This Dark Wolf (Soul Bitten Shifter #1) - Everly Frost Page 0,97
worse condition, blood dripping from his split cheek and his eye closing up.
He slides down the wall and I follow him, gripping his shoulder with one hand while I bend my knee and rest it against his chest, pinning him in place. “Why are you here, Dawson? What’s Baxter’s plan?” I demand to know.
Dawson stares at me, his good eye narrowing. He spits blood onto my chest and watches it drip when I don’t wipe it away. One corner of his mouth rises into a cruel grin. “You look more like yourself with a bit of blood on you, Tessa.”
I snarl. “Are you here to beat up more young women?”
He laughs, spitting more blood as he speaks. “Giving those bitches what they deserved was nowhere near as satisfying as feeling your bones pop beneath my hands.”
My stomach turns. He fractured my bones too many times and always with fanatical intensity.
My jaw clenches. “Those days are over.”
He pushes his chest against my hold. I watch for any sign he’s going to strike out, but his arms remain at his sides. “Those days will never be over, Tessa. You won’t be safe for long.”
My fists snap out, raining blows on Dawson’s face and torso. He manages to evade one of the hits, but the others land—one on his cheek, one across his temple, a third across his ribs before he attempts to fight back.
His fist catches me on my shoulder before I strike him across the head hard enough to daze him.
But what really makes me sick is that he seems to be enjoying it.
“Hell, big sister.” He laughs. “Your pathetic father taught you how to take a punch, but someone else has taught you how to fight. I’m going to love breaking you again.”
“Tell me what you’re doing here! What is your plan?”
He laughs, coughs, and clutches his ribs. “I’m here to borrow a book from the library.”
There’s a library two blocks from the tower where the pack lives. It’s where he and Baxter attacked the two girls.
Rage burns hot inside me. “The only reason I’m letting you live tonight is so you can take a message back to Baxter Griffin. Whatever he plans, he will fail. The next wolves he sends across the bridge will die.”
“Baxter doesn’t give a fuck!” Dawson shouts, revealing the first sign of real emotion—anger—that he’s shown tonight. “He wants to tear Tristan’s world apart, one piece at a time, one pack member at a time. The more he hurts Tristan, the better. He doesn’t care about conquering territory. He wants to destroy Tristan.”
I narrow my eyes at my half-brother. The packs have always been at odds with each other, but if Baxter’s only goal were to gain territory and power, he would attack in one swift strike, not take out Tristan’s pack, one member at a time, leaving them battered and broken.
“It’s personal,” I whisper, the realization making me shudder. Tristan told me that I hated Baxter Griffin more than he did, which could mean… whatever the feud between them is… Baxter is the one who feels wronged.
I grip Dawson’s shoulders tightly, demanding that he answer me. “What did Tristan do?”
Dawson’s good eye brightens. His grin grows wider, but he remains silent.
He won’t tell me.
Releasing Dawson with disgust, I prepare to haul him back to his vehicle, but he grabs me, demanding my attention. “Has Tristan told you about his mother?”
I pause, my forehead creasing.
Tristan has never mentioned his mother and he’s barely spoken about his father—other than telling me he was determined not to be like him. I saw Tristan’s inner darkness when we melded, but I didn’t see his memories. I don’t know anything about his family history other than the fact he killed his father a year ago.
Taking advantage of my loosening grip, Dawson edges to the left of the wall, drawing my attention with him. “I heard that Tristan killed her, just like he killed his father. He hurts everyone close to him. Does that include you, Tessa? Are you close to him?”
I’m done with this treacherous conversation.
I release a growl, ready to knock Dawson out when it suddenly hits me…
Everything around us is so quiet.
Dawson grins at me as he observes me freeze.
He leans forward to whisper, “I’ve done what I came to do, Tessa.”
I jump away from him, looking up for the first time since I caught him against the wall. I sight along the building and then spin to the parking lot across the street behind me where