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“What the fuck?” I gasped. We all rushed to the front door and threw it open. Smoke was billowing in the air from the direction of the security building, and I didn’t hesitate to rush out. Leven and Nyx were on my heels, and Leven barked orders at Garren to stay. Though I’d be shocked if he actually did.
Half the town followed us but this time I didn’t pay any attention to them. We skidded to a halt as we neared the building. The gate had been completely blown free and Callum and the rest of the security team were standing off with an unfamiliar group of wolves. There were ten of them, with one standing in front of the rest with a sick smile on his face. He was bulky like Leven but older. Gray streaked his hair and his face was marred with scars.
“Your pack is now under our authority,” he declared now that a big enough crowd had gathered. He projected his voice so he could be heard over the murmurs of confusion.
“Like hell it is.” Callum laughed humorlessly. “This is my pack and not a single one of us is willing to let you walk in here.”
“Oh, I think you’ll quickly change your mind,” he taunted. With a snap of his fingers two men walked up and held a tablet between them. I pushed my way forward to stand next to Callum, taking his hand in a show of solidarity and strength. Leven and Nyx stood on my other side, facing off against the bold wolves in front of us.
Then the screen flickered to a security feed. Two women huddled together in what appeared to be a concrete cell. Ava and Emma looked terrified and just the sight of them had outrage pouring out from the entire pack standing behind us.
“Release my wolves,” Callum demanded. His voice was low and icy enough it had a shiver going down my spine. I had no doubts he’d be tearing these men apart given half a chance.
“No.” The man laughed cruelly. “In fact.” He stopped talking as he put a hand to his ear and touched a comm I hadn’t noticed until now. “Hurt them.”
Screams blared from the tablet as the two women writhed in pain. We couldn’t see anyone attacking them, yet their backs arched and muscles strained as an unseen current rocked through them.
“Stop!” I screamed this time. Leven’s hand gripped my wrist as I tried to lunge forward. A scuffle behind us was followed by Waylen’s and Brent’s outraged screams.
“Your alpha comes with us and they live,” the man countered. “You refuse. They die.” There was sincerity in his tone. He meant every fucking word of that threat.
Callum turned to me; his eyes wide with fear. I shook my head against the mere thought of him submitting to them like this. They’d kill him as an example or use dark magic on him. Who knows what the outcome would be but in my soul I knew that Callum, as I knew him, would be gone forever. No one lived through trauma like these men delivered gleefully and came out sane.
“I have to.” He was pleading for me to understand him, but I wasn’t willing to listen to this.
“No, there has to be another way. We can end them,” I pointed out.
“I’m with her, let’s destroy them,” Hades growled. He was already crouched, ready to shift, just waiting on our alpha’s order.
“And if you try, they’ve been instructed to kill them. Slowly and painfully,” the man shot back at me. “Hurt them again.” More screams followed his words and my soul died a little. There was no getting out of this without someone’s death.
“You keep my Luna safe,” Callum said quietly to Nyx and Leven behind me. “The plan doesn’t change. Do what you have to do to survive, then end this.”
“We will, brother,” Leven promised, his voice choked with concern.
Callum leaned down and rested his forehead on mine. “I love you, little wolf. I’ll fight every fucking day to make it back to you.”
“You better, Callum,” I whispered back. My voice broke and tears slipped from my eyes. “You don’t get to claim me then leave me. This isn’t it for us. I fucking refuse to believe that.”
“It’s not,” he agreed. “Stay strong, my Luna. Get our allies so we can end this.”
“I will,” I said as my heart shattered into a million pieces. He walked away then and the men greeted him by throwing something in his face. We couldn’t make out what it was but my strong alpha crumpled to the ground before a man grabbed his arm and hissed something. They both disappeared, leaving the rest of us in stunned silence.
“The pack as you knew it, is gone,” the leader called out as he stalked forward, facing off with the front line of our pack. “This is a new regime, and I am your representative from the Grave Pack. You can call me Alpha Steele. Welcome to hell, wolves.”
That was some key word for the men because they walked forward and literally herded us to the pavilion and locked us in the kitchen. It wasn’t gentle but they weren’t outright hurting our people yet. I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before that changed, but for now they needed us terrified and compliant. As I gazed around, I knew they’d already achieved that.
The moment the door was closed everyone was talking at once. It was impossible to make out half of it. This was not going to get us anywhere.
As if he read my mind, Leven let out a shrill whistle. “Stop. Listen. You do what he says until we can get a grip on what’s going on here. We outnumber them easily and we won’t let this stand. You hear me? Do. Not. Lose. Heart. We are the Bluff Pack, and we will not fall like this.”
“They have them,” Waylen said in a choked sob. His brother held him tight but he looked just as murderous as I felt.
“And we are going to get them back,” I promised. “We’ve got weapons stored. We’ve got what we need. This is not the end for us.”
“Is that smoke?” someone gasped. Everyone shuffled to the windows and it took all of my strength to force my way to the front so I could see. The guards were torching our town, building by building.
“What about the humans in town?” I asked Leven who had also forced his way through, although a bit easier for a man of his size. “This will have the fire department coming our way.”
