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Chapter Twenty-Seven

Talia

D rayton smiles at the challenge, the chill in his eyes sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

“It’s about fucking time you challenged me. Did you finally find enough wolves to back you up? Or are you actually going to do the challenge the honourable way?”

The smile on Marcus’ face dims a little, panic replacing the cruelty in his dark eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Riii-ight,” Drayton drags out, rolling his eyes with disdain.

“Sure, you don’t. I’ll be sure to let the Bruna pack know that you don’t claim them as allies and that we can , in fact, work together.”

Marcus clamps his mouth shut with an audible snap.

Turning on his heel, he marches back out, turning around only when he gets to the front door.

“Outside. Ten minutes.”

“You got it, traitor,” Drayton yells back, a smirk firmly in place on his face.

When Marcus is fully out of sight, Alaric bursts into laughter beside me.

His booming laugh sets Penn and Drayton off as well.

Forrester tightens his arm around my waist and places a chaste kiss on the top of my head.

His body has gone tense, and his feet shift from side to side.

Wes starts closing up the laptops around us, clearly no longer feeling like he needs to relay the information to all of us since Marcus burst in here.

“Well, I guess the trash is taking itself out,” Wes grumbles with a smirk.

“I didn’t think he was dumb enough to try this after the Croises’ attempt failed. You would think he would rethink his plan after they failed to hurt the pack as much as they hoped.”

I can hear what they’re saying, but all of this information is getting muddled in my brain and confusing me.

The pain wafting off of Forrester and the elation of the others has me thinking there’s something about this challenge that I am missing.

“What’s going on?” I ask in a soft voice, not quite sure what’s going on.

“He thinks he’s walking into this challenge with half of our pack and the enforcers from at least three other packs at his side,” Alaric says with another chuckle.

“Too bad for him, we made sure that would never happen. There’s no back up coming for him and when he realizes that, he’s going to hightail it the fuck out of here. It will be beautiful.”

Forrester cringes, but does his best to hide it by scratching his eyebrow.

The others don’t realize how it’s affecting him, but his pain echoes around me.

They can’t feel it the way I can, but they also don’t seem to notice him in this.

His pain is clear as day to me and I want nothing more than to ease his discomfort.

Wes chimes in while he finishes packing up his electronics.

“Dray also just intimidated the shit out of him by letting him know we knew about his plans with the other packs. He’s probably running around to find his back up and shitting his pants that they aren’t here.”

“Oh, that's why he went all panicky,” I murmur, connecting all the dots in my head finally. “So, are we going out to find him?”

“I already notified the guards on duty to keep an eye out for Marcus,” Drayton mumbles with a lazy stretch. “They'll let me know when he tries to escape and then we'll just lock him up in the cages until I'm ready to deal with him. Running from a challenge is a crime in and of itself and forfeits you from the pack. The treasonous crimes will bring his punishment from banishment to death.”

Forrester makes a grunting sound and slowly releases me from his grip. His hands shake, but he quickly tucks them into his pockets and out of sight.

“I, ah, need a minute. I understand why his punishment will be death, but that’s still my Uncle and I just—Fuck! I need a moment to process it.” Forrester's voice is shaky and uneven.

“Take all the time you need,” I murmur, kissing his cheek. “I’ll be here if you need me.”

We all remain mostly quiet as Forrester leaves the room, his footsteps echoing deeper into the house. I release a soft sigh when his bedroom door shuts a moment later and look at the guys with a shake of my head.

“That was a little inconsiderate,” I say, flicking my eyes between each of my guys. “You know Forrester is still working through a lot of what he grew up with. He loves his uncle, despite all the stuff that happened. You could have been kinder about it and not made it feel like a joke.”

The guys drop their heads in unison, a tenseness filling the air. Drayton lets out a sigh and Alaric pulls me into his arms.

“Shit,” Drayton says in an apologetic tone. “You’re right. I know better. I was insensitive to him.”

“We got a little caught up in the justice of it and forgot to take Forr into consideration,” Alaric adds on above me, his chest rumbling with his words. “We’ll make it up to him tonight, I promise.”

I nod in response, not wanting to berate them any more, but still feeling a touch upset for Forrester. The pain from everything he’s been through beats through him and I feel all of it as my magic struggles to stay contained and not heal him every time he’s around.

“He’ll be okay, baby girl. I’ve seen it,” Penn says with a wink and the tension in my body eases slightly. “He’ll be out at the challenge when it starts.”

Drayton nods then pulls me out of Alaric’s arms and into his. “You stay close to Wes and Penn during the actual challenge, okay? This will be over quickly, but just in case something goes wrong, I want you safe.”

“Of course. You don’t have to worry about me,” I reassure him. Pushing up onto my toes, I kiss him softly. “For good luck, even if you don’t need it.”

“We should get ready to head out there,” Alaric announces, his face in stoic business mode. “Harris and Kira are currently following Marcus and ready to grab him at the first sign of escape.”

“Penn, do you mind letting Forrester know we are headed out to the challenge ring?” Drayton asks.

“Already on it.” Penn throws a thumbs up as he types away on his phone.

Drayton nods and loosens his arms from around me. He steps back and looks at the rest of my mates with an almost feral intensity. The joy from earlier is now replaced with anger. It's radiating off of him, and with an added aura of confidence, it makes me feel a little better seeing him take this seriously.

Without a word, everyone starts moving towards the front of the house. Alaric is on his phone, walking beside a very determined Dray while Penn and Wes each step up beside me, escorting me to the challenge ring.

There’s a buzz in the air the moment we step outside. I have no idea where this ring is, but it has to be close based on the sound of people talking nearby. The volume grows as we walk down a path to the right of the garage.

This could go really well for us, eliminating a serious threat against my mates and my pack, or it could go very, very wrong. I know I need to trust in my mates, they seem to have all angles of this figured out, but the nervous feeling in my chest won’t ease.

In Marcus’s lust for power and vengeance, he put everyone in the pack in danger. That’s something Drayton can’t let slide. The punishment for that has to be death. Add in the backhanded attempts to cheat this challenge, and Marcus has one outcome here.

I don’t disagree with the outcome, I just worry about my other mate. I really wish it wouldn’t hurt Forr in the process. Even as a healer, I understand the need for death. Life and death are equal parts of the cycle of life as a whole. All life is precious, but sometimes bad people use their lives for bad things and need to be removed to protect the innocents they seek to hurt.

Drayton puts his arm out before we cross the last line of trees into the clearing and turns to me.

“I need you by my side when we go out there, but only if you can handle it.

You won’t be in any danger, but he’s going to spew some vicious shit when he realizes we have him from every angle,” Dray speaks directly to me, his eyes shining with love and pride while his words give me an out for this.

“I can do that,” I answer with confidence I only half feel.

I don't want to face any more insults, but I will stand by my mates through anything.

“Once the challenge starts, you stay beside Penn and Wes. Don't step a foot in that circle, understand?”

I nod my head in silent agreement and step up beside Drayton. Penn flanks my other side. Alaric stands directly behind me with Wes directly behind Penn. If Forrester were with our group, I imagine he would take up the space behind Drayton.

Drayton takes my hand and tucks it into his elbow before leaning over and kissing the top of my head.

“Kira just said that Marcus tried to slip out, but when he saw them there, he turned on his tail to head back to the challenge arena. He should be here in a few minutes,” Alaric speaks up from behind me.

“Then let's go,” Dray addresses all of us, his alpha voice fully kicked in.

Stepping into the clearing, it’s easy to see that most of the pack is already assembled. The rest of Alaric’s team is standing around the perimeter and ushering the last few people into the clearing to witness the challenge.

We walk towards the growing crowd to the spot left open at the head of the clearing. There’s a similar spot at the other end that’s been left for Marcus. There’s a tense silence for a few minutes as we wait. A commotion from the other end of the circle amps up the tension before a very flustered, angry Marcus steps through the trees and into the clearing.

“You can call off your attack dogs,” he sneers at Drayton with disdain. “I called this fucking challenge, I don't need to be followed! You’re as pathetic as your mother was.”

Drayton tenses and steps forward, leaving me with Penn and Wes. However, before he can say anything, Forrester steps into the circle and walks towards his uncle. Penn chuckles beside me, and grips my hand with a wink.

That cheeky man knows exactly what's about to happen. Penn and his visions.

Forrester walks straight up to Marcus, his back stiff and tense. Instead of the pain from earlier, he's angry it seems.

“You've come back to your senses, have you?” Marcus snickers, holding open his arms in welcome. “You know your mother and I were the only ones to truly have your back. That bastard is a murderer and you know it!”

A collective gasp takes over the challenge arena as Forrester spits directly on his uncle's face.

“You're the fucking murderer, you piece of shit. You're a traitorous bastard and when you're executed, I'm going to dance on your fucking grave.” Forrester growls out every syllable, the fury in his words taking everyone except Penn by surprise. “You’re lucky I’m not the one fighting you today, because I would make you choke on your own blood for talking about my mate the way you did. Drayton is far more composed than I would be.”

“You insolent child! I raised you, boy!”

“And you did a fucking awful job of it,” Forrester shoots back, grabbing Marcus by his throat. “I'm going to enjoy watching my brother beat the life out of you. It's the least you deserve.”

With that he releases Marcus, turning his back on him to walk towards the rest of us. Marcus lunges for him, but Drayton is suddenly between them.

Drayton’s fist hits Marcus so hard and fast, his head snaps backwards and blood splatter flies through the air. Marcus hits the ground, but Drayton immediately drops on top of him with another sharp punch to his nose.

There's a distinct crunch that has me turning my face into Wes. Bile rises in my throat and I swallow it back. I glance up and see Marcus unconscious with Drayton slowly rising to stand above him. He turns and nods towards us which is a cue for Alaric to step in.

“Marcus Bellmont has not only lost his challenge, but he has committed acts of treason against this pack and against your alpha,” Drayton addresses the pack, his voice loud and stoic. “He will be dealt with in a public execution in front of this pack, and the rest of the shifter community. He not only put our pack at risk, he put the shifter community as a whole at risk when he worked with the Croises cult.”

Alaric's team cuffs Marcus and carries his unconscious body out of the circle.

“Let this be a warning to those who wish to go against their alpha, their pack, and shifter kind. It will not end well for you.” Drayton looks at four specific people who cower and drop their gazes. “You're all dismissed for now.”