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Chapter 23
Lucien
Akick to the back of my legs has my knees hitting the ground right near the fortress. My stomach lurches, and I tense with fury. Dušan and Bardhyl are on either side of me, their deep, guttural growls matching my own. Mad’s men had ambushed us, and now, I burn to know how he fooled us.
Abruptly, the sirens of a breach screech through the air. I jerk my head toward the rear entrance. There, shadows flit about in the woodlands within the settlement, moving erratically. What the hell is that?
Did they find Meira?
I glance over to Dušan and Bardhyl, their gazes locked on the movement up on the hill.
My adrenaline spikes as I picture the guards tracking her down, dragging her in here. How did they find her? I grind my teeth, knowing for a fact she would have willingly gotten down from the tree.
“What the fuck is going on?” Mad roars, marching in front of us, staring up the huge hill at the frenzy of shadows amid the cluster of trees. All I can imagine is how easily I can attack him right now, kill him in a heartbeat. Well, easy if there weren’t a gun muzzle pointed to the back of our heads.
“Jack,” Mad barks. “Get up there now! Find out what’s going on.” Then he turns on us. “There was never any doubt you would end on your knees before me,” he gloats.
There is something so repulsive about a man whose ego exudes from every pore in his body, and he’s proud of it. His attention homes in on Dušan. “You’re not so great now. Only two men follow you, while the rest stay loyal by my side.” He pats his own chest, a sneer of arrogance on the corner of his lips.
I see it now… This petty man has spent his whole life trying to prove to others he’s greater and better. His desperation to be praised and seen as successful in ascending to the pack leader position has been nagging him his whole life.
It’s why he stares at Dušan with vicious hatred. Jealousy can make someone horrendously vile and vindictive.
“Stefan,” Dušan snaps, using Mad’s real name. Something I rarely hear him use, and the few times he has have been when he’s fucking pissed at him. “This isn’t who you are. Most of the pack is in their homes terrified. You can’t rule a pack on fear alone. You know this. Your father told us this all the time.”
Mad spits on the ground, inches from us. “Fuck you. Easy to say when you claimed what was rightfully mine. He was my father by blood, not yours, but you still forced yourself to the top of the pack, didn’t you?”
“Could have something to do with you being too weak-assed to fight the previous Alpha to claim the Ash Wolves,” Bardhyl snarls. “So you take the pack like all gutless pigs. By cheating.”
The guard behind him whacks him in the back of his head. The thump has me cringing as Bardhyl falls face-first to the ground from the impact. He groans but pushes himself to his knees. Blood drips down his neck from the hit.
I clench my fists. My blood races with vengeance. The need to destroy all these bastards swallows me. Staring past Mad, I see Jack and two others heading up the hill, and there’s no sign of what’s causing the commotion farther up there.
“Today will be my happiest day. To see you three finally fucking killed.” Mad’s upper lip curls.
He lifts his head to the guards behind us, looking ready to give the order.
I stiffen, bending my arms, prepared to attack the prick behind me first.
A sudden scream, dark and terrifying, definitely belonging to a man, spears through the air from nearby on the hill.
We all glance in that direction.
Two guards are sprinting down, Jack and his followers, suddenly doing the same, darting like death chases them.
Near the edge of the trees, a cluster of undead lurch forward, dozens of them pouring out of the shadows. Their moans are lost beneath the siren. I want to shout from the rooftops.Fuck yes!About damn time, and that’s when I know it’s Meira who must be there. I adore that little cupcake.
“Who the fuck let them in?” Mad bellows. “Shoot them!” He’s shuddering, his face red with rage.
My heart leaps, thundering as more of these filthy creatures that are the best sight in the world shuffle forward.
Someone stands from the ground in front of the zombies. Dark, long hair flowing over her shoulder, she’s like a goddess rising out of the underworld with her followers crowding around her. As morbid as that sounds, there’s something spectacular about seeing her wield such power.
“Meira,” Bardhyl whispers, and Dušan’s breath catches. While others fear her, we love her to hell and back.
The gun from the back of my head falls away, and panicked voices burst around us. I curl my fingers as Dušan climbs to his feet. Bardhyl and I follow suit.
Mad whips around to us, his eyes bulging. “Shoot these three now!” he shouts at the guards behind us.
