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Your life, I wanted to say, but I didn't. "You brought this all on yourself, Pierce," I said instead. "This could've turned out differently if you were a better alpha to the pack. A better mate to Rosie. A better man in general."
"Wow, sounds like somebody's finally found their balls. Does this mean you're finally ready to fight me, Joaquin? Like you should've done all those years ago? Are you ready to be the big bad alpha?"
"Absolutely," I growled. "Just tell me where, and I'll hunt you down like a dog, and end this once and for all."
"Ooh, youareserious. That nearly gave me the chills," Pierce taunted in amusement. "Now it's a real party. If you're so serious about hashing this out, dear stepbrother, you're going to have to come to me."
"Don't do it," I heard Byron's telepathic warning through our pack bond. "It sounds like a trap."
Knowing Pierce, that was exactly what it was. He was plotting something, but I wasn't sure what it was. An ambush maybe? And even if it was, could I afford to not take the bait? Pierce has been quiet for so long that this was the only lead we had since coming back to Kingsrose.
"What's wrong? Wolf caught your tongue, Joaquin? Maybe you're still that useless coward you've always been," Pierce said.
"Fine," I finally said. "Tell me where you are, and I'll come to you."
"What are you doing?" Byron sent me telepathically.
Pierce laughed. "No, no. I don't need to tell you where I am. I believe you already have someone there who can show you the way. By the way, how's Kai doing? He's not losing control or anything, is he?"
Byron and I exchanged looks of shock before we looked to Kai's wolf. His crimson eyes focused on the phone in my hand, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Before I could think to ask Pierce how the fuck he knew anything about Kai, the phone call disconnected with no way for me to call him back.
"Are you insane?" Byron raised his voice. "You know as well as I that Pierce can't be trusted."
"I know that, but this could also be the only chance we have at finding anything about Pierce and this army he's forming. But I don't like that he's asking about Kai."
"Neither do I," Byron grumbled his agreement. "Do you think Pierce knows? About the Berserker Wolf, I mean."
"It wouldn't surprise me. After all, Pierce knew about the Wolf Moon's gift before any of us, including Rosie. There's no telling what information he has."
Kai's wolf inched closer to the bars before raising his head and howling again. He knew where Pierce was, somehow. I didn't know how that was possible, but he did.
"What do we do?" Byron asked, already frowning at knowing what my answer would be.
"We'll have to let Kai go and follow his trail."
"Joaquin, you know the risks if you do this. If Pierce ends up killing Kai, then he'll not only get the Wolf Moon’s gift, but the berserker rage too."
"I know." Seriously, did he think I would've forgotten about that? "I won't let him kill Kai. I'll protect him."
"And who's going to protect you? Pierce already had you captured and tortured once. What'll happen if—whoa!" Byron's words were cut off by the loud thud of Kai's berserker wolf slamming himself against the bars. He yelped when the silver burned his fur, but all he did was step back and slam the bars a second time, causing it to shake.
"Kai, stop!" I shouted, running to the bars, but didn't touch them. Kai didn't respond other than throwing his weight against the bars repeatedly. He was trying to break out and not caring the bars were burning him.
"We have to stop him before he hurts himself!" Byron exclaimed.
Whatever Kai was sensing was making him reckless enough to get to it. What was it? If I didn't do something, he was going to hurt himself. If he needed to chase after whatever it was that was leading him to Pierce, I should let him. Not liking what I had to do, I reached for the locks with bare hands, the silver already burning my skin like a branding as I worked fast to unlock it. Byron shouted my name, but I ignored it. I just got the door open slightly before Kai rammed into it, knocking me back and falling on my ass, while he took off up the stairs and out the door like a bat out of hell.
"Are you okay?" Byron asked as he helped me back to my feet. "Why did you let him go?"
I quickly began stripping as I gave Byron my orders. "I'm going after him. Round up some betas for backup and warn Kao. Use our pack bond to find us." Once I was naked, I shifted and ran after my pack brother. I didn't expect Kai to move so fast. If it wasn't for our linked connection, both from the pack and from our ties with Rosie, it would've been hard to find him. Putting all my energy into running until my paws ached, I finally found Kai up ahead, stopping in the middle of a road where a black haze circled in front of him. I halted as soon as I was beside Kai, facing the assailant covered in darkness.
It wasn't Pierce.
This guy was unrecognizable to me, even if half his face wasn't covered by the upturned collar of his black trench coat. His short-cropped hair was pale white, and his eyes were like two black voids of emptiness. Through the thick coat, I could tell he also had a powerful build to match the aura that wafted off him. There was something off about this guy. He wasn't a shifter, that was for sure, but it was hard to tell what he was exactly. Judging from the thick tendrils of inky black energy, he had to be a spellcaster of some kind, but the dried herbs and cedarwood that were the trademark scent of magic wasn't detected here. Come to think of it, I couldn't smell anything coming from him. My gut detected danger, though.
"Kai Trivinij and Joaquin Santiago, I presume," the man spoke in a rich baritone voice that sent shivers down my spine.
Whereas Kai stayed in wolf form, teeth bared and growling, I shifted back to my human skin and stood up to face this guy. "Who wants to know?"
