Page 357 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

She nodded. “I can climb up there easily and wiggle through. I just need to get my hands free.”

“If you scoot my way, I could use my claws to free you.”

Her eyes widened, glittering with hope. “That’s a great idea!”

She shuffled toward me as quickly as she could with her legs bound. I shifted closer to her. We positioned ourselves back to back, my hands at her bindings. I had greater control over my wolf than in the past, and it was a breeze to sharpen my nails. Getting through the thick rope was another thing, though. I struggled to slice my nail into the same spot without seeing what I was doing, and the rope’s uneven surface made it easy to slip.

“I’m sorry,” I said as my nail scraped across Tavi’s wrist.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

I kept working for what felt like forever, but the sunlight coming through the hole told me it was still daytime. When I had the polyester fiber down to its last thread, we heard footstepscoming toward us. We stopped, and Tavi scurried away from me to make it look like we hadn’t been doing anything.

Troy stepped into the room. He didn’t look anything like the clean-cut, handsome man he used to be. His hair was now a long, unruly mess. His clothes were torn and covered in dirt. His face was gaunt and wan. To me, it looked like all the evil he’d been responsible for was mirrored in his looks. In another few years, maybe sooner, he'd be unrecognizable.

The wolves who had defected during his attack on the Kings were at his back. I wasn’t surprised to see Trish—former leader of the Terrible Ts—at his side, her chest pressed to his arm. She smirked at Tavi and me as she rubbed Troy’s chest. I glared back at her.

“Look what my men caught for me,” he said. “A couple of familiar faces.”

“Fuck off,” Tavi hissed.

Troy laughed at her and stepped farther into the cave. His men kept their eyes on Tavi. I was certain their scratched faces and ripped clothing were her doing.

Troy crouched in front of me. “And you, pregnant with that bastard’s spawn. You’ve fallen so far, Bryn.”

My lip curled back from my teeth in disgust. The fact that he was anywhere near my baby was an affront. “What do you want, Troy?”

“You. Well, more specifically, your blood.”

“So you can do another blood ritual?” I demanded. “So you can ruin the lives of more children?”

His smile faltered. “How do you know about that?”

“We’ve done our research. We know you and your father kidnapped those boys ten years ago, and we know most of your army is made up of those poor kids. You’re just as depraved as your father was.”

He frowned, but he wasn’t nearly as upset as I’d thought he’d be. “You figured all of that out, did you? Well, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll be dead in a few hours, anyway.”

I resisted the urge to look up toward the ceiling. I knew it was still daytime, but in a few hours, it’d be nightfall. That meant I had time before he killed me.

“If you know about the rituals, then you know about my father’s failed attempts to gain eternal life.” He shook his head. “It’s thanks to those rituals that I needed a new location; the other one was so tainted that I couldn’t think straight. I’m not planning to do that again.”

His words hit me like a slap. “Then what was all this for? All this terror you caused, all the lives you’ve taken? What the hell have you been doing?”

“I’ve been researching a new spell, and I’ve found a way to bring my father back.”

“What?”

He nodded as if what he’d said wasn’t the most insane thing that had ever left his lips. “He was never meant to die. I need my father to help me run things. He and I will seize territory from every wolf in the area, and then we’ll move on to human cities. We’ll expand our reach until this entire country is ours. He had the plans, and I can make them a reality.”

I shuddered at the thought. It wouldn’t happen that way. They’d tried to use blood for their purposes before, and all it had done was ruin those children and destroy Gregor and Troy. I wasn’t sure what the side effects would be if he went through with the ritual, but they couldn't be good.

“Children weren’t the way to go,” Troy said. “They don’t have enough blood for what I need, and they’re not pure enough. Children don’t have the connection to the land that’s necessary to make real magic happen. This time, I’ll drain the life from the child of a pack mother, then drain the pack mother herself. It’s perfect!” He wore a maniacal grin. “It’s flawless, isn’t it?”

“It’s insane,” Tavi hissed.

He ignored her, his eyes on me, on my lips, on my body. I felt violated when he touched my face and pressed his thumb to my lips. Disgust roiled my body.

“If only you’d been the good little whore I’d asked you to be, I wouldn’t have to work so hard,” he said. “But don’t be sad. You and your baby will be happier in the next life. And when your mate comes to get you, I’ll make sure to send him after you.”