Page 191 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

Another wave of shock rocked through me, but I held on to the vision.

That should have been impossible. These boys weren’t old enough to have their first shift.

And after all that blood, he ought to have been dead.

Instead, a small wolf stood near the fire.

He shook out his fur, and in the light of the dim fire, I saw that his eyes had the crazed, empty look of a feral.

“Fuck,” Gregor said. “Why the hell does this keep happening?”

Troy shook his head. Neither he nor his father seemed particularly surprised by this turn of events. “Is it so bad? They’re stronger than they would’ve been otherwise. It’s not a complete loss—”

Gregor pushed his hood back and turned to his son. I felt no shock from Samuel, even though his alpha was standing right in front of him. I wondered if shock prevented him from fully realizing what he was seeing.

“Did I ask you to speak, boy?”

Troy winced and dropped his gaze to the ground. “N-no, sir.”

After a few tense moments of silence, Gregor resumed the chant and slit the next boy’s throat.

When he grabbed Trevor, something seemed to snap inside Samuel, and he started fighting to get free.

I felt the weight of his desperation and terror in each jerk of his body.

Troy tried to grab Samuel, but the boy’s kicking had slackened the rope binding his ankles.

With another kick, his feet reached one of the logs in the fire.

He kicked it up, sending the burning log and sparks of fire through the air toward Troy.

Troy screamed as the embers burned his face and nose. Samuel got to his feet and sprinted for the forest instead of the tunnel. He must have known that going that route would allow Troy to reach him much faster than if he tried his luck in the forest.

Gregor snapped at Troy to protect the fire, not grab Samuel. Samuel kept running until he lost his footing. The earth and the sky zoomed by as he rolled down an embankment.

The force of the fall further loosened the rope around his wrists.

He pushed himself up, sobbing and coughing after his fall.

Slowly, painfully, he dragged himself back up the embankment, at which point he heard footsteps behind him.

He scanned the darkness, looking for anywhere to hide.

With nowhere else to go, he scaled up a tree.

Troy reached that same tree just as Samuel nestled himself in the upper branches of a coniferous tree.

Troy growled, looking left and right. He lifted his head to scent the air, but he was obviously still injured from Samuel’s attack.

He cursed to himself and turned, heading back.

The farther he got from the tree, the easier it was for Samuel to breathe.

In the solace of the branches, he wept. My heart ached.

The poor boy had seen something that no wolf, let alone a child, should ever see.

“Maybe they’re okay,” he whispered to himself. “Maybe the monster was trying to make them shift early. Maybe I missed out on my chance to do it with them.” It was cold comfort, but it was all he had. “It doesn’t matter. I need to go back for Trevor. I can’t just leave him.”

When he gathered his strength, he slipped down the tree and crept in the direction he’d seen Troy going. An hour or so had passed since he’d escaped, and Troy and Gregor were nowhere to be seen. The fire had died to nothing but smoke, but the symbols were blindingly bright.

There were two wolf pups and two boys sitting and staring at the fire as if it were still burning brightly. They were as still as statues, but Samuel crept toward them, anyway. His eyes were on the back of Trevor’s head.

“Trevor,” he whispered, “they’re gone, let’s go.”

Trevor didn’t respond. In fact, he gave no indication that he was still living. Samuel moved closer, and I wished I could tell him not to get too close, to avoid whatever the boys had been turned into. But of course, I had no control over the past.

The stench of blood was overwhelming, but Samuel reached for his friend’s shoulder. “Trevor, please.”

The minute Samuel touched him, Trevor whipped around, snapping jaws that were full of small, sharp teeth.

He was stuck somehow between both forms. Gasping, Samuel stumbled back, and Trevor got to his feet.

He stalked forward, and with each step, his skin rippled as he transformed some more.

Soon, the boy was gone, and the wolf took his place.

In the darkness, Trevor’s eyes glowed amber, and his claws dug into the soil, ready to pounce.

Samuel whirled around and ran as fast as he could. Behind him, he heard the small, crazed howl of the feral pup his friend had become. He slapped his hands over his ears and kept going.

This time, he didn’t stop running until he saw one of the Kings’ sentinels on patrol. The minute Samuel heard the sentinel’s voice, he opened his mouth and started to wail. As sentinels surrounded him, I closed my eyes and pulled free from the vision.

The sky had taken on the dark pink of dusk by the time I opened my eyes. I was sitting on the ground. Samuel, still in his wolf form, was next to me and unconscious. Night was at my side in an instant to help me to my feet.

“Are you okay?” Concern blazed from his emerald eyes, and I sank into him in relief. The feel of his arms around me was a balm to my aching heart.

“I’m okay,” I said. He kissed my face. I was trembling, but not nearly as hard as the first time I did this.

Tavi, Adam, Cathy, and the elders pressed closer to us.

“Did you see them?” Cathy asked, her hands clasped to her chest.

“I did.” I ran a shaky hand through my hair, and Night led me to the bench to sit. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself, then told them what had happened to the boys. By the time I finished talking, everyone was silent. It was incredible to me, too, and I was the one to see it firsthand.

Adam’s sudden growl broke the silence, his eyes glowing and nails sharpening as his wolf struggled to break free. “Those fucking beasts.” His voice was muffled by teeth that had sharpened to points.

Cathy was vibrating with rage, and her eyes had started glowing, too. “How could they do it to pups? Little, innocent boys who couldn’t defend themselves…” Angry tears slipped down her face. “I’m so angry I could—”

A groan interrupted her. We all looked at the circle, where Samuel was finally coming to.

He had shifted back to his human form. He was naked and shaking hard, his arms wrapped tight around his knees.

His parents’ rage disappeared as they hurried over to him.

Adam took off his shirt and wrapped it around Samuel’s shoulders.

“It’s okay,” he murmured to his son. “You’re okay. We got you.”

“I-I’m so sorry,” Samuel stuttered. “I couldn’t save Trevor. I couldn’t save anyone.” Tears poured down his cheeks, and a heart-wrenching sob tore from his throat. “I was so scared, but I tried to get them.” He shook his head. “I failed them all.”

Cathy hugged her son, and to our surprise, he hugged her back. She sobbed. “My boy, my sweet boy…”

Everyone moved into the elders’ cabin, but I hung back to make sure the Granbys were okay.

When I was sure they didn’t need me, I went inside.

What they needed most was time to themselves.

Tavi and Night scooted over to make room for me between them on the couch in the living room.

Tavi rubbed my back as I leaned into Night’s embrace. Their touch soothed me.

“It’s impossible,” Elder Forsythe murmured, now that we were all inside. “Forcing a shift on a pup before they’re ready?” He shook his head. “It shouldn’t be possible. It can’t be possible.”

And yet it was.

“It would have been very painful for them,” Elder Westley sniffled, dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. I didn’t blame him. I’d be crying the minute I had the energy to do so.

Elder Queene’s voice was grave. “What’s more…from what you’ve described, it’s very likely that those boys are not only alive but grew up and became part of Troy’s army. Bound to his control by the ritual.”

Tavi gasped. “He’s forcing those boys to kill for him.” She spoke what was on all our minds, especially after what we’d seen at the Camas Pack. But hearing the words out loud added a layer of horror.

Night cleared his throat. “If Troy and Gregor couldn’t open the portal, why did they keep trying? They kidnapped so many boys, just to turn them into ferals?”

At first, none of the elders had an answer, but then Elder Westley blew his nose and spoke.

“If I could hazard a guess, Gregor and Troy were probably broken beyond reason. You can only inflict violence like that for so long before it begins to affect you. The two of them would have suffered massive physical, psychological, and spiritual damage. They became monsters themselves.”

“That would explain Gregor’s illness,” Elder Queene said. “His sickness progressed far quicker than it should have for a man of his age and fitness level.”

“And that explains why Troy is such a bastard,” Tavi added.

“It’s no wonder that the Kings Pack have improved so much,” Night said. “Without Gregor and Troy leading, the pack has been able to heal and improve.”

It made sense to me. What I’d seen of Gregor in the vision was an unreasonable, unstable man. The weight of what he’d done must have affected him.

Night looked at me. “Could you lead us to the symbols, Bryn? I’m beginning to think that Troy’s somewhere near them.”

I chewed my lip. “I don’t know. They took an unfamiliar path, but if I could work with some of our trackers, we should be able to find it.”

“I hope so.” He splayed his hand over my belly, and the baby gave a hard kick. “We don’t have a lot of time before our pup gets here. I want Troy in the ground and both of you out of danger before you give birth.”

I placed my hand over his and nodded. “I agree.”

When I looked at Tavi, I saw a similar determination in her eyes. We were all beyond ready for this to be over. The sooner we found that cliff, the sooner we could put this nightmare behind us.