“Iknow,” Caleb mutters, his voice low and lethal. His hand wraps around John’s throat, cutting off the air supply but careful not to slice through his neck with his claws. “I know about the omegas. I know what you’re doing, and I’m going to shut it down. You want to live, tell me where they are. Tell me where my sister is.”
John’s shock is palpable, and murmurs erupt among the elders from both packs. Some clearly understand exactly what Caleb is referring to, while others appear confused. Caleb releases John’s throat and in the moment of his hands moving, John manages to buck him off and scramble to his feet.
“I knew she was your sister,” John sneers. “Sweet, broken Camille. There’s no fight left in her. She’s not even fun to play with anymore. She doesn’t even scream when I fuck her—”
A roar erupts from Caleb’s throat, cutting John off with its ferocity. He moves quickly, grabbing John and twisting him to face away before shoving him forward. John lands roughly on his knees, his back to Caleb, who swiftly plunges his claws into John’s back.
John coughs, a harsh, rattling sound that echoes in the sudden stillness. His eyes bulge, reflecting a frantic terror. Crimson blood, thick and smelling of copper, bubbles violently, overflowing his lips and spilling onto his chin.
“I will get her back. And maybe the pack won’t accept me, but you won’t be alive to see it,” Caleb snarls before pulling his arm back. The wet rip of flesh echoes as John's heart is pulled free from his body. Caleb holds the heart aloft for a moment. Deep red blood runs down his dark skin and drips from his elbow, splattering onto the floor underneath. His bared teeth gleam, lips curled, as John's body collapses, a slow-motion fall. Caleb unceremoniously tosses the heart onto the ground, a wet thud beside the lifeless form.
Gasps from the elders send goosebumps erupting all over my skin. I hear movement, murmurs, and shuffling, but I can’t tear my gaze from the new Alpha of the Iron Fang pack.
Caleb sucks in heaving breaths, not from exertion, but from the magic transferring into him as he becomes the alpha of the Iron Fang Pack. He was already an alpha wolf, but aspects of alpha power—such as alpha commands and the ability to sense pack members’ emotional states—only work when you are the alpha ofa pack. The air glistens and glitters around him. His eyes glow pure gold, bright and terrifying.
Caleb Cooper is a force to be reckoned with.
Chapter Four
Sofia
Three days later
Relief floods through me. My shoulders physically unclench, and the tightness in my chest eases enough that I can breathe freely now that Emily has finally woken up. Jackson mindlinked me to say he will be bringing her to his place, and that she seems okay. I’ll give them space. As much as I want to see her; she needs her mate right now, and I’ve told Jackson to mindlink if they need anything or if Emily wants female company.
I still can’t believe how close we came to losing her.
A sharp rap at the door lets me know Ryan is trying to talk to me again. “Please, Fia, we need to talk.”
I want to tell him to go to hell. Ihavetold him to go to hell, to fuck off, to never speak to me again. I’ve shut down the mindlink between us completely. But the anger I was previously flooded with has cooled to a dull, constant drum of disappointment. That’s the real wound. The real reason I don’t want to talk to him.
I don’t want to give him another opportunity to let me down.
But realistically, I can’t give him the cold shoulder forever. With a long, grudging sigh he will definitely hear, I heave myself offthe bed and stomp over to my door. My hand clasps the cold knob, and I take one last breath before I yank it open and glare at my brother. His sheepish expression is antithetical to the usually sure-of-himself alpha I’m used to. But heshouldfeel bad. And I’m certainly not going to make this easy for him.
"Fine," I say sharply, folding my arms in front of me. “Talk.”
“Can we go sit down?” His eyes are pleading, and his voice is low, like he’s afraid he could scare me off. “There are some things you need to hear.”
I don’t reply, but I brush past him and make my way towards the kitchen table and pull out a chair for myself. The wood scrapes against the floor, and I sit right at the edge of my seat, ready to walk straight out of here if I need to. Ryan follows behind me and slumps into the chair across from me. He runs his hands down his face before leaning forward onto his elbows. Dark shadows are under his eyes. He looks bone-tired, and if this were about anything else, I’d sympathize with him.
I’ve always felt for him about how tough his role must be. Thrust into the role of alpha, made responsible for a whole pack, when he wasn’t much older than I am now. Not because he was the right fit for the job or even because he wanted it. No, he was the previous alpha’s oldest son, the strongest shifter in the pack, and that means everything to wolves. I’d hate to be in his position. But that doesn’t excuse his actions.
“I have reason to believe Aidan Blackwood and John Anderson were involved in abducting and trafficking omega wolves goingback years. Jackson’s sister might be one of them. She might be alive.”
Goosebumps erupt along my arms, and I blink rapidly, trying to process the words Ryan just said. “What?” I ask. It’s as if all the air in the kitchen has been sucked out, or it’s gone too thin. My voice cracks as my mouth goes dry and my breath stutters, shallow and rapid, as I struggle to draw enough air. “Katie is dead. I felt it. We all felt the bond snap.”
Ryan ignores my words, plunging ahead as if I hadn't said a word. “I wouldn’t have let him take Emily back. I was… trying to get some answers. Caleb challenged John for the position of alpha, and we are working together to try to find out where the missing omegas are. But I think we’ve fucked it all up. The Iron Fang elders, the ones who knew something, defected as soon as the challenge was over, taking over half the warriors with them. The remaining ones don’t know shit. And we’re at square one right now.”
My head spins, trying to process all the information Ryan just blurted out. Images of Katie Clark flood my mind. She was older than Ryan, and an omega like Emily. She used to babysit me. She was sweet and kind. And she was training to be the next pack doctor.
“John is?”
“Dead. Caleb killed him in the challenge. He was going to question the pack members under alpha command once the power fully shifted to him, but they were in the wind instantly. Like they knew exactly what we were thinking.”
“Yeah, because that was a stupid plan.” I massage my temples with my fingers. Ryan’s words land heavy, like they are being hammered into my skull, and I feel like a damn fool for avoiding everyone except Emily and Jackson, while I licked my wounds about being overpowered by Luca.
“Does Jackson know?”
