Page 23 of The Breeding Cave

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

LUCIANO

“Where the fuck are you, Joseph?” I growled into the phone as it rang for the third time.

Brent and I walked through the woods toward Alpha Theo’s packhouse that had been partially burned to the ground during the last war. Some of it was still standing, and while he had taken a huge hit to his pack, none of his packmates lived there anymore.

They were with the others—the remaining few—several hundred miles away from here.

“Do you think the Dragon Clan caught him?” Brent asked.

“No,” I said. I thought it was worse than that.

Joseph wouldn’t allow himself to get caught, and if he did, then he wouldn’t let them take him. His phone could’ve been off, but that wasn’t like him. He had been due back at the cave an hour ago. If we weren’t there, he would’ve confirmed with me.

“He’s dead,” I said, pursing my lips. “He has to be dead.”

Brent sucked in a breath and shook his head. “No, he’s not dead.”

“He’s dead.”

There wasn’t a doubt in my fucking mind that he was dead. I didn’t know where they would’ve killed him or dumped his body, but if they wanted to send a message, then they would lay his body out for me to find.

Alpha Theo stood at the edge of his property, waiting for us. “Thought you’d show up.”

“We have to talk about the Dragon Clan,” I said, shoving my phone into my pocket.

“You want in on this war now?” he asked, leading us to the packhouse. “Why?”

I flared my nostrils and glared at the back of his head, not wanting to tell him that they had hurt Yeosin. He obviously knew that they had hurt someone close to me if I wanted in on this war and if I wanted to team up with him and the Colossals.

“Before you answer that,” Alpha Theo said, pushing open the door, “come in.”

The scents of the Colossals drifted through my nostrils before I entered, and I tensed. They were here. Of course. But I hadn’t expected to make this deal with them here. I wanted the upper hand with Theo.

Though … I didn’t have another choice.

So, I kept my mouth shut and walked into the packhouse, spotting two male warriors and two female warriors from the Colossals, one of the women harsh and the other so small and almost … soft.

Alpha Theo placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Luciano, I’d like to introduce you to Ruby. She’s a strong warrior in the Colossals and has been looking forward to meeting you. I think you two will really hit it off.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ruby purred, her full lips pursed into a soft smile.

Who would’ve thought that a girl who looked as sweet as her could turn into a giant monster, fierce enough to take on a dragon herself? She resembled Yeosin a bit—long black hair, wide hips, an innocent smile.

But something felt … off.

Brent glanced over at me, but I didn’t dare look back at him. I couldn’t give off that I didn’t want help, that I didn’t need help. We needed to defeat the Dragon Clan before they found my penthouse and killed Yeosin this time.

“Let’s skip the formalities,” I said, turning back to Alpha Theo. “I want in on the war.”

“What changed your mind?” Alpha Theo asked.

I ran a hand over my face. “The Dragon Clan burned my surrogate.”

Surrogate.

That was all she was to me, but the word tasted like shit in my mouth.

Brent looked at me. “Surrogate? Didn’t seem like that when?—”

Before he could say another word, I snapped my glare to him and made sure he knew to shut the fuck up before I had to do that to him myself. I balled my hands into fists, my claws slicing into the thin skin on my palms.

“Your surrogate?” Ruby repeated. “You’re trying to have children?”

“Only to rebuild my pack.”

She stepped toward me. “Mating with a human will only weaken you. You need someone strong, someone who can take on the Dragon Clan, someone who isn’t threatened by creatures of the night.” She paused and craned her head up at me. “Someone like me.”

I kept my lips pressed together and flared my nostrils.

What she was saying wasn’t false, and I needed help defeating the Dragon Clan once and for all. But I didn’t want her. Though if the Dragon Clan found Yeosin and ended up killing her …

Never, my beast snarled inside me.

The voice startled me because he didn’t talk much to me anymore. He only took control when I let him. Since the last war, I had blocked him out since I had been the only one of us to think logically. Thinking with my emotions had gotten the majority of my pack killed the first time.

If Yeosin died, we’d need someone else.

No.

The word came out harsh and final, without room for questions or argument.

“We will be part of this war with you,” I said. “And we’ll take down the Dragon Clan.”

“You will have to make sacrifices,” Ruby said. “Are you ready for that?”

“Almost my entire pack has been sacrificed. I’m willing to do what I need to do.”

I was willing to do almost anything, except … put Yeosin in harm’s way. I would do anything to protect her for as long as I could. I doubted my beast would let me do much else anyway.

Ruby stared up at me through curious, large eyes, and I didn’t pull my gaze away because I wanted her to know I was serious. She seemed to be the one calling all the shots because the other three hadn’t spoken yet.

When she finally pulled away, I clenched my jaw and looked back at Brent, who had a visible grimace on his face. He didn’t like this idea as much as I didn’t like this idea. But this was our only hope.

Alpha Theo cleared his throat. “Then it’s settled.”

“Great. When do we start?” I said, moving this along.

The earlier we finished this, the less I had to associate at all with the Colossals and especially Ruby. I didn’t like the way she looked at me. I didn’t like the way she touched me. And I really didn’t like the way she wanted to be mine.

That spot was reserved for one person and one person only. Yeosin Cho.

My employee. My partner. My mate.