“Father betrayed us, hated us, beat us. You loathed him for what he did, and yet you became the monster you feared as a child.”
“You’re a fucking weak leader,” he spits. “Father was right about that, it seems.” He cracks his neck and lifts his chin. “Your pack is crying out for a solution to the undead, but instead, you play trading games with a damn Alpha who has a cure for his members. You’re a laughing stock, and I’m no longer sitting back and letting you kill everyone here if those abominations break into my compound again.”
I clench my teeth, grinding my back molars, but I refuse to let him get to me. He’s a liar. The relations I have with other Alphas like Ander in X-Clan is the way of the future. Not stealing or bringing war to our doorstep from deceit.
“You’re a fool.” I growl. “Ander’s serum is not a solution for us. It’s tailormade for their race of wolves. You risked everything by—”
“And I’d risk it all again to save this pack!” he shouts.
I huff. “You mean to save yourself.”
A guttural snarl reverberates from his chest. “Your time is over, brother. I’ve been your lackey long enough. Now it’s time to show you how a real pack is run. And that little slut of yours will spread her legs for me, and her blood will help me bring immunity to the pack… my pack!” He slams a fist against his chest, his head high, so fucking proud of himself.
All I can think about is ripping out his throat, my hands curling into balls. If there’s one bright light to come out of this asshole’s mouth, it’s his admittance that Meira is alive. That sliver of hope floods me with the determination to never stop fighting.
“So, you have what you want, what the fuck do you want with me?” I snap, needing to know his motivation and understand how long I have to escape before my time is up. Mad does everything for a reason that benefits him.
I’m under no illusion that Mad will finish me. He knows as well as I do that I will never just stand by and watch him take my pack from me.
He bursts into maniacal laughter and begins to stroll toward the exit door. “How else do you think I’m going to claim your wolf girl?”
Sonofabitch! I’m his bait.
Meira slipped away from him, and now he’s hoping she will come back for me so he can trap her.
For the love of all things, I pray to the moon goddess that Meira runs as far from this place as possible. If I escape, I’ll find her if I have to search the entire world. For once, I hope she runs.
Lucien
“That fucktard, lying, wankface cockroach,” Bardhyl murmurs under his breath as he paces back and forth in our small prison. Pale blond hair flutters over his broad shoulders, his vivid green eyes narrowing as he scowls. He’s a damn huge bear of a wolf, a Viking who’s eager to fight.
My head still hurts from whatever the hell was jammed into me with the syringe, and now we were brought back into the compound to be tossed in the dungeon.
Jolting, I sit upright, my head spinning, and I scan the filthy cell, the barred walls revealing that the other three prisons are empty. We’re down here alone. “Where’re Dušan and Meira?”
“No idea. But we’re going to break out of here and find them.” He pauses in front of me as I climb to my feet.
“It’s close to impossible to get out of here. We made sure of that.” The window isn’t in our cell, and we’ve had these bars and locks secured to resist a wild werewolf’s attack.
“We will with sheer brute force.” Bardhyl growls with each rapid breath he takes, clearly not thinking straight.
I rub the side of my neck, where I feel the lump from the injection. Mad’s ambush came so fast… the bastards must have seen us coming and we walked right into their ambush. Fuck! I cross the prison, a mere three paces, and stare out into the dark hallway, finding the door into this basement shut. There’s no sign of a guard watching us, and keys are never kept down here for obvious safety reasons.
“With brute force! Didn’t you hear me?” Bardhyl stomps toward me.
“No need to repeat yourself. I ignored you just fine the first time. You know as well as I do these dungeons are unbreakable.”
He snarls, and I glance over to him as he punches the brick wall. The dull thump that comes with it must hurt, but it doesn’t stop him.
“Hold on to your anger. Maybe there is a way to break out.”
Bardhyl snaps his attention my way. “I’m listening.”
“The door hinges on the prison cell are the weakest point. When we had these made, we had several that kept easily snapping off. So if we’re lucky, maybe one of these has a weak point.”
Bardhyl huffs, squaring his shoulders. “Well, this I can do. I’m the master at breaking things.” He marches over to the door, and I track alongside him.
Unease simmers in my gut about where exactly Meira is. I keep telling myself she’s with Dušan, but something tells me that’s too easy and we need to find her urgently. When Mad is involved, the worst-case scenario is most likely.
I curl my hands into fists at the possibility of what he’d do to her and shake my head, my muscles tense. I already lost my first mate… And I never imagined finding someone else to love, to connect with my wolf, but Meira is that and so much more. My heart squeezes as my throat thickens.
She can’t be dead. I’ll die before I go through losing her.
Chapter 3
Meira
I straddle two worlds. The human side that comes from my father, and the wolf from my mama. I grew up being told I’d never truly belong anywhere as long as my wolf refused to show. But now that she has, I don’t know how to return to my human form, so what am I supposed to do now? Go hang around in the wilderness with actual wild wolves? I half-sob, half-snicker at the notion.
How in the world am I meant to be with Dušan, Lucien, and Bardhyl? I’ve been a human for so long that it’s all I know, and I kinda liked it. Now, I pace back and forth in the cave up in the mountain, my paws moving swiftly over the stone floor. In a strange way, it almost feels like I’m flying at how fast and easy the movement comes.
A hawk screeches in the distance, and I turn my attention out of the cave’s entrance where storm clouds roll over the sky, and a rumble bellows somewhere over the land. Miles of treetops swing back and forth in the rising wind. Dušan’s compound lies behind this mountain, and my insides churn every time I think about him and my other two captured men. I want to believe Mad won’t hurt them, but I don’t trust a single thing about the bastard. I want to rip him to shreds.
“Come over here,” Jae says in her soft voice, pulling me from my thoughts. I find her kneeling by the small fire. “I’m going to help you change. You saved me. Now it’s my turn to repay the favor.”
I startle, staring at this young girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, taking the lead to save me. Her round face glows red from the fire and she has lots of freckles over her nose and cheeks. Her short, dark hair sits messily, and everything about her looks adorable. Even the jeans two sizes too big for her and cinched in by a belt, not to mention her T-shirt with a penguin riding a sleigh on it.