Rabid (Kingdom of Wolves #6) - Ivy Asher Page 0,143

to see them. Our packs have grown a lot closer since the battle that demolished Burke and his crew. We get together as often as we can, but it never feels like it’s enough.

“Do you know what we’re doing here?” Hess asks me, shooting his brother a look as though he’s been about as forthcoming with info as Tyran. My brow furrows, because I thought Hess and Kier were the surprise, but now that he mentions it, Tyran wouldn’t have brought us to the middle of nowhere for a get-together.

I look over at Tyran, a giddy shiver working its way up my spine. “There’s more?”

He shoots me a devilishly handsome grin and wags his eyebrows. “I thought we could get up to some hunting. I’ve heard the elk are particularly huge and ruthless in these parts.”

My smile grows even wider, and it’s all I can do not to jump up and down and clap with excitement. I bound over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. “Fuck the elk, let’s find some mountain lions or something,” I suggest, and Tyran’s deep laugh works me over in all the best ways.

“There’s my vicious mate,” he teases, and then he threads his hand in mine and starts leading me to the trees.

Hess and Kier are on our heels, and I’m just about to ask what’s new in their pack when a breeze rushes through the trees. With it comes the smell of fruit on the cusp of going rotten.

Burke.

I stop in my tracks, every hair on my body rising, my vision fracturing as I search the surrounding woods. A menacing growl tears out of my throat, and fur starts to sprout out of Hess’s arm as he scans our surroundings too.

Tyran steps in front of me, dominance radiating off of him. “Seneca, it’s okay. Come with me,” he instructs, and although everything inside of me doesn’t want to move, my wolf and I primed to shift and deal with the threat, we trust our mate and do exactly as he asks.

I hear Kier guiding Hess in the same way that Tyran is guiding me, but I don’t understand why until we crest a hill, and it all clicks.

Hanging from a tree, his ankle wrapped brutally in a snare, is none other than Burke. He looks over to see me and starts wiggling and flailing frantically, which only causes the snare to bite into his flesh deeper. The smell of his fear permeates the land like a thick fog, and I close my eyes and let all the rabid parts of me revel in it.

“You found him,” I say, satisfaction pouring through the bond both ways.

“I found him,” Tyran confirms with a nod.

Seeing the ex-alpha like this feeds the rabid beast inside of me.

“Happy hunting, Vicious,” Tyran whispers in my ear, nipping my earlobe before he pulls back. With wide eyes, I turn to him, completely shocked and overwhelmed by what he’s done. Tears well in my eyes as I kiss him deeply, taking my time to show him what this means to me.

“I love you,” I whisper against his lips as we pull apart.

“I love you,” he answers back simply, moving his mouth to my shoulder and biting his mark there.

I shake my head, still completely in shock, and then move down the hill to our prey. “Best. Fucking. Mate. Ever,” I call over my shoulder.

“You know it,” he calls back from the top of the hill.

I chuckle and reach over and squeeze Hess’s shoulder as we get ready for the best hunt of our lives. “You want to run him down first, or should I?” I ask.

A savage smile tilts his lips. “The lead is all yours, Luna,” he tells me, wicked excitement in his voice mixed with pride that Burke will finally get what he deserves.

I walk over to the base of the tree and spot the cable of the snare looped around the trunk of the tree.

“Don’t do this,” Burke starts to plead. “You don’t have to do this. You can be better than I was,” he begs. “Take the pack! I won’t come for them. You did me a favor, actually, I was ready to be done. There’s a lot of money and power in that pack, it’s all yours,” he declares, trying to trade things he no longer owns and make promises that we all know he’d never keep.

Hess and I look at each other, half offended that this idiot thinks he’s