Free Healing The Alpha Collection by Jessica Ryan

to become civilized humans over the past couple of decades. Do you want to see it all destroyed in the blink of an eye? Because I can do that."
    "Why did you come here?" Luke asked, his voice shaking with rage. "Why do you want my daughter? You can go anywhere in America and have any female you want. Why my daughter?"
    "She's got something special in her," Abaddon said. "Plus she's the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on. If it wasn't you, it'd be some other asshole. Why can't I just have what I want?"
    He leaned over, looking past Luke. Aster felt his skin crawl as Leena hugged him tighter and the demon's eyes fell on him. Abaddon winked and then blew Leena a kiss. She cried out in fear and buried her face in Aster's chest like she was afraid the kiss would somehow touch her skin and melt it away. Aster hugged her tighter and gave Rowan a distressed look. His normally sturdy and strong friend looked scared to death—neither of them had an answer for this.
    "Me and you," Luke said, finally declaring his challenge. "A one-on-one fight to the death. If I win, you get the hell out of my town forever."
    Abaddon's expression turned to one of mock concern. "Don't throw your life away like this, Pops. There's no need for you to die."
    Luke, always the overconfident one, laughed and wiped some blood away from a scratch on his face. "I won't be the one taking a dirt nap, punk."
    Abaddon exploded in laughter. Luke shifted his weight uncomfortably as the demon's booming roar bounced off the trees and echoed back to them. Aster shuddered as a chill ran down his spine. It was like listening to Satan himself cackle.
    He tried to look away from Abaddon and Luke, tried to concentrate on something else. It was a beautiful day, one that he would have killed for normally. It was the perfect day to gather up Beorn and go fishing in their shifted forms. The sun was shining brightly overhead, the birds were chirping and there was nary a breeze. Aster wondered if such perfect days would always bring him back to this horrible moment, would always remind him about the horror he had faced on this hill. This was Luke's last stand and Aster knew it would not end well.
    "What are we going to do, Rowan?" he whispered. "Your dad can't win."
    "My dad can take him," Rowan angrily shot back. "He's a lot bigger than that fool."
    "Your dad is beat up and tired. He just fought six wolves and killed them with his bare hands. They got their licks in, Rowan. Look at him, he can barely stand."
    They both looked at Luke. He was swaying back and forth where he stood. If the day had had a breeze, it probably would have sent him to the ground.
    "He'll figure it out," Rowan said, now looking worried. "He always does. He's my dad."
    "All I'm saying"…" Aster said, pausing as Rowan looked him in the eye. "Be ready to fight. If your dad goes down, we have to step up and defend Leena."
    Leena looked up at Aster and started to open her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by Rowan, who had now stepped only a few inches from Aster. His chest was pressing in to Leena's back, sandwiching her between the two alpha males.
    "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Rowan said, gaining confidence from Aster's words. "If he kills my dad, he'll have nowhere to hide. 'We'll rip him to shreds."
    "Right," Aster said, nodding confidently.
    Leena stifled whatever words she was going to speak and looked back at her father as he continued to jaw with Abaddon. Aster had lost track of what they were saying, but he could tell it was just posturing and attempted intimidation.
    Finally, after what seemed like hours of staring, trash talking and flexing, Abaddon began to slowly remove his clothing. Carefully he removed the flannel, sleeveless shirt he wore underneath his leather vest. He took it off and folded it neatly on the seat while his vest hung from the handlebars of his bike like a flag declaring his allegiance with Satan's Angels. Then he undid the chaps he was wearing, pulling them off