Black Moon (Alpha Pack #3)(10)
"Yeah, everybody's got a shitload of great advice," he spat back. "And maybe I don't want or need any f**king friends."
"You know what? I'll talk to you when you're in the mood to act like an adult."
With a scathing look, she turned and walked briskly down the hall, putting distance between them as fast as she could. That's what he'd wanted. Right?
"Dammit. Mackenzie, wait!" he called, taking a step forward.
His path was blocked by a smirking, redheaded wolf shifter who had apparently seen too much of the exchange. "Way to go, Goth-boy. What'll you do for an encore? Twist the heads off her Barbie dolls?"
Of all the goddamned people to witness the scene with the doc, this guy was, hands down, the one he would've gone miles out of his way to avoid. He and Aric Savage hadn't gotten along since the night Kalen had met the Pack in the cemetery outside town. Kalen had been investigating a series of murders and was in the process of raising a corpse to get some information from it when he'd become aware of the shifters' presence. After a short but fierce battle, they'd gotten Kalen pinned and Jax had cheated by knocking him out.
After taking Kalen into the compound for questioning, the team had ascertained that Kalen was innocent. He learned that the Pack was looking into the same murders and that they were on the trail of Orson Chappell, the CEO of NewLife Technology. The man was using his scientists to conduct research on splicing human and shifter DNA, and he especially wanted shifters with Psy abilities like those in the Pack. Chappell and his men were murdering innocents in the process-thus the poor, mutilated bodies the local authorities had found.
But Chappell wasn't the Big Boss. To their shock, they'd discovered that Malik, masquerading as the wealthy Evan Kerrigan, was the real power behind the gruesome endeavor to create a breed of super-shifter soldier. He'd seduced the now-deceased Chappell and many others to do his bidding.
Just as he was now trying to seduce Kalen into joining him.
But that wasn't his most pressing problem right this second. He felt his lip curl as he glared at Aric. From day one, the Firestarter/Telekinetic had harassed and mocked him at every opportunity. How the ass**le had managed to snag an intelligent, gorgeous mate like Rowan Chase-a former LAPD cop-was beyond Kalen's comprehension.
He tried to keep his voice even, but it betrayed his anger. "Fuck off, Aric. What goes on between me and Mackenzie is nobody's business, especially not yours."
"See, that's where you're wrong," the red wolf replied with a feral smile, clamping down firmly on Kalen's shoulder. "Mac is-"
"Get your hands off me."
Aric ignored his warning. "Mac is my friend. Everyone loves her, and none of us are going to stand by and watch you take a giant dump on her."
Kalen barely heard the words as Aric's face blurred. In an instant, memories assaulted him. Terrible ones, ghosts of other male hands in years gone by, many of them brutal. Taking what they wanted. And Kalen allowing the unwanted touches so he could put food in his empty, burning stomach.
Never again.
Mackenzie was the only one who had that right. Her hands were like heaven.
"Don't touch me," he said hoarsely. Inside, his panther stirred, rumbled in anger.
He's the enemy, pet, Malik cajoled. Don't you see? He's done nothing but hurt you, laugh at you, just as all the others in the past have done. He would toss you back into the cold if he could. Do not give him your loyalty-he does not deserve it. Show him your power, boy! Do not accept this contempt from one so far beneath you! Show him what it means to f**k with a Sorcerer!
Aric's lips were moving, but it was Malik's words that resounded in his head. They held the ring of truth, and anger boiled into a barely concealed rage. Under his skin, overwhelming emotions writhed like snakes, grew, and exploded.
With a snarl, he brought up a forearm and broke the other man's hold, then shoved him backward. Taken by surprise, the red wolf was unprepared when Kalen flung out a hand, palm up, and shouted a spell in Latin, releasing a blue sphere of pure energy.
The blast hit Aric in the chest and blew him off his feet, slamming him into the far wall hard enough to crack the plaster. His face registered shock as the energy hummed, spreading to his torso and limbs, causing his entire body to shake before it dispersed altogether. The man dropped to his knees, but just briefly. His head snapped up and his lips peeled back to bare his lengthening fangs.
"You wanna play dirty, kitty-cat? I can do that."
As Aric pushed to his feet, Kalen half-expected him to shift into his wolf form. He wasn't prepared for the other man to fling his hand out, answering Kalen's challenge with a plume of fire that rocketed toward his face. A shriek echoed in the hallway that he identified as Mac's frightened voice just as he brought up his hand and pushed his power at the fire, driving it back at his nemesis.
The wolf switched tactics, and the fire vanished. Before Kalen could react, he felt his body rise, feet leaving the floor. The f**ker was using his gift of telekinesis to fight back, and quite effectively. Kalen's body spun around to face away from the wolf, making it almost impossible to throw a spell at him. Then he was body-slammed into the wall, his entire right side taking the hit. Pain shot through his head and arm, and he both heard and felt a sickening snap.
"Ahhg!" Agony swept him, and he was slammed again.