***

A storm was brewing, and it didn’t have only to do with what fate had prepared for him at Pinemoor. Theodore had no doubt left in his mind; he would kill Cassandra, bathe in her foul blood and have his revenge. There was no after to worry about. It didn’t matter, as long as he succeeded in making that horrible clairvoyant die for what she had done to his pack.

To push away any other stray thoughts that had nothing to do with getting his revenge, he focused on flying the aircraft. His wolf was turning into a barbaric beast now that they were close to obtaining his heart’s darkest and deepest desire.

That had to be the only explanation for his wolf’s reaction at the sight of the two humans. The clairvoyant and the other – the strong one who had committed the sin of injuring him with the alpha-killing weapon.

What his wolf was whining for made no sense. In a fraction of a second, Theodore had envisioned an impossible scene. It involved him mounting the clairvoyant’s puny body with abandon, and not with the intention of destroying him. As for the other human, he had almost felt, physically felt, those strong arms wrapping around him from behind, while firm lips brushed his ear, encouraging him to—

He set his jaw hard. His wolf needed to remain dormant until Theodore needed him. Under the influence of those lustful thoughts, he was beginning to lose control of his own body.

Those were impossible thoughts. Revenge was the only thing that mattered. The Luna’s Sentinels didn’t matter to him, and since their alpha was sitting by his side, he needed to say a few things to him.

“I will kill her,” Theodore announced out loud. “But afterward, I want nothing to do with your pack, your mate, or you.”

“As you wish,” Asherman replied. “A wolf without a pack--”

“There’s no need for you to remind me of my fate.”

There really wasn’t. As a wolf – an alpha nonetheless – without a pack, he was destined to lead a lonely, miserable life until the end of his days.

“You are welcome to join us.”

Asherman’s words made his nostrils flare. He didn’t need the pity of this alpha who still had a pack to save. Envy and pain made the heart rot after a while.

“Are you relinquishing your pack to me, alpha?” Theodore took his eyes off the controls for a moment and threw the other alpha a wolfish grin.

“You know that’s impossible,” Asherman replied calmly.

“Of course.” Theodore scoffed and focused on piloting the plane. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. Then I might have taken your pack, since it would have been left without an alpha.”

Not one speck of truth lived in his words. They would never be his pack, and Theodore didn’t want them. But he needed to lash out, which only went to show how low he had sunk over these lonely years.

“You are so full of… nonsense,” the field mouse suddenly intervened in their conversation. When he had managed to drag himself from the comfortable seats in the back to here was beyond Theo. Although the annoying cinnamon scent should have warned him that the clairvoyant was incapable of sitting in one place like an obedient human.

Which he obviously was not.

“What do you mean?” Asherman asked the clairvoyant.

“Theo here is going to rebuild his pack. The cards say so.”

That again. That painful jolt that cursed his heart to feel again. The human clairvoyant was cruel.

“I do not believe a word leaving your mouth,” Theodore said, more to convince himself than the field mouse. “And stop calling me that grating nickname. I have never had my name shortened in my life.”

“I bet,” Jack said. “Anyway, we’re close, right?”

“Can you feel her power?” Asherman asked.

“Yeah,” Jack admitted in a faint whisper. “And it’s bad.”

The field mouse was frightened. Theodore’s wolf growled inside himself. For unfathomable reasons, his wolf was convinced the puny human belonged to him.

***