Free Suffering & Salvation by Kenzie James Celia Kyle Page B

batting at the air, refusing to go, willing to do whatever she had to—to stay. They’d die before going back to Pride. Die fighting.
    She must’ve whimpered because Brand was right next to her, protecting her. His touch, his scent, easing her rising trepidation. “It’s okay. We’ll take care of this. Shh…stay calm, little cat.”
    Simi jerked her head in a nod and evened out her breathing. Calm. She would try, for Brand. She narrowed her eyes and studied the members from Pride, their scents still familiar after all this time apart. Her father stood at the front, with his barrel chest, beer belly, rumpled hair and clothes, the stink of alcohol clinging to him. She could smell the stench even from this distance. He was a disgrace, not only to Pride, but to her as well. What an utter disappointment.
    Others were fanned out around him in the form of a semicircle, holding the crowd back. Her mother was there, looking broken, beaten, uncomfortable in her skin. Simi wanted to feel sorry for her, but Isa refused.
    “ Wolf! I said I want my bitch back!” Her father practically foamed at the mouth, spittle forming in the corners.
    Dean tilted his head as if in acknowledgement. “So you said. However, we have nothing of yours. This is a gathering of Pack and Flock. Cougars are not welcome here at the Gathering. You are not welcome.”
    Alpha’s pronouncement was met with murmured approvals from the two groups gathered there, but scowls from Pride, her father roaring in defiance. “The whelp is right there,” he declared, pointing at Simi.
    Unfamiliar courage surfacing, Simi and Isa rose to their feet, meeting the challenge…with her mate by her side to give her the strength to do so. “ I am not with Pride anymore. I am certainly not some property you can reclaim. I am with Pack now.” She took a step forward with each statement she boldly made, moving closer to the source of her agony, the root of so many years of pain and abuse she endured, spitting on the ground as she came to a stop. Not very feminine, but something akin to anger came over her.
    Her father snarled and closed the distance between them, shedding clothes as he approached. Isa allowed for a partial shift, sensing no need for anything more to deal with her poor excuse of a father. Her fangs dropped, arms changing into razor-sharp harbingers of death.
    He came at her, but did so at his detriment. He had no idea what she was capable of. She was far removed from the helpless little girl she once was. She killed Bear…and she could kill her father just as well. Before the magic could fully overtake him, before the shift could protect him from a sudden attack, Simi caught him off-guard, wrapping her claw around his neck with lightning quickness. Tips first pricking skin, it pierced through the man’s flesh with ease. Isa’s power surged through her body, filled it with new resolve, making her stronger than the piece of shit that attacked her—his own daughter…and for what? For standing up for herself?
    He gurgled, grasping at her outstretched arm. “Simone,” he gasped through his pinched windpipe.
    “No, I’m Simi, counterpart to Isa, member of Pack. I am nothing to you, remember? And now, you are nothing to me.” She spat in his face. Rude perhaps, but it felt good to stand up to him.
    Growls and snarls from Pride echoed all around, its male members in obvious disagreement with her treatment of their leader.
    “Silence,” she roared, the commanding sound coming from deep within. She squeezed tighter, ensuring she had her father’s attention. “Isa killed Bear. Snapped his neck in two. We’d been running for weeks. Had only finished our first meal in days. We were weak, helpless, tired. Even so, we killed Bear. What do you think we’ll do to you, now that we’re strong?” Simi tilted her head to the side. “Do you challenge me, father? For I will kill you. Isa will end your pitiful existence. After you’re dead, I will take your