Page 74 of Dark Auctioned Mate

“You’d be surprised,” Derek said confidently. “At dawn, we will be across the border. New names, new land. The network is not as small as you think. We will be another cell.”

Alanis swallowed. He was right. The network was enormous, and the resources and connections exceeded Caldwell Pack. Even with the raid, even with everything they’d accomplished tonight—Some of them would escape, regroup and continue.

Unless she stopped them here.

“The chains are titanium,” Derek said, watching her test them again. “You’re not breaking free, cousin. So stop trying, and accept what’s coming.”

Alanis shut her eyes and concentrated. The chains were strong, no doubt, but the branch it was attached to was not made to support extra weight. If she was able to pull… Alanis

tugged and hurled herself backward. The branch cracked.

Derek’s eyes widened. “What—”

Alanis tugged harder, and the branch broke right through. She rolled on the ground to cushion her fall, her chains still on, but unattached to the tree. The pack members immediately attacked.

Alanis fought like a cornered animal. The chains did not give her much freedom of movement, but she would weaponize them, throwing the bulky ends at faces and deflecting blows.

But she was up against seven people—she was hurt, tired, and working on pure adrenaline.

She went down on her knees with a kick to her wounded ribs. Someone grabbed her hair and pulled her back. Derek stepped forward, brandishing a knife.

“Enough,” he said. “You are too much trouble to be left alive. I should have killed you the first time I saw you.”

He pressed the knife hard against her throat. Alanis’ eyes fluttered closed, her heart beating wildly. This was it then. The end. And the only thing or person she could think about was Rael. Suddenly, she heard the sweetest sound in the world—the howl of a wolf.

Her eyes snapped open.

Derek’s brows knitted in confusion. “Who the—”

Rael burst from the tree line in his wolf form—massive, powerful, silver-gray fur bristling with rage. He went straight for Derek, hitting him with enough force to send them both flying.

The knife went spinning into the darkness.

Behind Rael came Javi and Silas, also shifted, flanked by pack enforcers. They fought the remaining Caldwell pack members ruthlessly.

Alanis scrambled back. Her hands were still in chains, and she could not do much, but she was able to pick up the knife from the ground.

Derek shifted into a brown wolf, squaring up to the bigger form of Rael. They went round and round, growling, and Alanis could see the moment when Derek knew he could not match up to Rael.

He tried to run, but Rael caught him in three strides, clamping his jaw around Derek’s hind leg. Derek screamed and turned to attack Rael, but Rael was quicker and stronger.

They fought viciously, both going for the kill. But Rael had discipline and strategy, while Derek had nothing but rage.

It was over within seconds when Rael tore out Derek’s throat with his teeth. Derek’s wolf remained motionless before he finally sank to the ground, gradually shifting back to human. His throat had an open gash, and his eyes were glassy.

“This is for Alanis,” Rael said in a deeper and rougher voice. “This is justice for all the women you sold. For all the lives you ruined.”

Derek tried to speak, but there was blood in his throat. He choked to death on it.

Rael shifted back to a man, breathing heavily, and covered in blood. He immediately hurried towards Alanis. “Are you hurt?

“I am all right,” she lied. Her ribs were certainly broken, she had swelling on her face, and she was quite certain that she had a concussion. “The chains—”

Rael took them off and cradled her in his arms. “God, I thought I lost you,” he sighed into her hair. “When I could not find you at the warehouse, I thought—”

“I am fine,” Alanis said softly, despite her body trembling. “I’m okay now.”

The battle was over. They had killed some of the Caldwell pack members, and others were being tied up by the pack’s enforcers.