“Who are you?”
“Don’t shoot, it’s Ben.” Tex stepped closer, moving in between Styx and Jinx. “Ben, don’t do anything stupid. Just step aside.”
“He’ll kill me.” Ben’s hand twitched toward his gun.
“He won’t because we’re here to stop him. Either step aside or fight with us. I don’t care which but I will no longer stand aside knowing he’s hurting people.” Tex tried to convince his friend while the others waited.
“How many are in there?” Ty asked.
“Six.”
“That’s better odds than I thought it would be.” Tex nodded. “Now move aside.”
“I can’t.” The young guard shook his head. “He has Summer.”
“Then help us and we can try to save her.” Jinx moved his gun to the side. He didn’t have time to play games with Ben.
“You don’t understand, if I allow you in once he’s done with the woman he’s working on, he’ll go after Summer.”
Ben tried to explain, which only upset Jinx more. He didn’t like Ben’s word choice, as if Avery was just working on a car, or working the kinks out of her back, when in fact he was torturing a woman.
“Get the hell out of the way or I’ll shoot you. I won’t stand here while he hurts anyone.” Jinx was itching to squeeze the trigger.
“Summer is his sister,” Tex explained. “We’ll save her if you get out of the way. Come with us and get her out of there yourself.”
Ben stood there undecided until Styx reached forward, snatched the boy’s gun away from him, and pushed him aside. “We don’t have time for your games.”
“Cover me.” Jinx pulled the door open, and a flood of screams poured out. A woman lay stretched out on the table, blood everywhere. “Step away from the woman!”
“What the fuck!” Avery glanced to the door, an instrument resembling a scalpel in his hand. “How did you get in here?”
“Through the door.” Tex stepped out from behind Jinx, letting Avery see just who had led them there. “Years ago, before you beat the will out of me, I told you that someday someone would stop you. Well, that day has come and I’m one of the people who plan to stop you.”
Avery laughed. “Boy, you don’t stand a chance.”
Tex nodded. “Not alone, but as a whole we do.”
“Where did you find them? A bunch of solitary shifters? No Alpha would dare take me on.” Avery was cocky and full of himself.
“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Jinx, the West Virginia Alpha, and this is Ty, Alpha of the Alaskan Tigers.” He tipped his head to Ty, standing next to him. “One Alpha might not, but Ty and I are nothing like the others. We’ll fight for what’s right, no matter the cost. Now I told you once to step away from the woman.”
“What do you think this will accomplish?” Avery lowered the scalpel before shoving it into the woman’s chest.
Jinx squeezed the trigger, shooting Avery. It was the first of many shots that rang out.
Chapter Three
Jinx step forward, his gun still trained on Avery, while his gaze traveled between the woman and Avery. He wanted Avery to suffer for the damage he’d done to the victim, the deep cuts that covered her body, the burn marks that looked like he’d placed an open flame on her skin.
For each mark he wanted Avery to feel it. To know what it was like to be tortured, the fear coursing through him while he begged. It didn’t matter to Jinx if Avery begged for death or for his life, in the end death would be the only thing he got.
“Finish it,” Ty ordered while he subdued one of the guards. There were no options for Avery, no chance to surrender. He couldn’t continue to live because he’d never quit. There were no prisons for shifters.
“You’d kill an unarmed man?” Avery’s voice lost the authority it held only moments ago. Now he seemed weak and pitiful, his eyes full of terror.
“She’s dead! You’ve killed my sister.” Another woman sobbed over the body on the table. Her blonde hair slipped into the pool of blood as she cradled the woman to her, tears running down her face.
“You brought this upon yourself.” Jinx aimed the gun at Avery’s head and squeezed the trigger. There was no guilt, not after knowing Avery’s final act had taken another’s life, that they hadn’t arrived in time to save her.
A man came bursting through the door, straight for Jinx. Noticing he held a gun, Jinx launched himself forward, taking the stranger down before he could reach the women. They wrestled across the room, Jinx’s grip tight on the man’s jacket so he had no chance to get away.