Page 177 of Dominion

Colleen

My palms sweat as I sit on the concrete bench near the lake to wait.

I texted Dirk when I got here and added my dad to the thread to make sure there was a witness.Your story about me being kidnapped by the Denver pack is ludicrous. I left you because I refuse to allow me or our pups to be your punching bag any longer. Tell your pack to turn around and go home.

He must’ve been too angry to notice my dad was on the thread, or maybe he didn’t care any more because he responded,I will kill you all.

My heart pounded as I texted,Leave the Denver pack out of it. I am not with them.

I will find you.

Lave the Denver pack alone. I’ll meet you at Evergreen Lake.

Neither he nor my father replied after that, but I’m certain Dirk’s on his way. So I wait, trying not to think about Mark and how upset he’ll be when he discovers what I’ve done. Or the pups and what might happen to them if I don’t succeed. Instead, I focus on my breath. In. Out. Steady. Fate’s on my side. She brought me to my mate. Now all I have to do is finish this.

I knowthe moment he arrives. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my skin prickles with goosebumps as the unfamiliar car—no doubt a rental—pulls into the parking area. I reach back instinctively and touch the pistol in my waistband.

He gets out and slams the door before storming toward me.

I don’t stand. I just wait for him to stalk my way. Even across the field I read the anger radiating from him, his violence close to the surface, prepped to deliver. Of course, it triggers me. Adrenaline flushes my system so fast I nearly shift to run into the woods. But I already know how that scenario goes. He’d catch me, and I’d suffer for it.

No, this time I’m not going to run. I’m going to fight back.

So I get up and walk toward him, chin lifted high, my molars clenched. I pull the gun when he’s five feet away and point it at him. My hand trembles, but that doesn’t stop me from taking off the safety. “You get any closer, and I’ll kill you,” I tell him.

He sneers. “You think a gun will stop me?” He lunges for me.

I shoot. Dirk’s body jerks with the impact.

I register the arrival of two more cars in the parking lot and the attention I’ve drawn with the gunshot.

Fuck. Witnesses.

And double-fuck. My aim was off.

The bullet caught him in the shoulder, not the heart. He staggers back, eyes turning amber, lips peeling back in a snarl. “Silver.” He recognizes the damaging properties of the only substance that can harm shifters.

He closes the distance between us.

I freeze for a moment, that old familiar terror rising in me.

It gives him the advantage he requires. He tries to grab the pistol. I yank my hand back, firing into the air, but then he knocks it from my hand. I dive for it, but he grips my skull, arms cocked to snap my neck.

I hear the snarl of a wolf at the same time a shot rings out.

Dirk crumples to the ground, dead.

My knees buckle, and I almost fall, too, but the great black wolf barrelling toward me seamlessly shifts into human form, and Mark catches me and lifts me into his arms.

I stare at Dirk on the ground in confusion. “How… who…”

And then I see my father, jogging toward us, a gun in his hand. “Colleen!” There’s fear in his voice.

Mark holds me closer as if to protect me from him, too. I wrap my arms around his neck in a strangle-hold, breathing in my mate’s intoxicating scent. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“He almost killed you.” My dad sounds shocked.

Mark ignores him. “Fuck, baby. Fuck. I’m so glad you’re all right.”