Chapter Two

King

I gave them a fucking chance to live. To change their ways and repent, but they held fast to their evil and wouldn't let go.

So they forfeited their lives.

I only gave one chance and two choices to the alphas who opted to use their power to abuse and devastate omegas.

Turn themselves in and let the human police dole out their punishments—or my lion would execute his own kind of punishment. The last one never ended well. I was a damned saint for even allowing them a choice.

"What's your fucking choice?" I asked the alpha who quivered in his boots while a spot on the front of his pants darkened with urine. They could abuse those weaker than them, but when faced with someone more powerful, they crumbled like a castle made of sand.

"I…this is my house. They gave it to me. And the omegas too. Said they were mine to do with as I pleased." His words came out in a terror-filled sentence.

"Then you've made your choice."

Our team had already come in and taken the omegas out of here. Three in total. Three omegas all being abused by one asshole with a gun.

I allowed my lion to come forth. He had been waiting, clawing at me from right underneath my skin. My skin prickled as his rougher, thicker fur burst forth. Gums that once held human teeth split, letting the feline predator ones come out. My muscles pulled and tugged, tearing and ripping, making way for the lean-and-mean motherfucker inside me to surface.

Other shifters got used to phasing back and forth between their animal and their human form. Not me.

Letting my lion out was the greatest pain I'd ever felt.

Well, a close second.

Denying my omega was the first.

"No!" The alpha's screams were music to my lion's ears. He was a shredder. A murderer. A death-dealer. Ruthless. Kill-hungry. I'd been called all kinds of things over my lifetime. My reputation was the reason I was hired by Hammer. I only let my lion loose on the guilty. He had no blurred lines of right and wrong. He could scent the ignoble and the wicked in their blood.

He loved nothing more than ridding the world of them.

I didn't love killing people. Didn't like it. But I'd learned to tolerate it since it was part of the beast inside me.

He was in service to the good people of the world.

Didn't make it less messy.

And avenging didn't mean I was any less of a murderer.

Which was the reason, or one of the reasons, I hadn't pursued Ryan. I'd prayed to the Goddess to send him another alpha. One who was worthy of his bravery. Worthy of the duty and honor he held in his heart.

Ryan was the only being in this world my lion bowed to.

His soul was made of kindness and loyalty and a goodness so precious I dared not taint him with my presence. A murderer and a saint had no business being mates.

I would bring him down. Tug him to my wretched level. Stain his good heart with my misdoings.

He deserved so much better than me.

Plus, he was so damned young, my age almost double his. Double.

He was vibrant and still had a glint in his eyes when he talked about the future.

My glint was long gone, replaced by cynicism, angry thoughts, and plans to avenge all the omegas in our care with the sharp of my teeth.

I shifted back after walking over the body of the once-unapologetic alpha. I caught sight of myself in a de-silvered mirror. My body and face were covered in scarlet. It was on my hands. Painting my naked body.

This was who I was at the end of the day. I loved my brothers and their omegas and their children. I could play with them and take care of their young as a good uncle should, but when I lay down at night, all I was, was a killer.

Outside, I found a garden hose and washed myself off before putting on clothes. The last thing I wanted to do was walk into the warehouse covered in blood and scar the kids and omegas. They'd been traumatized enough for five lifetimes without me adding to it.

I slipped on some clothes once I got to my truck. I'd parked right in the driveway of this mangled cabin, daring anyone to stop me from carrying out my mission.

While I drove, I realized how torn I was at the thought of going home. One half of me was thrilled to see Ryan, my omega, again, even from a distance. To watch him interact with the kids and find his own niche in our world.

The other part of me knew I should stay away. Keep to my quarters. Sit at the far end of the table. Turn my back to him and give him the cold shoulder.

Anything not to encourage him to pursue me. I wasn't worth his time. His heart.

Hell, other than killing and protecting what we'd built with our team, I wasn't worth the price of a candy bar.