pulled together every ounce of my strength and used it. “My mate.” The words were hard, firm. The same as my teeth when I snapped for his earlobe.
His scream was music to my ears. Pain exploded along my jaw as I was struck hard. Once, twice, then a third time. Blood filled my mouth. His. Mine.
“He’s coming for me.” The whisper was more of a reminder to me than a warning to them. They weren’t listening anyway. “He’s coming.” And I needed to stay alive until he got there and helped me get away.
Another hard hit. The strike landing at my temple. Bright lights exploded behind my eyes. Then nothing but darkness.
Chapter Two
~Hannibal~
The men I followed were close. They’d been at the hotel within the last few hours. Their scents were still strong inside the room. The foursome who’d left a wake of devastation in their path. I had basic information on all of them. It was my job to collect all four and see that they paid for the lives they’d destroyed.
Hannibal Craig. That’s me. Though most know me as Beast due to my immense size. Some think I’m rather scary. I guess it’s understandable given my height and muscle, which is massive even by shifter standards. Just shy of seven feet tall and almost three hundred pounds—okay. Over three hundred, but barely. And all of it solid muscle.
My size makes it hard to fit in anywhere. Alphas don’t want a mean motherfucker like me hanging around. Even as muscle. What if I got ideas? Wanted to take the pack for myself. As if I want that headache. All I want is to find my mate. I know she’s out there. I can’t explain it, but I swear there are times I feel her. As if she’s reaching for me, beckoning for me to come find her. And I’m always searching.
I’m a lone wolf for the most part. I spend most of my time traveling around, hunting down rogue wolves who’ve picked the wrong people to fuck with. The four I currently hunted were the worst of the worst. They preyed on women. Story was one of them had been hurt bad. Bad enough his wolf DNA had struggled to heal him. But our genetics are superior, and eventually, they kicked in. Good for him. Not so good for the woman who’d given him shelter while he healed.
Whatever sob story his buddies had given her had been lies. They’d taken an elder wolf and slit her throat. Hell of a way to say thank you. Still, that had been a better outcome than what they’d done to her granddaughter when she’d shown up to check on the older woman. They’d put her through hell, and still, she hadn’t faltered when she’d approached me with her request. She wanted those responsible brought back for her pack to deal with. She wanted to watch them die. I understood that need, but I’d made no promises other than death. Sometimes, situations were out of my hands. Sometimes, wolves preferred to fight to the death rather than be captured, and all too often, I was happy to oblige.
The hotel room had been cleared of any belongings, though they’d left it in complete disrepair. Not messy but torn apart. The picture from the wall was in pieces on the carpet. Bed frame broken. The bathroom was littered with glass.
I hated wolves who thought they were above everything and everyone. These four screamed it. I’d enjoy showing them the folly of their ways. First, I had to find them.
They’d headed back to their old stomping grounds. Rigton County. Once the home of the Rigton Pack, but after their alpha had died in a wreck, they’d been absorbed into a different pack. The James Pack. Bastion James and his band of bastard sons and vagabonds. It was said most had alpha blood running in their veins. Many had been abandoned by their families, with no interference from their packs. It was something I couldn’t fathom. Your family should protect you until you could protect yourself. The way my mother had.
She’d protected me from the day I was conceived. She alone had loved me without expectation. She’d simply loved me because I was hers. I’d towered over her by the time I was ten. By the time I was thirteen, I was the one protecting her. At twenty-seven, I still lived nearby and checked on her often, despite the fact she’d mated now. To a man named