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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

KANE

T itan hurled the crystal decanter against the wall, sending shards of glass and amber liquid spraying across the room. The sweet, heady scent of bourbon filled the air as he overturned the heavy oak desk with a single, violent motion, scattering papers and electronics across the floor.

"She can't be gone!" he roared, veins standing out on his neck as he seized a leather armchair and smashed it against the stone fireplace. "Not possible!"

Kane stood in the doorway, keeping his face a mask at Titan's destructive rampage. He'd seen Titan angry before, had witnessed his temper after Council rejections and territorial disputes, but this was different. This was unhinged, primal fury.

"Titan," Kane said, his voice firm but careful. "We need to think clearly. Tearing apart your office won't bring her back."

Titan whirled on him, black eyes blazing with an almost feverish light. "Those guards."He stalked toward Kane with predatory intensity. "The ones she overpowered. Bring them to me. Now."

Kane didn't move. "What for?"

"What for? They failed me. They let my mate escape." His thick fist slammed into the wall beside Kane's head, cracking the plaster. "They deserve to die for their incompetence."

"They're loyal soldiers who made a mistake.

We both know they weren't prepared to find her out there.

We never thought she might be able to escape.

They didn't know what they were supposed to do.

You made it beyond clear if anyone touched her, they would die.

" Kane stood his ground despite the murderous intent emanating from Titan. "Killing them won't solve anything."

Titan's nostrils flared as he leaned in, his face inches from Kane's. "You dare question me? After everything?" His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Perhaps you've forgotten who's in charge here."

"I haven't forgotten. But someone needs to remind you of the plan. Our goal was never about one woman. It was about changing the system, creating a better world for rogues. Those rogues. The ones you are threatening to murder. The ones who have already been through enough."

Titan stared at Kane for a moment before turning away. He didn't move for several seconds, giving Kane a glimmer of hope that he might be getting through to Titan.

Titan turned back. "Get everyone armed. We're going after her."

Kane blinked in disbelief. "Going after her? She could be anywhere."

"She's injured. Bleeding. She won't get far." Titan's eyes gleamed with obsessive certainty. "The twins will come for her. When they do, we'll be ready."

"Listen to yourself," Kane said, stepping further into the room. "You're talking about starting a war over one woman who clearly doesn't want to be your mate."

"SHUT UP!" Titan roared, hurling a heavy bookend and narrowly missing Kane's head. "She is MINE!"

"Screw River Whitetail!"

Kane's wolf leaping to its feet, gnashing his teeth at Titan. Spoiled. Pup. No Alpha.

Titan ignored his wolf. "When we started, this was about helping those who couldn't help themselves.

But it isn't anymore. Your father disowned you.

He found his fated mate. He had the twins.

It sucks. If you want to take the throne to change things.

If you want to take back your birthright, okay.

I'm with you. But if you are just doing all this to get River as your High Luna, you are no better than all the others who promised change and were out for themselves in the end. And I'm not going to be part of that."

Titan's face twisted. "Get the guards. Tell everyone to arm themselves. We're going after her now."

It was now or never. If Kane didn't stand up to Titan now, it could cost everyone they'd been trying to help.

"No." Kane planted his feet. "I won't."

Titan froze. "What did you say to me?"

This moment would either save Titan or get Kane killed… but there was no other way.

"I said no." Kane stood his ground despite the dangerous energy radiating from Titan. "This is irrational, Titan. You're not thinking clearly. We need to secure the compound, not charge out half-cocked into what could be a trap."

"You dare defy me?" Titan's voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

"I'm trying to save you," Kane insisted. "Look what this obsession has done to you. Look at what it's done to everything we built."

With a roar that shook the walls, Titan launched himself across the room. His fist connected with Kane's cheek with bone-crushing force, sending him crashing into the bookshelf. Volumes rained down as Kane stumbled, tasting blood.

"I gave you everything!" Titan bellowed, stalking forward. "I made you who you are! I built all of this. Me. I built it. It's mine to do with as I please."

Kane spat blood onto the polished floor, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "And I've stood by you through everything," he countered. "But I won't follow you into madness."

Titan struck again, a vicious uppercut that Kane narrowly avoided. As Titan's fist crashed into the wall, splintering wood paneling, Kane countered with a sharp jab to Titan's ribs.

"Stand down." Kane circled him. "This isn't you. This isn't who we are."

"You don't tell me who I am!" Titan launched another attack.

This time, his blow landed square in Kane's sternum, driving the air from his lungs and sending him staggering backward. Kane recovered quickly.

Years of teaching Titan how to fight meant Titan's patterns were Kane's patterns. He ducked under Titan's next swing and delivered a punishing blow to Titan's kidney.

Titan howled, his movements becoming less calculated and more frenzied. He seized a severed chair leg and swung it like a club, catching Kane across the shoulder. Pain exploded through Kane's arm, but he delivered a powerful kick to Titan's knee.

The two men crashed through what remained of the desk, grappling in a deadly dance they'd performed countless times in training, but never with such raw intent to harm. Blood spattered the floor as Titan's elbow connected with Kane's nose, the cartilage cracking audibly.

Kane retaliated with a headbutt that sent Titan reeling. Both men bled, their breath coming in harsh pants.

The door burst open as several guards rushed in, drawn by the sounds of combat. They froze at the sight of their Alpha and his second-in-command locked in a brutal struggle.

"Stop them!" someone shouted, and four wolves rushed forward, attempting to separate the men.

Titan roared, his fist connecting with the first guard's temple, dropping him instantly. The second guard received an elbow to the windpipe. He collapsed, clutching his neck as he gasped for air that wouldn't come.

"Stay back!" Kane shouted to the remaining guards, but it was too late.

Titan was lost to his mind, his movements fluid and lethal as he tore through anyone who approached.

A third guard screamed as Titan's hand closed around his throat, lifting him off the ground before hurling him across the room.

His head hit the stone fireplace with a sickening crack, his body going limp as it slid to the floor.

"Enough!" Kane roared, tackling Titan from behind.

They slammed to the floor, wrestling amid battered furniture and shattered glass.

Kane managed to pin Titan, straddling his torso as he delivered punch after punch to the face of the man who'd been his best friend and younger brother for more years than he hadn't.

Blood sprayed with each impact, Titan's features becoming a crimson mask.

Kane's wolf spurred him on. Take it all. Make him submit.

But Kane had no desire to take what Titan had built. He didn't want to be Alpha. He only wanted his little brother back.

Titan struggled against him. Trying to buck Kane off.

"Stop!" Kane shouted between blows. "It's over!"

"Never! Traitor. Bastard."

The remaining guards watched in horror as their leaders balled, but none dared intervene.

Footsteps clicked rapidly across the floor as Vanessa appeared, eyes widening at the carnage. Without hesitation, she rushed forward, a syringe clutched in her hand.

She dropped to her knees beside the struggling men.

Kane pinned Titan's shoulders with all his strength as Vanessa jabbed the needle into Titan's neck, depressing the plunger in one swift motion.

Titan's roar shook the room as he bucked upward with inhuman strength, throwing Kane off him. He staggered to his feet, swaying as he turned toward Vanessa.

"You're dead, bitch."His voice slurred as he lunged for her.

Vanessa tried to dodge, but Titan's backhand connected with her face, the impact lifting her off her feet and sending her into the remaining guards. Blood streamed from her split lip as she crumpled to the floor.

More wolves gathered at the doorway, drawn by the commotion. They watched their Alpha, the man they'd followed in exile and rebellion, stagger to the center of the destroyed room.

Titan swayed, his blue eyes glassy as the sedative took effect. His blond hair plastered to his bloodied face as he stumbled forward, before his knees buckled.

"You..." Titan snarled, his voice growing thick, but eyes still burning. "You… my brother! You… betrayed me? For her?" Spittle mixed with blood flew from his lips as his voice rose to a thunderous roar. "For the Luna that is MINE!"

Vanessa pulled herself up, pressing a hand to her split lip. "No one's betraying you, Titan. We're trying to save you."

"LIES!" He slammed his fist into the floor, leaving a crater in the wood. "When I wake..." He stumbled, catching himself against the bookcase. "I will hunt each of you down," he slurred. "I will tear… your throat… my teeth. I will bathe in your…"

His gaze swept over the assembled wolves, many averting their eyes from the madness burning in his.

Kane moved forward. "Titan."

Titan lunged for Kane but collapsed to the floor instead. "I'll save the longest death for you." His voice slurred into incoherence as his eyes closed.

Silence fell like a shroud, broken only by the labored breathing of the injured. Blood pooled on the hardwood around Titan, spreading like a crimson halo.

Kane wiped blood from his face, wincing as his fingers brushed his broken nose. That made what, three times, four times broken?

"Everyone out," he ordered. "Except you." He pointed to Vanessa.

The guards hesitated, looking between their fallen Alpha and his lieutenant.

"Now!" Kane barked, and they scattered, dragging their injured comrades with them.

Kane turned to Vanessa. "What was in that syringe?"

"Strong sedative." She touched her split lip. "Enough to take down a bull elephant. He'll be out for hours."

Kane nodded, limping to what remained of the liquor cabinet. He extracted a miraculously unbroken bottle of whiskey, uncapped it, and took a long pull before passing it to Vanessa.

"What now?" Her eyes never left Titan's prone form.

Kane stared down at the man who had been his brother in all but blood.

The man whose vision had once inspired him, whose strength had been a cornerstone of his life.

Now that man lay twisted by his obsession, consumed by madness that had been growing for months.

The same madness and obsession he'd watched Titan's mother succumb to.

"We evacuate," Kane said, his decision crystallizing with each passing second. "We get everyone to safety. Now."

Vanessa's eyebrows shot up. "Evacuate? The entire compound?"

"Yes." Kane turned to face her fully. "The twins are close. It's only a matter of time before they find us."

"But we have defenses. Security systems, armed guards-"

"Against two royal Alphas and whatever force they've assembled?" Kane shook his head. "They won't be taken by surprise a second time. They'll be prepared and with as much backup as they can get. We'd be slaughtered."

"But we have guns. Ammunition."

"But only a handful of the rogues even know how to use them.

Titan called in reinforcements, but they haven't even arrived yet, and who knows when or if they will.

Most of the rogues here aren't fighters; they're scared wolves who wouldn't win against other rogues, let alone Alphas, Betas, and Lycans. "

Vanessa shook her head. "You're right. Most of the rogues here don't have what it takes to fight." She glanced at Titan's unconscious form. "Okay. We get everyone ready to leave. But what about him?"

Kane stayed silent for a long moment, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. Not that there was anything to decide. "We take him with us. Contain him until he's... himself again."

"If that's even possible," Vanessa murmured.

"It has to be." Uncertainty tinged his voice. "The Titan I know is still in there somewhere."

Vanessa shrugged. "I wouldn't be too sure. I know you want him to be, but from where I stood, he would have killed you if I hadn't intervened."

"What? Do you want me to thank you or something?"

"No. I just want you to face the truth that it is very well possible he won't come back from this."

Kane growled. He didn't want Vanessa's words to be valid. But even he had his doubts about what Titan would do when he woke up.

It didn't matter, though; that was the least of his worries at the moment.

He moved to the intercom on the wall and pressed the button that would broadcast throughout the compound. "This is Kane. All persons, begin evacuation procedures. This is not a drill. Secure essential documents and equipment per protocol. We move out in one hour."

Releasing the button, he turned back to Vanessa. "We need to stabilize him for transport."

"And the others?" she asked, gesturing toward the door. "Some of them are loyal to Titan, not to you."

"They'll follow orders or they'll be left behind," Kane said. "I won't sacrifice everyone for his obsession. But you can't help those who won't help themselves."

Vanessa nodded and hurried from the room. Kane knelt beside his brother. Blood had congealed on Titan's face. For a moment, Kane rested his hand on Titan's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, brother. But this ends now."

Rising to his feet, Kane surveyed the destruction around him. The shattered furniture, the splintered walls, the blood-soaked floor. A fitting metaphor, he thought, for what Titan's obsession had done to their cause.

He would salvage what he could. He had to. Even if it meant betraying the man he had followed for so long.

Austin rushed in. "It's too late. The estate is surrounded."

"What? By who?"

"Alphas and Betas."

Kane's wolf leapt to his feet. Fight. Kill.

"Which ones?" Kane asked.

Austin swallowed, his eyes wide as tennis balls. "All of them."

Shit. Kane sighed. "Turn on the electric fencing."