Chapter 33

The Wolf

Ipick out the bits of people I have stuck in my teeth and spit it to the floor.

Gross.

Now that I have no need for it, I find the taste of blood repulsive. It's only been a couple of hours since Neve and Hel died, but I feel like my old self again. Before the curse. Before the need for blood.

I felt it the second it happened. I'm fully formed with my wolf once more, and I can feel the link between my Mate and me. She's alive. And I'll find her again.

I readjust Shaw's position over my shoulder and grunt.

He's heavier than he looks.

His sleep dust drifted out of his hands when the curse lifted. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. And then he went down. His body became the empty vessel it was before he was forced into it by the blood coven. Just as Dorian's body did, too.

I'm unsure where Shaw went, but I felt compelled to keep this lump of flesh safe. Just in case he needs it when he comes back. Because he will come back. After I tore apart the handful of soldiers that descended on me, I grabbed Shaw and headed north. Pix's scent is in the air. It's faint, but now I'm completely myself again I can track her from miles away.

It should be fun when we play hide and seek together.

After another hour or so of walking, I come to a path. And see a set of footprints in the snow. When I take a closer look, a smell lingers in the air. A very familiar one. Silently, I follow the trail and stop when I see a huddled up form beneath a tree. His cloak is wrapped around him, and he shivers violently in the cold.

I drop Shaw to the floor. The sound makes his head shoot up.

And his eyes widen in horror when he sees me.

‘Oh. Hey, Cole,' I smile. ‘Fancy seeing you all the way out here.'

He starts to scurry away, but his legs are slow and stiff from the cold, and he's done all that cowardly running, so I'm sure he's exhausted.

It doesn't take long to catch up with him, and I have him by the back of his neck in a second.

‘GET OFF ME!' he screams hysterically. ‘I'M WARNING YOU!'

‘Funny. Because I remember warning you, Cole. About what I would do to you if you ever touched Pix again.' I tap my lower lip as he thrashes in my grip. ‘What was it? Oh yes. The first thing I warned you I would do, was that I was going to cut off your other hand and shove it up your arse. And then I said I would cut out your insides and strangle you with your intestines.'

I drag him to a large boulder and slam his face into the stone just hard enough to daze him. As he groans, I step back, rolling my neck and shoulders as I prepare myself.

‘Let's see.' I take his arm and grip his remaining hand. ‘There it is. I'll take that, if you don't mind.'

I snap his elbow, breaking the bones completely. And as he screams, I keep twisting and yanking, ripping muscle and flesh until I tear his lower arm clean off.

I look at the severed limb in my hand and giggle as I make it give Cole a little wave.

‘Right. Trousers off, Coley boy.'

He tries to crawl away, but I slam him back down with ease and whip his trousers down to his ankles. Scooping up his hand, I can't help but grin.

‘This is going to hurt, buddy. Feel free to scream all you like.'

I position myself behind him. And I do exactly as I swore I would.

The blood oozing from the stump helps things along quite nicely, and his screams of agony mix with his retching to perfection.

I'm in no rush.

I want to make sure his pain lasts as long as I can make it last. It takes about half an hour to get his entire hand up there.

And I get it riiiiight up there.

He's a limp and shuddering mess when I step away, admiring my handiwork. I've left a good few inches of his forearm sticking out.

Slowly, I walk around and stand by his head.

‘Bet you never thought I actually meant it when I said it, did ya?' I laugh. ‘Look at you now. No magic. No coven. No hands. And a fist lodged right up your puckered little arsehole.'

He looks up at me with tears blinding him and puke dribbling down his chin. When I roll him over, he sobs desperately. He sobs even more when I grab the protruding arm and give him a good dozen thrusts with all my strength.

I lie him on his back across the boulder and rest my hand on his chest.

‘You're sadistic, Cole. But not in a good way. You see, I'm also sadistic. I get immense pleasure, sometimes even sexual gratification, from my acts of cruelty. For example, I'm pretty aroused after shoving your entire hand up your arse and fucking you with it. But the difference is, Cole. I only do twisted shit to people that pose a threat to the people I love. To those I care about. And I would never go out of my way to cause pain or suffering to the woman I declared to love. No. But I would go out of my way to cause it to those who threatened her safety. Her happiness. Her freedom. That's where we differ, Cole. You tried to take a wild woman and tame her. You should have let her be wild. The wild ones are always the best and most exciting.' I sigh. ‘What was my other promise? Oh yeah. The intestines bit.' I lift my hand and make sure he sees my nail grow into a long claw. And his eyes never look away as I drag it across his belly slowly. Blood spurts over my face as I cut, and I have to pin him down with my other hand so he doesn't roll off the rock. Cut made, I ease my fingers inside. ‘I've got a kidney…' I muse. ‘Large intestine. No… that's not what I'm after. Aha!' I look down at him and smile. ‘There it is.'

It still amazes me how long the small intestine is. And that I can pull it from a living person. I trail it up his body and wrap it around his neck.

‘Oh. Before I forget.'

I pull out my dick and relieve my bladder all over him, pissing like I haven't pissed in a week. I piss on his face. On his clothes. On the gaping wound on his belly. And when I'm done, I shake myself off over his face and firm my grip on his noose.

‘This is happening because of what you did to her. That's all. Not for siding with Neve. Not for trying to burn down my castle. Not for a single other action in your life. Your painful and humiliating death is only happening because you dared to hurt my girl.' I blow him a kiss and pull on his noose tight.

He gasps and wheezes, kicking out his legs as I choke him.

I hum a tune as I work, and when his legs fall still and the sound of his heart falls silent, I let go and stand.

‘See ya, Cole.'

I grab Shaw and toss him back over my shoulder, carrying him onward to find our family.