Chapter 29

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

Heavy paws slammed into my shoulders, shoving me to the hardwoods. Pain ricochetted against my spine and the back of my skull as I hit, and blood spilled over my tongue. The force of Barric's violent snarl stirred the hair around my face.

He murdered his own fated mate. I had no doubt he'd kill me, or at least try.

Why hadn't the Infernal Sol stirred awake? I might need that sinister power to take on the head freaking alpha.

Saliva dripped on my neck as his jaws snapped. My hands pushing into his furry torso were the only things stopping him from ripping my throat out. But my strength wouldn't hold him back for long.

Had Valeria tried to warn me about Barric by showing me that symbol, the one clue that tipped me off about The Collective Hunt? Why couldn't she have simply told me he was a murderous, prejudiced psycho?

Unless, of course, he used his alpha power to keep her from spilling his secrets.

I gritted my teeth and shoved as hard as possible, forcing the russet wolf off. My heart pounded as I scrambled to my hands and knees and crawled toward the door, but Barric was too fast. His claws raked against my calf, ripping my jeans and flesh.

A cry burst out as blood perfumed the air. Barric's mouth clamped around my boot, and he yanked hard, my cheek crashing into the floor. Scarlet lights exploded in my vision.

Shit . That would leave a mark.

The head alpha dragged me back to the other side of the room, my nails leaving gouges in the floorboards as my blood smeared on the ground.

Hello, demon amulet! Time to wakey. What happened to you keeping me alive? If I die, you die.

Something stirred within me, a warmth brewing in my chest, but the Infernal Sol's power had never felt like this. This wasn't that dark, addicting, and all-consuming rush I'd started to secretly crave.

This was something else.

Barric flipped me over and crawled on top of me again. This time, his paws pressed against my chest while his back legs caged in my lower half. He licked his lupine lips, salivating for my death. His mask was completely off now, shattered into dust among all the lies he'd told. He was worse than Coltrane.

Something hot suddenly erupted in my center, spilling into my veins like a burst of adrenaline and power. Fine tremors shook my body while I tasted something salty and pungent. The room snapped into hyperfocus as my senses sharpened.

Barric must have sensed the change because he stopped licking his chompers, and his head tilted. If a wolf could look confused, he nailed it.

As more power flooded my bloodstream, my back arched off the ground, and a gasp burst out.

That gasp turned into a growl .

I kicked Barric off and into the rocking chair, demolishing it. Wood shards blasted through the nursery as I jumped on top of him, pinning his back to the ground before he could recover. A vicious roar exploded out of my mouth, shaking the entire room.

Everyone in the house had to have heard and felt that.

And I finally understood why the Infernal Sol hadn't shown up or tried to take over.

My shifter side—a mix of wolf and demon from Fane—had broken through and kept the demon amulet at bay. The fight with an alpha had dragged the animal part of me out of her cage, provoking her to finally battle the amulet for dominance. She won and then some.

Barric's gold eyes widened when he felt the intense waves of shifter power pulsating off me. Claws sprouted from my fingertips, puncturing his furry chest. Now his blood soaked the air. And something else.

Fear.

A smile hitched the edges of my lips, welcoming the alpha's fright.

But why would he be so afraid of me? I hadn't become that terrifying creature controlled by the amulet. This was only my shifter finally emerging.

My blood boiled, and heat enveloped my bones as they longed to twist and break to reveal my wolf form. An ache throbbed in my jaw as my teeth elongated, canines extending from the top and bottom. A glow spilled through my irises, and my pupils thinned, their reflection cast in Barric's gaze.

Another roar tore from my mouth, and the ability to transform spread into every fiber of my being. I knew, without a doubt, if I wanted to, I could finally become the wolf.

But a voice whispered in my ear to hold off. If I changed now, I'd lose my advantage. Barric knew how to fight as a wolf. I didn't. And the change would probably require a shit-ton of energy that might leave me confused for several minutes.

I couldn't afford to lose focus.

My hand arched back, talons ready to jab into his throat when the russet wolf beneath me squirmed and whimpered.

He whimpered?

The strange mix of confusion, shock, and fear in the wolf's eyes had me faltering. And that one slip cost me.

Barric rolled, flipping me off. My right temple slammed into the ground so hard stars burst in my vision.

Son of a bitch!

While I tried to shake the hit off, the cracks and pops of bone reverberated in the room, and I blinked the haziness from my vision as Barric transformed into his human shape.

Why would he change? He had the advantage in his wolf form.

I pushed to my feet, stumbling as I stood. Blood ran down my cheek and dripped to the ground. Barric's spine cracked, and the hair slowly thinned from his body to reveal flesh. It wasn't a smooth transition like Fane's. Then again, no one could change like the demon shifter.

Focus, Tate.

But by the time the room stopped spinning, Barric had fully transformed. He grabbed my throat and slammed me against a wall, rattling the pictures on the left. Instead of going for the kill, the head alpha gripped my jaw with his other hand, forcing my face toward his. My claws raked against his chest, but he didn't notice the gouges.

"Look at me!" he yelled, breathing erratically as he shoved my hair back and tilted my chin from side to side. He studied me and then the picture to my right.

All of the blood drained from his cheeks, and he released me like I'd burned him, stumbling away. "Why didn't I see it before?" He gripped the sides of his head, his naked form violently shaking. "Why didn't I realize…?"

I peeled myself off the wall, my boots crunching on shards of wood and glass. "What are you talking about?"

Barric lifted a trembling hand to his mouth, his attention flickering between me and the photo of his dead mate, the one he murdered. "The right age. So close, right under my nose. You remind me of her."

"Who?"

He continued mumbling as if I wasn't in the room. "She tricked me. The whole damn time. She'd planned this for much longer than I could have imagined." His massive hands curled into large fists by his sides, the skin at his knuckles bleaching white and threatening to split. "I never had a son. I had a daughter."

A daughter? He couldn't possibly think?—

"Tamara knew she was pregnant with a human girl, but she told me it was a boy." He examined the room, clearly decorated for a boy. "She knew I'd search for him and never find him because he doesn't exist." His head twisted in my direction. " You do."

I staggered back and grabbed the baby crib to catch my balance, a cloud of dust flying up from the blue bedding. My stomach lurched as the realization finally made it into my conscious thoughts, and I fought to keep from puking.

Barric Hartwell was my father.

He and his gang of purists were the reason I was hidden with magic and tossed into the world alone. Tamara, my mother, knew he'd kill me because he couldn't stand the thought of a human tainting his bloodline.

Oh my god. I watched him kill my mother .

My gaze met his as fine tremors spilled through my muscles, and sweat beaded my clammy flesh. As the shock slowly receded, fury permeated every cell in my body until the edges of my vision blurred crimson. "You were right to fear your child returning to murder you." My teeth snapped together as bloodlust settled on my tongue. "I will rip your throat out for killing her."

"You're strong, and because of me—even though you were bitten—alpha power flows in your veins."

That was what he'd felt when my shifter finally emerged, and it broke the enchantment that had kept me hidden all these years, revealing the truth.

"But I've been at this game a long time, little girl." His voice roughened as his irises transformed into pools of liquid gold. "You can't win against me in a fight. I'll succeed, even with that demon amulet inside of you."

The air exploded from my lungs. Barric knew about the amulet?

"And once you're gone, I'll take care of that half-breed mutt." His mouth curved into a wicked grin, widening the scar on his cheek. "Fane Maverick shouldn't exist either. He thinks he can overpower me, but we'll see how well he does with my claws dipped in Demise. I'll shove them into his chest and rip his heart out."

Mine.

No one touches what's mine.

The voice within me didn't belong to my psychotic other half or even the Infernal Sol. It came from the depths of my soul, from my inner wolf who had always viewed Fane as her mate. Not because he gave her life when his bite dug into my throat, but because he'd always protected me, even when he hated it. And he loved me, even when he hated it.

A threat to my own life didn't affect me the same as one on Fane's did. That cut me deeper than anything. It also poured fire into my bloodstream, and the smirk twisting Barric's mouth was a lit match.

When I fought Barric a few minutes ago, the barrier keeping my wolf out of reach had shattered, and I'd grabbed hold of her, refusing to let go.

And now, after he threatened Fane, there was no stopping her from joining the party. My wolf was coming.

Warmth wrapped me, but instead of the pain I'd felt when trying to shift before, a wild, primal presence gently unfurled, embracing me. Barric's head tilted, and the cocky arrogance pulsating off him disintegrated as my hands hit the hardwoods. My bones smoothly melded and changed instead of violently breaking while my spine arched, and my back legs re-formed.

The full transformation took mere seconds, and I was on all fours, snarling up at the man who killed my mother, the man who threatened to kill my mate.

Barric took a cautious step back. "How did you…?" His words dropped off when his gaze landed on the long sickle claws that would easily shred his flesh into ribbons. Ebony spikes protruded from the knuckles on my paws, but they didn't run along my spine like they did on Fane. My red fur was tipped in black, like each strand had been dipped in thick shadows.

Holy shit! I was a wolf!

I could have done a happy dance—if I wasn't in mortal peril, facing my father, a head alpha.

Focus, Tate.

"You really think you can take me in that form, Tate?" Barric sneered, but some of his confidence had waned.

This time, I gave the lupine smile as I stalked toward him, saliva dripping from my mouth. Fur began to sprout over his flesh again, but he wouldn't have time to fully transform before my teeth sank into his leg.

Footsteps hit the hardwoods outside, and Jax burst into the room, his eyes widening and a string of curses exploding from his mouth.

"Don't just stand there, idiot!" Barric shouted, his words distorted from his growing canines. "Grab her!"

Jax noticed my lethal claws, much larger than a regular wolf's, and hesitated. "What exactly do you want me to do with her?"

"At least close the door to keep her from running out." Bone snapped as the head alpha continued to shift.

My lips curled back, and I released a deadly growl that stopped Jax in his tracks. After a few more moments of stalling, the beta cursed and darted forward, jumping onto my back with enough force to collapse my legs.

Pain ricochetted through me, but I gathered my strength and tossed him off. The bone-shaking roar that belted out of my mouth made him drop to the ground on his stomach.

"What the fuck?" he cursed, his hands pressing into the hardwoods but unable to lift himself. "How can she do that?"

My pulse spiked through the roof. I'd used alpha power to force Jax to submit.

It didn't have the same effect on Barric, and halfway through his transformation, he lunged, raking his claws over my shoulder. I stumbled sideways, my talons digging deep gouges into the ground. More of my blood perfumed the air.

"You're not leaving this compound, Tate," he said, his words muffled around his teeth. "I'll imprison you with silver and magic to keep that amulet from taking over."

Icy fear invaded my body at the mention of the Infernal Sol again. How did Barric know about the demon amulet? Was this the reason he was protecting me? Did the mysterious partner he mentioned in the meeting want me because of it?

Barric hit the ground on all fours, his teeth baring in a snarl. Jax finally broke out of my power, and they worked as partners to cut off my exit, determined to prevent my escape.