Page 24 of Pack Rage (The Splintered Bond #4)

Chapter 23

A Necessary Vow

LUKE

M y wolf paced inside my soul while I did the same in the room I’d been assigned, wearing a path in the plush carpet as I tried to process everything that had happened, without truly knowing what was going on. I’d endured torture, abuse, witchcraft, a lethal dose of silver, and managed to survive it all. But staying in my room in the Mansion while my mate and brothers were sealed in the cells below might be what killed me at last.

I’d felt Flor enter the Mansion, or at least come close enough that I could sense her through our mating bond. I’d even scented her in the air in the hallway when I’d opened the door, but the Enforcer stationed there, Niall, had shoved me back inside. “We may not be in lockdown, but until one of the family returns, no visitors are allowed to roam the halls.”

I paced a little faster, trying to think of what might be happening. I’d felt strange things in the assortment of bonds I held with Flor, Grigor, and even Glen. Glen seemed to be excited, though worried. Grigor had closed off our connection as much as he could, though I could sense ripples of surprise, shock, and rage as the hours wore on, and then strange mini-surges that felt like my heart was being touched with tiny sparks of static electricity.

Flor, though… She was the one my own soul, my wolf, gravitated toward in the tangle of bonds I held in my heart now. And the one I needed to stay clear of, since I could tell she was doing something that had her on edge. Which meant she needed to focus.

At least all of the McDonnells were gone, and I would know when they returned. I stopped pacing for a moment, praying that the McDonnell who came to release me from this room would be Finnick.

Of course, an hour later, it was Aidan, dressed in a dark suit as usual. But he was also covered in Finn’s scent, and some of his blood. And another scent, one I hadn’t smelled in months… Callaway.

My wolf’s hackles were raised as I greeted Aiden with a half-smile, using all the years of practice I’d had at Southern to hide my true feelings. “Aidan. Any sign of Tana?”

“Come to the parlor,” he said brusquely, ignoring the question. “You have a decision to make.”

I followed him, though the skulking Niall walking too closely at my back made the hairs on my neck prickle. When we reached the parlor—it looked more like a library to me, with all of Aidan’s collection of pack histories and law books—the Alpha stopped at the door. His voice was heavy with command as he spoke to me. “Enter and sit on a chair. You will not shift. You may not fight… yet.”

His commands hit me with the force of rocks, stinging… and rolling away. Shit. Whatever was in that room, whoever was there, Aidan thought I’d shift, or attack immediately. I could have stopped there and refused the command, but I didn’t want him to know I’d somehow grown powerful enough to resist a direct Alpha command from the Council Head. Because behind that door sat the one shifter my wolf wanted to kill more than any other in the world. And now we had the power to do it.

We’re hunting, I said to my wolf as I stepped through the door, picking up the scent of the one who waited inside. Be patient. The prey is not in position. Wait for the right moment. He growled, but agreed to wait, just in time.

Shakily, I moved to a chair, keeping my gaze off Callaway and on Aidan. “I’m disappointed, Aidan,” I said, enjoying the flinch at my familiar use of his first name. “This one was reported to have vanished. Fled like the coward he is, from an Alpha challenge. Bradley had Enforcers hunting him on behalf of the Council. Has he been your guest all this time?”

“No,” Aidan answered honestly, taking a bottle of whiskey and pouring a large tumbler, not offering any to me or Callaway. “We found him running off like a rat, on a side road fifty miles away from your pack’s front gate. We’ve kept him in the lower levels ever since.” Every word he said rang with truth.

“A prisoner? Why would you do that?”

He clearly didn’t like being questioned, his fist flexing at his side. “Why indeed? Could it be that we needed to wait for a full moon, when you were recovered from your illness, to finish the challenge you so foolishly left incomplete?” He couched his words in questions now, though I had a feeling none of the things he suggested were anywhere close to the truth. “Can you understand how dangerous it would be to leave an entire pack without an Alpha? Maybe not. Whole packs can go feral, you know. And have. The Wes—” His face turned red, and he took a large swallow of whiskey.

He meant the Western pack, I was sure. I didn’t know if he’d choked because he was trying to speak of them, or tell a lie about what had happened to them; it was hard to tell. There had been a hint of deception in the air that accompanied the choked- off words, but the room was already rank with the scent of my adopted father’s decaying soul, the harsh smell of a feral wolf.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put it together long ago. It was unmistakable now, what that odor was. How many others in our pack had known exactly what was wrong with our Alpha? Feral Alphas were especially dangerous. Even if they’d known, there hadn’t been anyone in the pack who could’ve challenged him, except his own Head Enforcer. I let myself remember Flor beheading Van Blackside in front of the gathered Enforcers at the Games, a wild smile on her face, her red hair short around her ears. It was one of my favorite memories.

Huh. Maybe I was more like Grigor than I’d realized.

Callaway interrupted my thoughts, his yellowing teeth bared as he spat out, “I wasn’t his prisoner. I was his guest. I had food, drink, women. And as of tomorrow, I’ll have you dead at my feet, and no one will question my authority ever again.”

“You have no authority,” I answered calmly. “I defeated you before, and I will again. I demand the right to challenge him in the ring on the full moon, Aidan. Tomorrow night is the full Council meeting. I am formally challenging the old, once-defeated Alpha of Southern, Calvin Callaway, for his position.”

Callaway rose, struggling to stand and attack me. He had blood on the front of his shirt, I noted. His own, judging by the way it began bleeding again as he fought to get to me, and failed. Who had hurt him? Brand? Grigor? Flor? This house was so full of enemies, it could have been anyone.

“Calvin, you were told to remain seated and silent,” Aidan barked. “I am Council Head. I am your Alpha. You may not speak another word until I give you my express permission.” His Alpha command hit Callaway in the solar plexus, from the look of it, as he wheezed and obeyed.

My gums tingled as my wolf surged to the fore, desperate to answer the aggression from Callaway, and also… Interesting. To show dominance. My wolf had never been the most dominant in a room that included either of these two, but now he was. Patience, I reminded him. We’re hunting the old Alpha. I wrenched my gaze away and peered at Aidan, who was retrieving a book from a shelf.

He was hunting me , I was certain, and his next words proved it.“Luke, your father pledged on this very law book, vowing to the moon to follow the Council Head.”

“Bradley,” I murmured. Aidan’s watery green eyes met mine, and I had to force myself to look down.

“No, to the Council, and the one who leads it. Which means he has vowed to follow my orders. My leadership. If I allow you to challenge tomorrow night—” He held up one hand when I would have interrupted. “No, it is my right to decide what occurs at a Council meeting at my own home, on my packlands. And there are many more important things to take care of.”

I knew what he meant. He was planning to execute Bradley and Margarette, and possibly Brand as well, if he couldn’t secure his allegiance. And Flor… Wait. Did he even know she was in his home?

“The most important is dealing with the whore who has somehow bewitched so many of the potential Alphas for the positions that need solid leadership. Mountain, Northern, and—if you were allowed to challenge, and won—even Southern.” He nodded to my neck, and the obvious bite mark there.

“The whore? You can’t kill her,” I said as calmly as I could, raising an eyebrow when he bristled. “You shouldn’t, at least.”

His slow smile was as evil as any I’d seen. “And why not? I have her in a cell below this very room. I have a perfect execution planned. She’s obviously a witch. It’s my duty to execute her. After a trial, of course.”

Fuck. He did know she was here. I reached along the bond and felt sadness and concern, but not panic. She’s fine , I assured my wolf. She’s in the lower levels with Brand and Grigor and… the Hilliers . It was almost too much power in one place. A miscalculation on Aidan’s part, though he obviously didn’t think so.

I nodded to the book in his hands, almost glad for the years I’d spent learning to hide my emotions from my father while he tortured Flor. My acting skills might be all that could keep her safe, and me outside of the lower levels, where I could do the most good. “A witch? Of course. How else would she have so many of us yoked to her?” I let my lip curl. “Can you imagine how it feels to have the female you’re bonded to fucking someone else? Touching other males?”

Aidan’s eyes widened, and a hint of his own enraged wolf emerged. He did know, or thought he did. Finnick had told stories about his parents’ infidelity. Had Aidan been hurt by his mate’s behavior, all these years?

I crossed one leg over the other, almost lazily. “Are you considering keeping her in your dungeon? Sorry, lower levels.”

“Or killing her,” he admitted, his gaze taking me apart, looking for the lie in my words or behavior.

I shrugged. “Of course I would be against that, considering I’m stuck with her. And killing her outright will leave you with no leadership of many packs. The smaller packs could get ideas. The larger ones could attempt to become independent. Mountain’s power …” His gaze sharpened with greed as he considered that pack’s thousands under his command. Time to make him see. “Mountain could fall back into Samuel’s hands. He’s still alive. If you kill his son by executing his mate, even if she is a witch… well, you know how loyal those Mountain shifters are to their own. I’ve heard they may have a witch who lives on their packlands.”

He snarled. “You’re trying to find some way to keep her alive.”

“Of course I am. Look at him.” I nodded at Callaway. “Look at what happened with too much distance from a true mate.” Aidan’s glass stopped halfway to his mouth, though I was almost certain he was pretending his shock. “You didn’t know? He had a true mate and threw her out of the packlands to die, years ago. That’s why he’s so weak. Why he smells two seconds away from going feral. You don’t want that running Southern.” I gestured to Callaway, who was practically foaming at the mouth, proving my point.

“Do you know who she is, his true mate?” Aidan demanded. Callaway tried to answer, but he barked a command. “No, you stay silent. Luke, tell me about her.”

I had kept this information from Elina, even under magical duress. But now, I was almost certain this would only help Flor to survive. “Lily was her name, wasn’t it?” I directed the question at Callaway. “Flor’s mother.”

Aidan didn’t react, and I knew somehow he’d figured this out. “Do you know who she is?” he repeated, and I got it. Aidan knew about Callaway having a mate, probably knew she was still alive, since Callaway was. But he didn’t know who Lily was, where she’d come from.

“I know some, though it was a surprise to learn she came from the We—” I pretended to choke on the last word, like Aidan had, though I would have been able to speak of it now. I had no allegiance to this shifter or his packs. My only queen was Flor, and I was going to do whatever it took to keep her alive, no matter what that might be. Even if it meant speaking a promise I had no intention of keeping.

I cleared my throat, ducking my head gratefully when Aidan waved me to silence. “No need to share more now. We’ll speak of it after the Council meeting. Everything will change tomorrow.” I didn’t know what he meant, but he wasn’t wrong. Tomorrow would be full of changes for all of us.

A few moments later, with my hand on the law book, and Aidan’s greedy eyes on mine, I did just that. I made the vow to follow the Council’s rule under Aidan’s leadership, then stated, “My vow and full obedience is contingent on this: I demand to formally challenge Calvin Callaway for the leadership of the Southern Pack, tomorrow under the full moon. And that the Alpha challenge portion of the Council gathering will occur before any other decisions are made, so I can cast my vote as the Southern Alpha, at the side of the Council Head.” Aidan’s eyes narrowed, and I tacked on, “Your side, Alpha Aidan McDonnell.”

“It sounds like the perfect way to start a new chapter in our pack’s history,” he agreed, as Callaway twisted and fumed on the sofa, snarling, though he was unable to speak. “Your challenge will take place first. Then you and I will clear the way for a new era of leadership at Northern as well.” Aidan nodded at Niall, who had just stepped inside the doorway. He tossed back the rest of his drink, then gestured carelessly at Callaway. “Escort the old Alpha to a room and keep him there. Our guest and I will dine.”

His hand was heavy on my shoulder as he guided me to the formal dining room, and the atmosphere was tense during the meal, the servant girls obviously terrified of their Alpha. But I made it through dinner without breaking down.

When I reached my room that night, though, I slept, until an energy surge of terrifying proportions woke me in the night. It felt as if I’d been drinking from a garden hose that turned into Niagara Falls, but all I could do was open my mouth wider and try not to drown, until it suddenly eased off.

Hello, little brother, Grigor whispered, his voice in my head as loud as a ringing bell.

Before I could reply, another voice was there. Hello, mate.

Was that… Flor?

Her laughter rang in my soul. Well, it ain’t the Princess of Peoria.