cried for the mercy he didnât deserve, and I wouldnât give.
Next to Mar, sat Maxâs mate Lillian, and him next to her, and her movement caught my eye. She wasnât too annoying, and she liked me which was weird, so she was probably a little fucked up from that circus, too, just like my mate. Lillian squeezed Marâs hand for encouragement, and my mate sent her a wobbly smile.
Mar was so cute my wolf pushed to kill Montgomery again to get revenge for her and make her safer. I wanted to dig out his slimy heart and place it before her like a trophy.
The vampires at the front were still babbling. If the Red had caught this clown, he would have been fully dead years ago. Why couldnât they speed this the fuck up already? My mate needed him dead, I wanted him dead, and so did pretty much everyone else who was here. Even the other vampires wanted him punished already. The queen had killing intent in her eyes, so why not just act on it rather than all the yapping? Even Montgomeryâs own fledgling had testified against him.
So, why wasnât he dead yet?
More trial bullshit, I guessed.
Marâs fear slammed me through our bond. I tried to figure out what made her feel worse than usual and failed, so I asked, âYou okay, Mar?â
âYeah. Iâm fine. He just...looked at me.â
âI want to kill him for you.â
âThanks, Nash,â she said, her large eyes flicking over to me. She was just too sweet. To distract herâand also to distract myself because I wanted to keep my increasingly pissy wolf from causing me troubleâI took her hand again as I let my eyes wander down her body, images of her shaking under me last night wandering through my mind. Her tits looked so good under the neat shirt she was wearing.
She blushed slightly. âNash, right here, right now youâre thinking about that?â
Whoops. Must have let a bit too much through our connection. It was hard to control sometimes since I didnât have one for so long. I shrugged. She was flushed, but at least the distraction had worked, for both of us. Her fear had disappeared, and my wolf was feeling slightly less like attacking everyone who got between me and that fucking vampire and more like dragging her off to somewhere private. âIâm innocent.â
âYeah right." She smiled.
I held her hand tighter to remind her she wasnât alone. âIâve got you, Mar.â
âI love you, too.â Her smile widened.
The only thing that could make this moment better is if they would just hurry the fuck up and sentence the clown to death already.