Avery's POV

My control was slipping through my fingers as I walked around Phoenix's beaten, bloodied form. The very sound of his heartbeat infuriated me and the smell of his blood was intoxicating. My body was buzzing as my anger continued boiling in an attempt to mask the pain I felt from Nataile's words. But I had to focus on Phoenix or else I would have another breakdown.

"What do you want to do, little wolf?" Greyson gently asked once I returned to his side.

One answer came to my mind. Only one way for me to fully get my revenge on him and make him feel every ounce of pain he'd put me through. I felt my eyes shift. "We're going to play a little game." I said as I approached him once more. "The rules are simple. I'll give you a five minute head start. You can choose to stay in the territory or go out, but after those five minutes are up, I'll hunt you. Not Greyson, not the Warriors. Just me and you for a full twenty-four hours." I gripped the chains that were holding him down and effortlessly ripped them off, feeling nothing more than a slight tingle as the wolfsbane and liquid silver got all over my hands. "And when I catch you, I will show you no mercy. You will wish you were never born."

He grinned. "Tough talk for a runt."

"Your time starts now." Without wasting another second, I let out a howl, announcing the start of the new Hunt, warning pack members to stay inside until it was over. By the time I was done, he was gone. I grinned to myself. I could practically smell his fear and it was euphoric.

Greyson gently wrapped his arms around me with a prideful grin on his face. "Goddess, Avery, you are so hot," was all he said before he pressed his lips to mine in a feverish kiss, neither one of us caring that there were guards all around us watching. He pulled away and put his forehead on mine. "Make that bastard pay for daring to look at you. Make him suffer in ways that make hell seem inviting. I trust that you will. But if anything happens-"

"I'll let you know."

Greyson grinned before he kissed me again, though I felt a shift in him as we moved against one another. "We believe in you," he said against my lips in a way that told me that it was no longer Greyson speaking. "Both of you," Gavin said, his eyes shifted in a way that matched mine.

I stayed in his arms as I counted the five minutes that seemed to drag on forever. I was restless, desperate for the temporary high I knew was within my grasp, opting to ignore the crippling emotions I would face after. River was boiling within me and as soon as that five minute mark passed, I was River and we were hot on his trail.

The pack grounds felt so big without the usual hustle of the pack members floating throughout it, but it also felt suffocating as Phoenix's scent got stronger and stronger.

But I wasn't going to let my defenses down.

Sure, I was tracking him like he was a buck that simply liked to play cat and mouse, but he was also clever and cunning.

With every step I took, power radiated through me and a determination like no other surged through my veins.

I was going to catch him.

And when I did, he was going to wish he never laid a finger on me.

***

Greyson's POV

I'd never been so worried in my life.

I knew that she could handle herself, God I knew, but the fact that she was alone out there with him made my blood boil and Gavin go mad.

I wanted to be there when she ripped him in half. Hear him beg for mercy as his life slipped through his fingers. But I couldn't. And it killed me.

To make things worse, I was yearning for her like crazy. Like an incessant buzzing, like the low hum of electricity crackling through the wires of my very being. I wanted to tear the whole world apart to get to her and just feel her next to me. Hear her heartbeat beat adjacent to mine. I was losing my mind without her.

I took a deep breath and tried to anchor myself in an attempt to calm Gavin who'd become extremely murderous without her.

I needed a distraction.

I hurried back to the house and went to our bedroom, trying to ignore how empty it felt without her there. I rummaged through my sweatshirts until I found one the smelled the most like Avery and slipped it on, an old trick to calming down my wolf, but it wouldn't hold him from long. I sat on her side of the bed, gently holding the sheets that had been pooled around her hips when we'd woken up mere hours before.

After a few moments I forced myself up and made my way back to my study where piles of paperwork and war reports were waiting on me. The perfect distraction. The first on the pile was Natalie's. She'd been the first injury. As I read through her report, I found that she'd been the first to spot Phoenix's pack and told the pack it was go time. She'd been injured trying to take out Phoenix's witch who was extremely powerful. She did a good deal of damage to her before she was taken out, thus making it easier for Atonya to take her out on her weakened state. I was proud though the heat of anger was slowly rising within me due to how ruthless she'd been to Avery. I understood her pain and hurt but to take it out on Avery when she was already emotionally weakened was both insensitive and dangerous. She could've easily killed her on accident and then the guilt that would follow...

I decided it was best not to think about it.

I set her report to the side and continued thumbing through the rest of them. Minor injuries, no deaths, right formations. I couldn't help but smile to myself. Our pack had really pulled through when we needed them the most and I couldn't help but feel proud. But my smile quickly turned to a scowl when Andrew's file found its way into my hands. It killed me to say it, but he'd been incredibly valuable to our war effort. He knew exactly how Phoenix's pack moved and he'd done an amazing job defending the pack. That didn't stop me from wanting to rip him apart though. But, his fate along with Phoenix's was in Avery's hands, not mine and I had to respect that no matter how badly I wanted to feel his esophagus crush beneath my hands.

I went back to looking at the papers that were scattered in front of me before I heard a faint knock on the door causing me to sharply look up due to the pack being on a strict lockdown, but I relaxed when I saw who it was. "I'm sorry," were the first words out of Natalie's lips.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," I shortly said.

"I know," she said as she hesitantly approached, "it's just that...Marty's all I got left, you know? And I know I've got you and Avery and the pack but...Matthew's the only blood I have left and seeing him like that hurt, Greyson, you've got to understand that."

I sighed and looked up at her. "Natalie, I understand. Trust me I do. Both you and Matthew are my family, no like about it, and when I saw you two my heart broke. But you also have to put yourself in her shoes. Nat, Avery's scared out of her mind whether she wants to admit it or not, and when she saw what she did to Matthew...if you'd seen the look on her face, it would've torn you apart. Now, I'm not blaming you for how you're feeling. I'm actually not blaming you at all. But I'm just asking that you handle Avery a bit more delicate, at least until she gets herself under control. I mean, do you realize how risky it was to get her emotionally riled up like that? River could've taken over and in one swipe or one snap or one anything, you could've been dead and Avery wouldn't be able to live with herself. I wouldn't be able to live with myself, Nat. Do you see what I'm getting at here?"

She looked down at the ground and nodded. "I'm sorry," she said above a whisper, her voice shaking indicating that she was holding back tears. My heart ached for her. I knew how hard it was.

I got up and wrapped my arms around her, causing her to break down and cry ugly sobs as she trembled. I could feel every ounce of her pain and suffering and I hated it. I hated that she felt that way.

After a while, she calmed down and pulled away, aggressively wiping her tears away. "Thanks," she weakly said, though I could hear the relief in her voice. "I'm going back to Matthew now."

"Did you take the under ground way here?"

She nodded. "I heard Avery's Hunting."

"That she is. Take that way back. I don't want to risk anything."

She nodded and before long she was gone. And I was alone again. Missing Avery like crazy.