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BYRON
Making sure that my presence wasn’t known, I silently watched from the shadows as Rosie and her entourage made their escape from Kingsrose. I wasn’t sure why I stood by and let them go, especially since I was told to make sure they didn’t escape. I never once disobeyed a direct order from Alpha Pierce and doing so now left an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. I should’ve stopped them. I should’ve captured Rosie and brought her to Pierce like I was told to. What made me hesitant to follow orders was the wave of information surrounding Pierce wanting to mate with Rosie that I gathered tonight; both from Rosie and Sabina.
I couldn’t properly register what Sabina was telling me before all hell broke loose. Now that the worst of it was over, it was all I could think about. Was what Sabina divulged to me true? Could a children's story that I was told as a pup really be more than fiction? It was hard to fathom—or believe—that Rosie had some kind of magical power inside her that Mother Moon granted at birth. Then again, our very existence was a myth to humans, yet here we were, secretly living among them. If supernatural beings were real, why couldn't this mysterious gift of Rosie's? It would explain why she seemed unfazed by the mate bond.
Just what kind of power did this gift possess? I had no doubt that Pierce knew what it was, considering the lengths he was going to obtain it. Suddenly his relentless need for Rosie to accept the mate bond made sense. It wasn’t because he wanted her as a mate, it was the power he was after. For as long as I served under him, I knew Pierce’s obsession with being number one. Not just within our pack, he wanted to be the strongest wolf alive. He wanted to make sure nobody could stand up to him. It made him insane and dangerous.
I internally sighed, wondering what the fuck we had gotten ourselves into. I wasn't sure what I should do. It was no secret that Pierce was an asshole, but he was still my alpha. I swore an oath to abide by his ruling and obey all orders so long as he remained my alpha, but now I'd just broken my vow. It shouldn't matter what my personal beliefs were. It shouldn't matter what I deemed was right and wrong. I was a wolf who was raised to put my thoughts and feelings aside for my alpha. I was raised to never defy the laws of life and fate.
Then why did I let her go?
Even my wolf seemed conflicted by our sudden defiance, unsure if we made the right decision. The only thing he and I seemed to agree on was that we needed answers. Staying close to the shadows and remaining in wolf form, I ran back towards the lodge. The area was illuminated with red and blue flashing lights. The police and paramedics swarmed the lodge after hearing gunshots. The dead bodies of pack mates and hunters still littered the open field, but some have already been carried off. Luckily, we had pack members in both fields, so any records of our existence would vanish in a day or two. Still, it was a massacre that would haunt the minds of many.
Our territory being invaded by wolf hunters wasn't something any of us were expecting to happen tonight. Whoever they were, they seemed to have been sent here to retrieve Rosie and her mates. I wasn't aware she had such strong connections. Then I remembered there was a former wolf hunter who was a member of Rosie's former pack. That must've been where they came from. Was that where she was headed? Back to her old pack? It would be the first place Pierce would look for her, but she would have her former pack mates protecting her. Not to mention, there would probably be more hunters on standby.
I hoped Pierce wasn’t planning on going to war with them, not while our pack was in shambles. What would the protocol be for this situation? Could this be considered an attack by the Blue Moon Pack? According to pack laws, it would be within our right to strike back if they came for us first. But technically, it wasn’t the wolf pack who attacked us, only the human hunters. Rosie clearly found a loophole that would leave her former pack unscathed.
Making sure that none of the human cops spotted me, I stealthily crept to the back of the lodge where I quickly shifted back and threw on the clothes I left behind. I came back out to join everyone in front of the lodge. Many of our pack mates took off when the guns started firing, but those that remained were currently being questioned by police about the events that took place. I did a mental body check on all remaining betas that I could see. Out of thirty, I could only see twenty-three of them; not including Joaquin who was captured but couldn't be found amongst the crowd. Pierce must've moved him somewhere before the police arrived. Chances were, he was locked in one of the basement cellars waiting for punishment.
I also couldn’t spot Pierce amongst the faces. Maybe he was inside? While everyone else was distracted, I went inside the lodge. Several windows were shattered, glass shards were spread all over the ground. Aside from that, the lodge remained in one piece.
“If you’re looking for Pierce, he’s dealing with the traitor down in the cellar,” a feminine voice spoke from the direction of Pierce’s office. I looked over to see Whitney resting against the door to the office, her wavy blond hair draped over her shoulders. She was one of the few betas to survive the attack, which slightly disappointed me, but I had to give her credit for being one of the more skilled betas when it came to combat. She managed to get herself dressed, but there were still streaks of blood that ran along her fingers and arms.
“Interrogation?” I asked.
Whitney nodded. “Hopefully Joaquin will spill where that cunt and her twin traitors took off to.”
“Do you really think he would turn Rosie in like that?”
“If he was smart, he would. Then again, nobody in this fucking pack seems to have any brains around here when it comes to the girl. You dumbasses spent too much time thinking with your dicks rather than your brains.” She stomped her foot before stepping forward until she was in my direct line of sight. “I told Pierce she was no good for him. I told everyone, but did anybody bother to listen to me? No! Instead, you all chose to let her do whatever she wanted.”
“There wasn’t much we could do anyways, Whitney. Despite what you may think of her, Rosie is still Pierce’s fated mate.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she is!” Whitney snapped. “If you jackasses would’ve let me kill her when I had the chance, maybe none of this would’ve happened.”
A growl rumbled in my throat, my wolf not liking the tone of her voice. I took two steps forward, my eyes shifting to my lupine’s feral glare. Whitney’s body stiffened but held her ground. Her bravery would be considered admirable, but there was the subtle hint of fear lingering off her. She knew very well I could snap her neck before she even had time to react. Part of me wanted to, but I had more self-control than that.
“I’d advise you to watch who you’re talking to.” My voice dropped a few octaves. “With Joaquin branded a traitor, I’m the new second in command. I suggest you keep that in mind before I make you remember who’s your superior.”
Whitney gritted her teeth but was smart enough to keep her retorts to herself. Not so much as wanting to breathe the same air as her any longer, I whipped around and headed down the hall where the entrance to the basement cellar was located. The door remained closed and locked unless you had the code. I punched in the code on the keypad then hit enter, hearing the click of the door unlocking.
Opening the door, I took two steps down the flight of stairs before pausing when I got a whiff of something alarming.
Wolfsbane.
Shit, Pierce was torturing Joaquin all right. Wolf shifters didn’t have very many weaknesses, but silver was one of them. Our skin burns at the touch of silver, and long contact could make us sick. Wolfsbane was another. The poisonous plant could easily kill anybody, but for wolf shifters, once the effect slowed down our heartbeat, our rapid healing slows to a snail’s pace. Wounds that would normally close in a matter of seconds would take minutes, depending on how much of the toxin was in our system.
I hiked back up the stairs and headed for the supply cabinet to grab the first aid kit we kept around for human guests. I stuffed the red rectangular box inside my jacket before making my way back to the basement and climbed down. The scent was faint from the outside, not enough to affect me right away, but I wasn’t sure how much Joaquin inhaled. We normally reserved this brutal method for the most dangerous of wolves who brought harm to the pack. I guessed Pierce deemed Joaquin dangerous enough. I tried to warn him. I knew this would end badly if he continued pursuing Rosie, but he wouldn’t listen.
The air was damp with sweat and musk when I finally reached the floor. The cellars were wall-to-wall with silver bars, making sure the captive shifters couldn’t escape. Ten cells total, five on each side. Most were empty except for the one farthest to my right. That was where the groaning sound of pain and the stench of blood and wolfsbane came from. From where I stood, I could see Pierce staring down at a hunched over Joaquin. His hands bound in silver chains and raised over his head. His bare chest and arms glistened with moisture and coated in blood. Pierce, for his part, wore an oxygen mask so he wouldn’t breathe in the wolfsbane. The scent of the poison grew stronger the closer I reached them. My head began to feel dizzy, but I pushed through it.
Straightening my posture, I sauntered over to Joaquin’s cell. Pierce heard me approaching and turned to face me. “I assume you couldn’t catch the girl?”
I shook my head. “She managed to escape.” It wasn’t a complete lie, I just left out the fact that I let her go. Hopefully I didn’t make a grave mistake, otherwise I’d find myself in Joaquin’s current predicament.
“I see,” Pierce muttered. “Such a shame.”
It was difficult to tell if Pierce knew there was more than I was saying or not. I kneeled before my alpha and tilted my head to the side, exposing my neck in submission. “My apologies, my alpha. I take full responsibility for my actions. If you wish, I could go after her.”
