<b>GRAYSON </b>


    “You’re a Mortar?” I said.


    Adalee smiled brightly and took a step back. “Congrats, Alpha,” she said. Then the smile suddenly fell from her face. “You’re not as stupid as you look.”


    That was the final straw. No pack member of mine would speak to me like that— vampire or not. I was her <i>alpha</i>!


    I lurched the top half of my b*dy forward, nning ontching my jaw onto her n*ck and not releasing it until she begged for mercy. But,right as I moved before I could even touch her- she stopped me with a single word:


    “Pain.”


    My b*dy immediately fell to the forest floor as an anguishing pain shot through it. I yelled out, clutching at my chest and head, trying to find any sort of relief.


    It felt as if each bone in my b*dy was


    breaking while thousands of knives were stabbing into me.


    I was sure I was going to die. This was


    what it had to feel like.


    “Stop,” Adalee’s voice said.


    The pain suddenly stopped. I gasped and groaned as air finally entered my lungs.


    Adalee crouched down next to me and smoothed my hair away from my face. I was too weak to move or stop her. My wolf was pacing and whimpering in


    my mind. He now truly understood the


    severity of this situation. He was worried for our pack and mate.


    “I’m not a bad person, Grayson,” Adalee said calmly as she studied my face. “The only time I ever used my ability on you was to be appointed as beta. I wanted to be epted into your pack in a ce of power, but I didn’t want to spend months


    k*ssing up to you.


    “I knew I deserved it and would do a good job, so I used my power to convince you of it as well. That’s why you don’t remember the day,” sheughed bitterly.


    A strained gurgle emitted from my throat, interupting her.


    “I never nned on using my power on you again after that. In fact, I never nned on using it ever again. I didn’t like having that control over people. It felt wrong. No one should get to y God.” She paused. “But that all changed when you murdered my father.”


    I tried sitting up, fighting against the extreme exhaustion that had suddenly reced the pain. “I never meant to kill your father, Adalee,” I groaned. “He wasn’t supposed to die.”


    “Lie back down. Don’t move,” she


    snapped. My b*dy immediately followed


    her orders. “I don’t care about what you <i>meant </i>to happen. What matters is what did happen.” She growled then, her wolfing to the surface. “You should’ve seen what your men did to him. He wasn’t even recognizable when we buried him,‘


    she said.


    “I’m sorry, Adalee,” I whispered. “I’m truly sorry.”


    “It doesn’t matter now. The damage is done.” She stood. “And you’re going to pay.”


    <b><i>99 </i></b>


    She whistled as if she was signaling something, then looked back at me. “My father and grandfather had a falling out a few years back and hadn’t spoken since then. I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather because of that. “See, he’s not the nicest man. A little power–hungry. Some might even call him corrupt. It’s why the throne was taken away from him.”


    I felt the blood drain from my face at her words. She couldn’t be talking about who I thought she was…


    “But I disagree,” she continued. “Especially not after I had the chance to meet him at my father’s funeral. We got along very well. We felt the same way about some very important topics.”


    She grabbed my chin tightly, her nails digging into my skin, and turned my head so that I was looking right at her.


    “For instance, we both agreed that you should no longer lead this pack. And if that means vampires taking control and the merging of our two kinds, then” she shrugged “so be it.”


    The sound of rustling leaves and breaking twigs came from behind us.


    Adalee lifted her head. “Ah, right on time.” She looked back at me. “Grayson, I would like you to meet my grandfather.”


    A figure emerged from the trees, tall and dark, wearing all ck.


    He had long ck hair and blood–red eyes. His sharp fangs were peeking out from beneath his top l*p that was pulled into a sinister smirk.


    It was Azazel Mortar, the former vampire king.


    He approached the two of us slowly, looking at me with a pleased expression on his face. I growled loudly, baring my teeth at him and tryin


    desperately to


    move my b*dy.


    But it was no use. Adalee had me


    paralyzed on the ground.


    “Well done, Adalee,” he said. “I have to say, I almost didn’t think you had it in you. I am very happy that I was wrong.”


    Adalee smiled in return and took a step back.


    “Stand,” Azazel said to me.


    My b*dy moved of its own ord, bringing me to my feet but, other than that, remainingpletely frozen. Azazel looked me up and down, and I couldn’t do anything other than watch as his smile


    grew.


    “My God, you are huge. I can see why you are alpha of the strongest pack in America,” he said.


    This was strangeing from him, as he was almost asrge as me–though leaner, less brawn.


    “It will be extremely interesting to take over your b*dy and test your strength,” he


    said.


    “What the f*ck did you just say?” I asked.


    My wolf was as close to the surface as he could be without us shifting, releasing loud, vicious growls nonstop. They were


    so loud, they echoed into the night.


    “Quiet!” Azazel said.


    My jaw snapped shut in an instant, the same way that it had when Adalee had told me to be quiet earlier. The growling in my chest stopped, too, as my wolf was also silenced. My wolf whimpered in my head.


    “I don’t have time to deal with your delinquent wolf right now,” Azazel said. “I’m sure I will get enough of that in the near future.” He continued to look at me,


    circling me slowly. “Adalee, didn’t you say that he wasn’t fully mated yet?”


    “Yes,” Adalee said. “He hasn’t mated with his luna yet.”


    At the mention of Belle, my wolf began to pound at the inside of my mind, trying to get free.


    And with every pound, my b*dy shook. Azazel watched me intently, obviously


    knowing what was going on.


    “If this is how powerful he is when he isn’t even fully mature, I can only imagine how powerful he will be when he’s fully mated,” he said.


    My b*dy continued to shake.


    “It’ll be fun to get to that full power. Especially if that girl I saw you entering with earlier is your mate.”


    That was it. I was


    <b>?</b><b>, </b>


    Soing to rip this man’s


    head clean off his b*dy–after I was


    finished torturing him until he begged for


    mercy.


    He wasn’t going to touch Belle.


    He wasn’t even going to get close.


    Azazel chuckled. “Enough messing around. I have a throne to win back. And your little pack is going to help me get


    it.”


    In an instant, he was directly in front of me, moving more quickly than I had thought possible—even for a vampire. Then suddenly his fangs were deep in my throat, and I was groaning in pain. His originalmands over my b*dy seemed to fall away, and I copsed further to the ground as his venom coursed through my


    veins.


    I felt my consciousness begin to drift away, only to be reced by something else. Something dark and evil was slowly taking control over my mind and b*dy.


    I could no longer move. I could barely even think.


    I fought it for as long as I could, but eventually, my b*dy got tired of fighting and everything went ck.


    <i>“</i><i>This is </i><i>going </i><i>to </i><i>be </i><i>fun</i><i>,</i>” Azazel said


    from inside my mind.