Chapter 189

“You are no longer our Beta,” Archer growls, and then punches Wyatt so hard he flies backwards into a tree. The tree shatters on impact, wooden splinters shoot off in every direction. The leaves come fluttering down.

Archer’s chest is heaving. Gods, how fast must he have run to get here. He clearly outran the others.

He stepped away from me, closer to toward the destroyed tree as Wyatt begins to pull himself out of it. It was a hard hit, Wyatt is dazed. But he is a werewolf too, and recovers quickly.

Archer stalks toward him like a predator toward his prey. His muscles are well-defined, all flex and tense. His shoulders are straight as a board.

Wyatt takes one good look at Archer, then turns and tries to dart the opposite direction. He takes exactly two steps before Beau is there, blocking his path.

“Going somewhere?” Beau asks, before throwing a punch that connects with Wyatt’s other cheek. The attack sends Wyatt crashing down into the pavement of the sidewalk. It cracks the concrete clean in half.

Sometimes with Beau’s devil-may-care attitude, I forget that he is also a trained warrior. While maybe not as fast and strong as Archer, Beau is a close second.

Wyatt recovers quicker this time, perhaps realizing the precariousness of his situation. He hops up to his feet and throws a punch toward Beau. Beau grabs his arm and twists. Wyatt cries out, but at the same time, he kicks forward with one leg. It connects with Beau’s knee and surprised, Beau releases him.

Wyatt wheels around just in time to catch a catapulting punch by Archer. His feet skid along the ground.

Archer and Beau take turns attacking Wyatt. Wyatt blocks some blows but not all, and the blows he manages to block seem purposefully slow, as if Archer and Beau are mocking him somehow. They are teasing him, making him think he has a chance, just to pummel him down when he feels that hope.

Again and again, Wyatt’s face smashes against the ground. If he wasn’t a werewolf, I think he might be dead by now. His face is a mash of bruises and cuts. They are all healing, but the sheer number is making him unrecognizable.

“How does it feel?” Beau shouts. His voice cracks with his fury. The thunder claps behind him. “Is this humiliation worth the betrayal? Did dear old dad deliver on his promises for once?”

Wyatt is on his knees now, struggling to get up. His hand is on his stomach. There’s blood dripping down from his ears.

The brothers knew Alpha King Hayes would use Wyatt up and spit him out with nothing. Of course they knew. No one would know better than them.

“You are a fucking idiot, Wyatt,” Beau snaps. “You always have been, but this is a new level of idiocy, even from you.”

“Shut up,” Wyatt growls.

“What did you say?” Beau demands. He’s snarling now.

“I said shut up!” Wyatt snaps. Suddenly, he is holding a handgun. Had he had that in his waistband? Or in a holster under his shirt?

My heart speeds up as my blood runs cold.

“Unless you have silver bullets, that’s useless,” Beau says, and starts to laugh.

Beau laughs, even as he and Archer freeze. Archer backs up a step or two. Both brothers are at the tree line. There’s a clear path between Wyatt and me. Which is why, when Wyatt turns the gun on me, there is no one to stop him.

“Not for Chloe,” he says, and fires.

Lightning flashes.

The whole world seems to stop.

I see the way Beau’s face twists from laughter to horror. I see Archer burst forward. Even he can’t outrun a bullet. I see the hatred in Wyatt’s gaze, as well as the victory. He thinks by killing me, he has won something, even if he dies shortly after.

What a sad existence. Gods, even now, I just feel pity for him.

I’m wearing body armor. He didn’t aim for my chest.

The bullet comes careening toward my head.

I suck in a breath.

“Argh!” Neil grunts as the bullet shots into his good shoulder. He’s in front of me. I never even saw him get here.

“Neil,” I say, scrambling up to my feet. I reach for him to help him, but he shrugs off my help.

He’s wincing. Gods, it must hurt. But he’s prideful and strong.

It wasn’t a silver bullet. He’ll live. But it’s going to hurt like hell until his body pushes that bullet out.

Neil straightens himself to his full height. He schools his features. Standing there, only the blood pouring down the front of his shirt gives away the fact that he’s been shot.

In front of us, Archer and Beau snatch the gun from Wyatt’s hands and then force him to his knees.

What a coward he is. The gun must have been his last ditch effort in case he lost once more to me in a fair fight. I had no hope of winning today, even if I wasn’t injured. The gun would have seen to that.

It makes me so mad I want to punch him myself.

But I reason that the brothers have this well in hand, especially as Neil starts walking confident strides forward, closing the distance between him and Wyatt.

“Wyatt, you are hereby released as the Beta to Neil, Archer, Beau, and Steven Hayes now and forthwith forever.” Neil’s voice is strong. He’s the toughest man I know. A bullet in one shoulder. Silver buried in the other. And you’d never know it looking at him. Hearing him. So confident and strong.

Wyatt gasps, as whatever magic bond them together wears off. He slumps then, held up only by Beau’s grip on his one shoulder, Archer’s on the other.

They aren’t done with him yet though. That’s clear. Archer is holding Wyatt’s gun. He gives it to Neil, who inspects it. Neil pulls out the magazine to inspect the bullets.

“None of these are silver,” he says.

“I only wanted to kill Chloe,” Wyatt says. His voice is lower now, shattered and broken like the tree he was smashed through. “I thought then… your father would accept me.”

“Our father doesn’t even accept us,” Beau says with a bitter laugh.

“Father wants Chloe dead,” Archer says.

“We knew that,” Neil says, and returns the bullets into the gun. He loads one into the chamber, then lifts the gun to Wyatt’s head.

Wyatt looks up. “That won’t kill me,” Wyatt says.

“You’ll wish you were dead,” Archer says.

I can’t imagine being shot in the head, even if your body did eventually stitch itself back together would be a comfortable experience. In fact, it sounds a lot like torture.

I step closer to Neil, though not close enough to startle him into firing.

Neil must look at his brothers.

Beau shrugs. “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

“He tried to kill Chloe, and he shot you,” Archer says. “We are within our rights to retaliate.”

Neil hums. I wonder if he’s going to ask me for my opinion.

When he doesn’t even glance at me, I begin to worry.

Stepping closer, I can see Neil’s face now. His eyes are fury. His face hard.

He looks like a man who would pull the trigger.