strongemChapter 544 /em/strong

    strongemLynn’s face was triumphant. Brandon screamed. “Derek!” But he was still frozen. Derek himself was stuck on his knees, eyes open but glossy. Blood still trickled from his wounds, but that was more from gravity than it was from his heart. Because his heart was silent. “No!” Brandon screamed again, but Lynn Justughed. “You stupid bitch, I’ll kill you myself. He didn’t deserve to die.” /em/strong

    strongem“He deserved every fucking slice.” She screamed back. “Every time he touched me, cut me, burned me. I kept count. I kept track of every fucking breath he breathed against my neck. He got lucky that I was stuck like this before I had finished.” /em/strong

    strongemBrandon’s eyes burned as he opened his mouth but Garith screamed. “Enough.” He waved his hands towards me, and I stepped up next to him. “Good girl.” He opened the toolkit in my hand and smiled. “You wouldn’t mind holding this for me, would ya, darling?” He smiled as if he were asking, but I felt the weakmand he put into his words. /em/strong

    strongemRowan snorted. “You did all of this to kill me and take over as king, but that was yourmand?” His eyes turned to Garith’s. ” You are fucking weak.” /em/strong

    strongemGarith snarled. “I know I won’t be king, but my son is stronger.” He grinned and grabbed for me. He pulled me around the pew so I was standing next to his thigh and he unzipped the toolkit, disying the knives there. “Now…let’s get to work.” /em/strong

    strongem“Gavin would never.” Rowan was baiting him. /em/strong

    strongem“Gavin is a disappointment. I was smart enough to have a backup. Not as strong, and Garren has no magic, but beggars can’t be chooser I guess.” /em/strong

    strongemGarren…I’ve heard that name before. /em/strong

    strongemThe wolf that Aurora was with in the caves. Nix growled low as she remembered. /em/strong

    strongemGarith sighed. “I would have been happier with Gavin’s girl…now, she had potential. But…” He turned to look at Brandon.” Some people have different ideas.” He turned to Shannon. “And some have ambitions they shouldn’t. But here we are.” He turned back to Rowan. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m close.” /em/strong

    strongem“Close? To what?” Rowanughed again. “Killing me will do nothing for your position. My Luna is already in ce to take over for me.” His words made my stomach clench. /em/strong

    strongemGarith waved a hand. “There is a solution for your Luna. But I’m close to the first family. I can feel it. I have traced a few lines, and I feel like I am close.” /em/strong

    strongemNix snorted. Closer than he actually thinks. /em/strong

    strongemRowan snorted out loud. “The first family? Of course, I’m from the first family.” /em/strong

    strongem“Not Lycan’s, you idiot. The first family to wolves.” Garith’s face morphed into something close to devotion. “If I can get close to the first family…any child I have with someone from that family would be strong.” Then he turned back to Rowan. “Then I would just kill the rest so no one could interfere.” /em/strong

    strongemRowanughed. “What would you do if they wanted nothing to do with you?” /em/strong

    strongem“Simple…I would cull them…like I did when the King turned down giving me his daughter.” /em/strong

    strongemThe room plummeted into icy silence. /em/strong

    strongemRowan’s eyes shed to the icy blue I loved. “What did you just say /em/strong

    strongemGarithughed. “You didn’t know?” He threw his head back and twirled the knife in his hand. “Your mother was pregnant with a she-wolf. He was so excited for a second pup. As I heard Lycans only have one pup, right?” He grinned. “So when he scented the pregnancy, he threw a party. Apparently, his finding out he was having a girl triggered something inside of him. He wanted some alphas to pass down the torch, so to speak. He said that times were changing, and he wanted to make sure we were changing with them.” Garith shook his head. “He grew soft. So I offered him a deal.” /em/strong

    strongem“A deal?” Brandon jumped in. “To step down? Why?” /em/strong

    strongemHe turned to my ex-mate and glowered at him. “Cause I was thinking bigger. You all think so small. But I told the king that if he promised me the hand of his daughter, I would step down happily. /em/strong

    strongem“She wasn’t even bourn, and you were trying to marry her?” Rowan growled. /em/strong

    strongemGarith waved his hand. “He said no; your father wasn’t great at thinking big picture either. He just said that the goddess would pick her mate, and that was that.” Heughed low. “Or so he thought.” /em/strong

    strongem“What do you mean?” Shannon asked, obviously confused. /em/strong

    strongem“Well…” Garith shrugged. “He could have mated his daughter to me, and none of this would have happened. But instead…” He looked at Shannon and dropped the acting. His eyes turned cold, empty. He went from being a vibrant man to looking like he was dead inside. And I guess he was. “Instead, I gave up my pack, sure, but I killed his mate, his child, his entire race.” Garithughed, but his eyes stayed dead. “I killed all the Lycans, wiped out his line well, most of his line…until today.” He turned back to Rowan. “But hey, betterte than never, right?” And then he mmed the knife into Rowan. /em/strong