*Maddox*
I don’t bother to answer the voice in my head. I’m too angry, and I don’t want him to know what’s coming for him.
Instead, once I’ve secured the crime scene, had my people take pictures and gather evidence, not that I need it because I am the law in this land, I move out, headed straight over to confront the idiotic asshole who’d decided to take matters into his own hands and cause all of these problems to begin with.
Hill Country pack.
The rest of the passengers are deathly quiet as we make the drive. My eyes focus out the window. If I remembered the images of all of the dead bodies I’d seen in my life, my mind would be full of ghastly figures, twisted, ripped open, covered in blood and gore.
Only a few of those ghosts haunt me still. One soldier who was particularly close to me that I’d gone through my training with had died during an insurrection a few years back. He was a huge warrior, muscle-bound, fierce, and loyal.
Somehow, he’d gotten himself into a situation where he was too far in advance of the rest of the troops, and he’d ended up trying to fight off ten or twelve of the rebels by himself. He was a talented fighter, but even he wasn’t capable of holding them off.
When I’d found him, Stephen had been mutilated. I wouldn’t have even recognized him except that our enemies had been kind enough to leave his back left hip intact where he had a distinct birthmark that showed even in his wolf form, a patch of white-blond fur. It was tinged pink, but I recognized its shape, a perfect triangle.
The photographic memory of Stephen’s body lying in all of those pieces on the battlefield is one image that will never leave my mind.
And so are the images of the Luna I’d just seen hanging over her bed, her blood pooling beneath her, creating a dark patch on the carpet.
Not because I was particularly fond of the Luna in question but because of the way her children looked at me when they asked me if she was dead. Alpha Hayes wasn’t a good person; he probably deserved to die one way or another. But their mother? No one should’ve done that to her.
I think about the other people who died in that house overnight. The staff members who were just going about their jobs or trying to get some sleep so that they could follow their orders the next day without being reprimanded. Why had they all been slaughtered? So that they couldn’t call for help?
None of it made any sense. It wasn’t as if the warriors from Hill needed to go into the capital of Alpha Hayes’s territory at all. They could’ve just taken Zabrina and slipped into the night. If Hayes had a problem with it, he could’ve let them know, and they could’ve faced off about it then.
But it doesn’t surprise me at all to know that this monster would sneak in there under cover of darkness and attack people while they were sleeping when they didn’t even know the two packs had a conflict.
That’s just the way he was.
A weak, conniving asshole.
And I should’ve shut him down when I had the chance to do so. I was ignorant to think he would do a better job than Alpha Bryant.
And now, this lesson has been learned, and I will be haunted by these images for the rest of my life.
Another body comes to mind, but this one isn’t bloody.
Her face is alabaster and serene as she lies on the floor, like she’s sleeping, with no evidence of the painful death that just claimed her lingering on her face.
Rebecca….
We pull into the city, and I perk up, knowing I’ve got business to handle now. I’m not leaving anyone back on the border this time around. We’re all going in, and we’re all going to rip the hell out of these assholes if I don’t get exactly what I want the moment that I want it.
With every vehicle full of men I have with me, as well as a stern message to everyone in this pack that anyone who rises up against us will be put to death sent out over the mind-link, we pull up in front of the Alpha’s mansion and get out of the SUVs. Everyone shifts except for me, but I am ready to get in on the action the moment it starts.
I approach the door, knowing full well that Beta Vinny, who has decided that he is taking over this pack after I killed Alpha Bryant, will be living here. Who knows where the previous Alpha’s family has been relocated to?
I wouldn’t be too surprised if Vinny didn’t claim the previous Alpha’s Luna, too.
Standing back from the house, I use the mind-link to say, “Vinny, get your sorry ass out here right now, and bring Zabrina with you, as well as anyone who was involved in the raid on Alpha Hayes’s home in Duster pack.”
I wait for a moment, but I refused to wait long.
Vinny’s voice sounds in my head. “I’ll be right out, Alpha King Boss Man. You’re gonna be so pleased with what I have for you!”
He says this as if I haven’t already told him I know what he’s done. I say nothing. If I try to speak to him now, even through the mind-link, I will not be cordial.
A few seconds later, the front door opens, and Vinny walks out, dressed in a dark suit. I am reminded of what Isla told me. I’m not surprised to see it because Alpha Bryant and his thugs always dressed like gangsters. Why wouldn’t Vinny carry on that tradition?
He is forcing a smile as he comes toward me, alone, and I growl at him, irritated that he’s not following my instructions. The closer he comes, the more nervous I can see he is. Sweat beads pop out on his forehead along his receding hairline. His teeth are chattering a bit despite his wide smile that shows off all of his teeth to the back molars. His beak-like nose is even twitching slightly.
“Alpha King Maddox,” he says, getting it right for once. “What’s all this?” He raises his arms and gestures at the warriors I have brought with me. “This doesn’t look like the type of celebratory party I was hoping would come and collect your prize.”
“Where is she?” I demand, so disgusted with him that I want to rip his head from his neck with my own hands without even shifting.
“She’s here, she’s here,” he assures me with a nod. “We had a bit of an incident getting her out because fucking Alpha Hayes didn’t wanna hand her over, even though I told him that’s what you wanted, but we managed to get her for you. I knew you’d be pleased.” He flashes a smile at me, but the sun doesn’t twinkle off of his canines like he’s some kind of a fucking prince.
“You killed him,” I say, my eyes narrowed. “You killed his wife, and you killed all of those innocent servants. Some of them in their sleep.” I want to scream at him, but I’ve got to keep the fine grip on calm I currently have. It’s about to slip away altogether.
Vinny’s eyes widen slightly as he considered what I am saying to him. “Hey, there, Alpha King Boss Man Sir,” he begins, and I bare my teeth at him. “I did what I needed to do to ensure that you got what you wanted.” He shrugs. “That’s all I was up to.”
I snarl. “That’s bullshit! Alpha Hayes was asleep in his bed when you burst into his home. So was his wife. You didn’t have to do that, Vinny, and I don’t recall asking you to go to any great lengths to get Zabrina back!”
“Ah, but you see, that’s where you’re wrong.” He points his finger at me for a moment but when he sees I’m about to chomp it off, he lowers it. “I needed to get her so that I could prove to you that I’m the best person for this pack’s new Alpha. We talked about that. So, technically–”
The roar that comes out of my mouth is enough to stop him from talking. “Get the girl out here, now, and every single asshole who was involved in the raid on Duster pack. I want them all, now! And if you don’t hand them over, I will hunt them down. If it means I have to arrest every man in your pack, I will find out who did this! You left two little girls as orphans, and you’re going to pay for that!”
He stares at me long and hard, his mouth no longer plastered in a ghoulish grin. “They had daughters?” he asks me.
I nod. “Two little girls.”
“And… we missed them?”
He said the wrong thing.
I leap into the air, shifting as I do so, and come down in my wolf form, landing on top of him and pushing him backward onto the sidewalk. He hits with a thunk that makes me wonder if his brain is still solid or if it hasn’t liquified, and momentarily, his eyes roll back into his head.
Using the mind-link, I demand, “Do you want to call your asshole vigilantes out here nor or shall I bite off your head inch by inch until they’re all accounted for.”
“Alpha King–please,” he groans. “Give me a sec.”
I sink my front claws into his shoulders. He couldn’t shift now if he wanted to. I’m not giving him enough room. Not that it would matter. He can’t beat me.
A moment later, the front door to the house opens and a couple of other guys in suits walk out, blood splatters still evident on their skin. The droplets must’ve adhered to their fur while they were killing in Duster pack, and they hadn’t showered yet.
Between them, they have the prisoner I’ve been looking for. Zabrina is wearing a T-shirt that barely covers anything. It’s clearly not hers. She is bound and gagged and struggling to get away.
“Where are the rest?” I ask Vinny through the mind-link.
He doesn’t answer right away, and behind me, I hear a chorus of growls.
“Take her… leave my warriors. I thought that’s what you wanted,” he coughs out.
“Where are the rest!” I demand, my claws cutting through his suit, through his skin to the muscle.
Vinny screams in agony, and he has to know he can either save himself or he can save his men.
Actually, he can save neither because I will figure out who did this and end them.
Rather than answering me or sending them out, Vinny just lays there in agony, looking like he’s about to shit his pants.
But then, I hear another sound, one that’s meant to spark fear in me. I lift my head in the direction it’s coming from. I’m not scared, but I am surprised
Is he honestly going to try this?
He’s going to try to fight me?
The sound of approaching wolves from the rest of the village has my warriors on edge as the noise that drives the last nail into Vinny’s coffin is put in place.
Howls fill the air.
So, we’re going to fight?