Page 18 of Alpha’s Vow (Copper Canyon Shifters #3)
CHAPTER 18
SABLE
T wo weeks later, Sable and Bryce approached the abandoned ranch. The structure loomed like a ghost against the backdrop of the wilderness, its silhouette jagged and broken. Shadows stretched long and dark over the uneven ground, and the air was heavy with the scent of decay and rot—a sharp, acrid reminder of the men they pursued.
Sable crouched low behind a weathered boulder, her eyes scanning the ranch with a predator’s intensity. Every muscle in her body was coiled, her wolf pacing beneath her skin with restless energy. She could feel Bryce at her side, his quiet presence grounding her even as her emotions threatened to spill over.
“This is it,” Bryce murmured, his voice low and steady. His eyes flicked toward her, the bond between them humming with silent understanding.
Sable nodded, her chest tight with a mix of anticipation and dread. They’d followed this particular trail for days, each clue bringing them closer to Silas Seton, the man responsible for the massacre that had destroyed her pack. Now, as they stood on the precipice of vengeance, Sable found herself grappling with a cataclysm of emotions.
“Are you ready?” Bryce asked, his hand brushing against hers.
Sable drew a deep breath, forcing the chaos inside her into submission. “I’ve been ready for this since the day it happened.”
Bryce’s lips curved into a faint smile, his dark gaze steady. “Then let’s finish it.”
The approach to the ranch was slow and deliberate, every step measured to avoid detection. The place was eerily silent, the broken windows and sagging roof giving the impression of abandonment. But Sable’s wolf sensed otherwise. The faint trace of human scent lingered in the air—sweat, leather, gunpowder. Seton and his men were here.
Bryce motioned for her to hold back as he crept forward, his movements impossibly quiet for a man of his size. Sable watched him, the bond between them taut as a wire, her wolf bristling at the thought of danger coming too close to him.
She followed moments later, slipping through the shadows like a wraith. The ranch was larger than it had appeared from a distance, its sprawling outbuildings and rusting machinery creating a maze of potential ambush points. Every creak of wood and whisper of wind sent her senses flaring, her eyes darting to every movement in the gloom.
“Here,” Bryce said softly, gesturing toward a cluster of crates near the main building. He crouched low, dropping their pack with their clothes, his gaze locked on the faint flicker of light visible through the cracked slats of a boarded-up window.
Sable joined him, her breath steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins. “How many?”
“Three, maybe four inside,” Bryce replied, his tone grim. “But there could be more in the other buildings.”
Sable’s jaw tightened, her wolf growling low in her chest. “Let’s take them.”
Bryce glanced at her, his eyes sharp. “Not yet. We wait for the right moment.”
Sable bristled but held her tongue, knowing he was right. Still, the proximity to Seton—the man who had orchestrated the slaughter of her family—set her nerves alight. Her wolf snarled for release, and it took every ounce of her willpower to hold it back.
The moment came minutes later when one of the men stepped outside, his rifle slung casually over his shoulder. Bryce moved first, his wolf surging forward in a blur of dark fur and raw power. Sable followed, her own transformation ripping through her like a storm.
The fight was immediate and brutal.
Bryce’s wolf took down the first man with a single, devastating lunge, his powerful jaws clamping down on the hunter’s arm before tossing him aside like a ragdoll. Sable’s wolf darted past him, her tawny fur gleaming in the moonlight as she lunged at another hunter emerging from the building. Her fangs raked across his chest, his scream cutting through the night as he crumpled to the ground.
The remaining hunters scrambled to regroup, their shouts echoing off the walls of the ranch as they fired wildly into the shadows. Sable darted between them with deadly precision, her wolf a blur of motion that left no room for error. She could feel Bryce at her side, their movements orchestrated in a way that felt instinctual.
When the skirmish was over, Bryce trotted back to where they’d left a duffle bag of clothing and returned with it. Their synchronized mists saw them both emerge at the same time, donning their clothing quickly before heading to the crumbling ranch house.
The shadows inside the dilapidated dwelling deepened as Sable advanced, her steps slow but unyielding. Her breath came in sharp bursts, and her wolf prowled just beneath her skin, eager to finish what they’d started. Across the room, Silas Seton stood with a smug grin, his arms crossed, and his gaze glinting with twisted amusement. His confidence was unnerving, but Sable felt no fear.
“Well,” Seton drawled, his voice smooth and venomous. “If it isn’t the last little wolf of the Morse pack. I’ve been waiting for this.”
Sable clenched her fists at her sides, her eyes narrowing. Her breath hitched as the memories of her pack—her family—flashed through her mind. Their laughter around the fire, the way they moved as one when running through the forest, the warmth of their bond. Gone, all of it. Because of him.
“You’re not going to walk away from this,” she said, her voice low and even, despite the storm raging inside her.
Seton chuckled, a sound that grated against her nerves. “Oh, I don’t plan to. But let’s not pretend this is about justice, sweetheart. You’re here because you want blood. Because you’re just like me.”
“I’m nothing like you,” Sable snapped, her wolf growling low in her chest.
“Aren’t you?” Seton leaned against the table, his nonchalance infuriating. “You’ve already spilled so much blood to get here. What’s one more body? Maybe two?” His gaze flicked to Bryce, who stood at Sable’s side, his eyes fixed on the man with a calm intensity that promised violence.
“Careful,” Bryce warned, his voice a low rumble. “You’re out of moves.”
Seton ignored him, his focus entirely on Sable. “Did you know your pack went down far more easily than we had thought they would? They tried hard to get away, I’ll give them that. It took some time to finish them all off, especially the youngest. What was his name? Your brother?”
“I saw my brother fall. He died instantly.”
Sable’s vision blurred, her hands trembling with rage. The mention of her younger brother was a dagger to the chest, twisting and raw. She felt Bryce move closer, his presence a steadying force, but the words kept coming, each one slicing deeper.
“No, he went down, but we had to finish him and a couple of the others off. He called for you,” Seton continued, his tone almost sing-song. “Did you know that? Couldn’t you hear his pitiful howls as you ran away?” His cruel grin widened.
Sable’s breath hitched, the fire in her chest erupting into an inferno. “Stop.”
Seton took a step towards her, his arms spreading wide in mock innocence. “Why? Can’t handle the truth? Or is it guilt? You ran, didn’t you? Left them all to die.”
“Stop!” Sable’s voice cracked, her wolf snarling as the edges of her control frayed.
Bryce placed a hand on her arm, his grip firm but not restrictive. “Don’t let him get to you,” he said, his voice calm but charged with urgency. “He’s trying to break you.”
Seton laughed, the sound cruel and taunting. “She doesn’t need me to break her. She’s already shattered.”
Sable’s wolf surged forward inside her mind, her vision tinged with red. She ripped free of Bryce’s hold, stepping toward Seton with a ferocity that silenced even his mocking laughter. Her eyes burned with an otherworldly light, her wolf baring its teeth beneath her skin.
“You think you’ve won because you tore them apart with your assault rifles,” she said, her voice trembling with barely restrained fury. “But you didn’t. You just gave me something to fight for.”
Seton’s smirk faltered, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face. “Big words, little wolf.”
The battle hadn’t even begun when Bryce lunged.
One second, Seton stood there, his smug arrogance dripping from every pore, and the next, Bryce was on him—a blur of raw power and fury. There was no hesitation, no mercy in his dark eyes as he closed the distance, his wolf surging beneath his skin but held back by sheer will.
Seton fumbled for the knife at his belt, his confidence snapping into panic as Bryce slammed into him, knocking him back with the force of a charging bull. The bastard’s breath left him in a sharp grunt as he staggered, barely staying on his feet.
Sable took a step forward, her wolf bristling, every muscle in her body primed to attack. But she didn’t need to. Bryce had already claimed this fight.
Seton regained his balance, his fingers finally wrapping around the hilt of his blade. He swung wildly, desperation making him sloppy. Bryce dodged, his movements controlled, precise. The second Seton overextended, Bryce struck.
A hard punch to the ribs. A bone-crushing kick to the knee. Seton crumpled with a strangled curse, blood spitting from his lips.
Bryce crouched low, his face inches from Seton’s as he grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hauled him upright. “You don’t get to walk away from this,” Bryce growled, his voice thick with cold menace.
Seton choked on a weak laugh, his eyes darting toward Sable. “You’re letting him fight for you now?” he wheezed, blood bubbling on his lips. “Pathetic.”
Sable stiffened, but Bryce didn’t even blink. He slammed Seton back against the wall with enough force to rattle the foundation. “She doesn’t need me to fight for her,” Bryce said, his voice calm but lethal. “But I’m taking this one. You don’t get to die at her hands, Seton. You die at mine.”
Seton’s pupils blew wide, the momentary flicker of bravado extinguished as Bryce pressed his forearm against his throat, cutting off his air. “You slaughtered her family,” Bryce continued, his voice thick with disgust. “You hunted them like animals. You laughed while they bled out. And now, you’re going to know what it feels like to be prey.”
He didn’t give Seton time to respond. Bryce’s free hand slipped beneath his jacket, pulling out the knife he always carried—a wicked, gleaming blade that had seen its fair share of violence. Before Seton could so much as gasp, Bryce drove it up between his ribs, straight into his heart.
Seton stiffened, his breath stuttering. His hands scrambled at Bryce’s wrist, his lips parting in silent shock as his body began to fail him.
“For her family… for Sable,” Bryce murmured, twisting the knife before jerking it free.
Seton slumped, the fight draining from him in an instant. Bryce let his lifeless body slide to the ground, the dark blood pooling around him.
Silence fell over the room, thick and suffocating. Sable stared at the corpse, her breath uneven, her mind struggling to process the finality of it. Seton was dead. The monster who had masterminded the destruction of everything she loved was gone.
But why didn’t it feel like enough?
Her legs wobbled, exhaustion crashing into her like a wave. Before she could falter, Bryce was there, wrapping an arm around her waist, his body a steady anchor. She let herself lean into him, her heart hammering against her ribs as the adrenaline slowly ebbed away.
“It’s over,” Bryce murmured, his lips brushing her temple.
Sable shook her head. “Then why doesn’t it feel like it?”
Bryce exhaled slowly, his grip tightening just a fraction. “Because revenge doesn’t bring them back,” he admitted. “But it means no one else will ever suffer because of him.”
Sable swallowed hard, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Bryce’s dark eyes burned with quiet intensity as he cupped her face, tilting it up to meet his. “You could have. But you didn’t have to.”
The gravity of everything settled over her then—grief, exhaustion, relief, and something else, something deeper. The bond between them, forged in blood and fire, thrummed like a living thing, tethering them to each other in ways she still wasn’t sure she was ready for.
The sound of approaching footsteps broke the moment. Rush and his men stepped through the doorway, their sharp gazes immediately taking in the scene.
“I thought the plan was for you to wait for us,” Rush said, his tone unreadable.
Bryce wiped the blood from his blade, slipping it back into its sheath. “Plan changed.”
Rush nodded once, surveying Seton’s lifeless form with grim satisfaction. “We’ll take care of the cleanup,” he said. “You two head out. I expect this to be the end of it, Sable.”
Sable nodded. She exhaled slowly, reaching for Bryce’s hand, her fingers lacing through his as she said, “How about if we just go home?”
They stepped out into the cool night air, the burden of the past still heavy on her shoulders but no longer unbearable. The stars above gleamed like scattered diamonds, and for the first time in a long time, Sable felt something she hadn’t dared to hope for.
The possibility of a future worth fighting for.