Page 138 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“Do we need to take prisoners?” Silas yells from behind.

I growl, hoping he will get my message. No prisoners. We have all the information we need and more, thanks to my necklace.

“Good,” Silas sneers right when Charlie’s frame appears through the trees in front of us. There are two male wolves chasing her. Charlie slows her pace when she sees us, giving Dante the opening he needs. He stalks around her and jumps right towards the man behind her. I notice how Julianus catches Charlie, saving her from tripping and hurting herself.

“We will protect her,” Silas reassures me, hiding Charlie in his arms and forcing her to look away from where Dante rips into the wolf. “Go and rip them to shreds.”

He doesn’t need to tell me twice. I leap forward towards the second wolf, attacking him headfirst.He reeks of alcohol,Nefeli sneers.Let me end him fast.

She is right. His movements are somewhat clumsy and uncoordinated. What a bunch of idiots! Channeling all the pent-up anger, resentment, and fear I’ve hidden inside me ever since Charlie disappeared, I attack him. Nefeli and I let go of him before pouncing again at full speed, knocking him to the side. Nefeli buries her teeth in his ear, ripping it off. He howls in pain, but Nefeli’s anger is just as sizzling as mine, and she attacks his tail next, then his hind legs.

Next to me I notice how Dante, or rather Sylvan, tosses the lifeless body of his prey aside. Part of me wants to engage in this slow killing game Nefeli and I started, but my bloodlust subsides when I spot Charlie and see how she is trembling in Silas’s arms.

She is more important than getting my revenge.

I kill the guy off swiftly before turning my attention back to my niece and shift back to my human form. Julianus leaves her side now, approaching me and handing me my change of clothes. “I will deal with the bodies,” he mutters in a low voice.

I nod before hurrying towards my girl. “Charlie!” I call out.

Silas lets go of her, allowing her to finally run towards me. “Ella,” she sobs, hurrying into my arms.

“The twins,” she blurts out. “They need help, they—”

“Alpha Liam and his father went to save them,” I reassure her. “We felt something was off, and they took off immediately.”

“Liam just linked me.” Dante’s voice reaches me from the side. He is fully clothed again and looks equally relieved and exhausted. It seems like the tension of the last few days has finally caught up with him. “They found Felix and Dario.”

I feel his strong arms wrap around both of us.

Alive?I mutter, anxiously waiting for his reply.

I’m not sure. Seems like one of them got hurt badly,he says quietly.

“I’m so sorry,” Charlie sobs. “I shouldn’t have wandered around on my own. You warned me so often about it.”

“It’s not your fault,” I try to reassure her.

“I didn’t even know what to do,” she mutters sadly. “I… I tried to think of ways to escape, but—”

“No one is prepared for such a situation,” Dante says, gently brushing over her hair.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Silas approaching us while Julianus remains in the background. He watches us, a hint of sadness in his eyes. I wonder what he is thinking now. Does he mourn the missed chances and opportunities? The years he wasted being loyal to Aloysius?

I feel sorry for him. I might not understand and approve of all he did, but he lost so much and is all alone now. There is no way he will ever be able to return to his coven without Aloysius killing him. But he also can’t join Silas, because the latter doesn’t trust him anymore.

It sucks because his demise is his own fault, which makes it just so much sadder.

Charlie looks up when she sees Silas approaching. She seems to hesitate at first. “You are a vampire,” she says, sounding both curious and anxious.

“I am,” he says.

“Silas is from the joint pack and coven I told you about,” Dante tells her. “He helped us a lot.”

“And the other one?” she asks, gazing at Julianus.

“He helped me,” I explain. “And back in the day, he helped your mom.” I pause. “Silas here, he is—” I look at him, and he nods at me to tell her. “He is your father’s cousin.”

I can see the surprise in Charlie’s eyes. “Really?”