Page 16

I knew Willow was in trouble the moment I felt her reaching out through the bond. Her skills had always been dormant; the fact that she was able to reach me was surprising, to say the least. But, overwhelmingly, my main emotion was pure fear.

Her terror radiated through the bond—physical pain seared along the tendrils of our connection.

Baby? No.

We were already halfway back down the trail, the lab within sight. Turning back to the other alphas, I simply said, “Hunters.” And we ran toward the lab.

The fear and confusion gnawing at my insides feel unbearable as we round the building and see a couple of our vehicles, which are usually kept at the outer checkpoints, parked alongside the entrance. Are they using our own trucks?

I have a sinking feeling that we’re about to discover who the traitor is, the only one who’d be able to give the hunters our trucks and get them into the center of town like this. Someone who knew when the patrols were happening…

“Element of surprise?” Jet says as we reach the bottom of the steps.

“Aye, but I doubt they’ve turned up not expecting a fight,” Griffen mutters as I barrel past him and kick the main doors off their hinges.

“And they’re about to get one,” Kaiden says, appearing at my side.

Without another word, we shift and launch into the fray. Immediately, my eyes fall on the traitor. Rian.

Fuck, I hear Griffen snarl at my side.

I don’t want to believe it, but as I watch his face contort from surprise, to fear, and then into hate, I know it’s true. I’ll have plenty of questions for him later if he survives. I can’t see Willow, but I know she’s here, and for Rian’s sake, she’d better not be hurt.

I lunge for the hunter closest to me and relish his screams as he fails to reach his weapon in time, my jaws clamping down on his arm, snapping as I fling him into the nearest wall.

Looking around as chaos ensures, I still can’t see Willow. I throw off another hunter as I head straight for Rian, surprised to see he has remained in his human form. I inwardly shrug. He’ll be easier to take down. Or, perhaps he’s too much of a coward to fight at all.

Before I can reach him, I see one of the hunters holding something. I turn to Jet to warn him, but before I can speak, I’m blinded by a devastatingly bright light. The pain is instant, a familiar burn I’ve only felt a few times in my life when groups attacking us harnessed the sunlight, magnifying it to attack our vampire sensitivities.

I feel my skin sizzle and blister under the rays.

I hear Jet growl and see his shadow on the wall as he leaps toward me, knocking me to the ground and shielding me from the painful light. “What the fuck is that?” he says, staring at me in horror.

I look around and see Kaiden has pushed Griffen behind an upturned desk to protect him; his entire back looks blistered. Cold fury seeps into my veins as I look at Rian and see he’s wearing protective glasses and realize what this means—not enough to betray his pack, he also betrays his heritage and the safety we built here.

Centuries of persecution and violence to build a sanctuary here in these mountains. I cannot understand why someone who benefits from the pack would want to destroy it. If Rian wanted to challenge my leadership, that would be one thing, but to expose our secret and use it against us is madness.

“Need. To. Get. Light. Off,” I grit out the words as my body continues to weaken. Jet nods and then shoves an upturned desk down on top of me. I hear the ensuing fight and the crash of men, furniture, and equipment all around me. Just when I think I can’t take the pain anymore, the light goes off.

The darkness is a welcome reprieve, and as the intense burn retreats, my mind clears enough to focus on my surroundings. Jet is still near me, literally defending me as I recover. I glance behind me and see Kaiden doing the same for Griffen, who is hunched over, and his back is smoking. I try to reach out to Willow through the bond, but I’m hit with a wall of fear and pain.

She’s alive but not okay.

I push myself up, the movement causing me to wince in pain. I see Rian and one of the hunters getting another light gun ready and see pure red. My mate is in danger, and my pack is exposed; I have nothing left to lose.

“Enough,” I bellow, letting my vampire beast surge to the surface. It duals with my wolf for supremacy, my bones crunching and flesh twisting as I morph into a true hybrid of my beasts. My fangs drip with venom, and my eyes burn with immortal rage as I attack.

Rian's eyes widen with despair at the sight of me, his scent of fear and adrenaline filling the entire room. Several of the hunters scream and try to run. I spin around to face Kaiden and see that even he has taken a step backward, caution on his features. I nod once at him, and he squares his shoulders in response. I feel Griffen’s presence behind me.

“Find Willow,” I say before leaping into the fight.

I slam into the hunter holding the light gun. He drops it as I pin him down. My claws sink into his chest as I snarl in his face, my voice deep and guttural with fury. "You will all die for this."

The overwhelming stench of blood and fear engulfs me as I continue to battle. My inner vampire has taken control, its primal instincts raging within me, making my eyes glow with a feral intensity. The hunters are mere mortals compared to my strength and speed, their weapons futile against my supernatural abilities. Their screams of terror only fuel my thirst for vengeance, driving me to overpower them one by one.

Next to me, another hunter lies motionless, his throat savagely ripped open by Kaiden’s attack. Our growls echo through the building as he glances at me with a primal gleam in his eyes before turning back to finish off the remaining enemies. My own wolf is clawing at my mind, trying to regain control, but I push it down. This is not the time for mercy or hesitation. My vampiric beast is where it should be, in almost full control.

As I take out another hunter with a swift blow to the head, I catch a glimpse of Rian running towards the door. Without thinking, I launch myself at him, tackling him to the ground.

"You're not getting away," I snarl as my claws dig into his flesh.

"Please," he begs, his eyes wide with terror. "I didn't know they were going to do this."

“Bullshit,” I snap, shifting back to human form, staring down at him as I keep him pinned to the ground. “Where is Willow? If you—”

“She’s here,” Griffen calls out. “Sara’s on her way. She’s unconscious but breathing.”

The relief that washes over me is short-lived as I look back down at Rian. “Why?” I growl, my fangs millimeters from his neck.

“I...I...” he stammers. “They knew...knew about...about us. They already knew.”

I shake my head. It’s not possible. “ You gave us up. Why?” I spit, slamming him back against the floor.

He whimpers and shakes his head again. “I’m telling the truth. They sent me a message, stuff about the Old World and what the vampires did. They said they knew we weren’t all vampires and weren’t all a threat…”

I recoil in disgust, my eyes narrowing as I look down at his pathetic and sniveling form. The sound of his voice makes my skin crawl, but a small part of me senses the truth behind his words. Not that it matters now—he is beyond salvation, and my grim determination to serve my own justice only grows stronger.

“And you thought betraying members of your own pack would save you?” I snarled, baring my fangs. “Your own father was a halfling. You carry his DNA. You know of our heritage. What did they offer you?”

I can sense the other alphas gathering around me, their heavy presence casting a somber mood over the lab floor. The scent of blood and death hangs in the air, and the hunters lie scattered on the ground. I’m briefly aware that the more Rian talks, the more he reveals to Jet and Kaiden, but I’m past caring.

“S-Simon said that if our pack stayed isolated and t-the monsters were eliminated…” He looks like he’ll begin losing consciousness soon, so I shake him. “They’d leave us alone. If we stayed hidden.”

“That’s it?” I scoff. “And you believed him?”

“And give them our research, so they’d know who…who was…” he trails off.

“…a monster?” I finish for him, my voice laced with disgust.

I stare at him for a moment, wondering at what point he felt his DNA was far enough removed from his vampire heritage to no longer consider himself a monster. I glance sideways at Jet, his expression set hard in anger and disbelief. Is there more betrayal to come? So many years trying to keep my pack safe, and this is what it has come to. It feels like a history that repeated itself so many times before has simply caught up with me again.

Betrayal and hatred.

“We’ve got a live one,” Kaiden says, dragging a half-conscious hunter toward the center of the room. I glance over.

“Good. We need someone to question,” Jet murmurs from his place beside me.

Rian coughs up more blood, dribbling onto the hard floor as he turns his head. “T-that’s Simon. He’s the one in charge.”

I nod, staring down at the young wolf who had once shown so much promise. I’m only glad his father isn’t around to see what has become of him. He was a proud wolf who embraced his heritage and understood what it meant to be a beta and defender of the pack. The fact that I was the one who gave Rian the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps, only to be betrayed, weighs heavily.

I straighten up and look down at Rian, my decision made. I turn to Griffen, who holds Willow in his arms. He returns my gaze with understanding in his eyes. “He betrayed us all,” he growls.

Looking around, Jet and Kaiden nod in deference, their eyes narrowed, clearly affected by the carnage around us. I nod once in agreement.

“For your crimes against your pack and for betraying the trust of those who trusted you with their lives, I, Alpha of the Nicholson pack, sentence you to death. There will be no trial.”

Rian's eyes widen in fear as I grab him by the throat and snap his neck with a vicious growl. The sound of bones breaking silences the room as Rian's body goes limp in my grasp. I want to feel something for the young man who had been on his way to becoming an integral member of our pack, but all I feel is rage and confusion.

“Take the hunter to the clinic, chain him to the damn bed,” I snap, turning to Griffen and taking Willow from his arms.

Looking down at her beautiful face, I don’t know where the blood on my hands and body and hers begins or ends. She’s unconscious but appears to be waking, her face contorted in pain. My rage feels unending as I take in the bruises forming on her neck. I wish I could revive Rian just to kill him again more slowly. The metallic smell filling the air affects my vampire, and it howls, rattling around my head.

“Sara is here,” Griffen says quietly, and I hold Willow close, heading for the clinic.