Page 32 of Wulf’s Pack

Chapter

Fifteen

T he ride down to the lobby is as quiet as the ride up had been, but without the feeling of impending doom. I still can’t quite wrap my head around everything that happened. I hadn’t been sure we’d make it out alive tonight, and now here we are, allies with the enemy. All thanks to my mate.

We reach the lobby, but before we get to the front doors, Skylar stops us. “Samuel?”

He lifts his brows, surprised to be addressed and even a little pleased. His voice turns to silk. “Yes, Pet?”

I grit my teeth, but hold back my growl. I suppose using the old term of endearment isn’t as bad as him putting his hands or his damn mouth on her.

Skylar wrings her hands and bites her lip. “There’s one other thing.” She hesitates, then blurts, “You have traitors in your ranks.”

His eyes flash with shock, then anger, and then denial. “Impossible. My vampires would never betray me like that. They wouldn’t dare.”

Skylar gulps nervously, but nods. “I’ve seen them with my own eyes.

I’ve witnessed them spill clan secrets to Victor.

Three of them that I know of. It’s how Victor is able to intercept your shipments.

It’s how he gets to your contacts before you do.

It’s how he’s been able to do it without getting caught. ”

If I thought Samuel looked dangerous before, I was wrong. He looks downright murderous. This lethal creature is frightening. This is the master vampire strong enough to rule a clan nearly four hundred strong.

Skylar scoots closer to me, terrified, even though he’s not mad at her . “I’ll give you their names with no conditions,” she says. “As a show of good faith. I meant my promise to be your ally. But I’m hoping you might give me something in return.”

What else could she want? Bree and I exchange a glance, but she looks as befuddled as I am.

“Who?” Samuel demands. The rage in his voice is chilling. I would hate to be one of the names Skylar’s about to drop. They’re going to wish for death long before Samuel is ever done with them. Vampires are immortal and can live through a hell of a lot. It’s not going to be pretty.

“Jasper Hillman, Devon Bradshaw, and Sacha Petrov.”

The last name shocks him. “No.” He shakes his head. “Sacha has been my lover for three years. There has to be a mistake. She is mine. She would never.”

Skylar’s face turns sad. “I’m sorry. There’s no mistake. If you don’t believe me, call them down. One look at me standing here with you, and you’ll know. They won’t be able to hide their fear.”

Samuel takes a full fifteen seconds to breathe himself down from his rage. He looks at Felix. “Call the enforcers.”

Felix nods grimly and pulls out his phone. Samuel steps up to the guard at the desk. “I need Jasper Hillman, Devon Bradshaw, and Sacha Petrov here immediately.”

The man obviously heard Skylar’s accusations. His face is pale, and he looks as if he’s afraid Samuel will kill him too just because he’s that angry. “Yes, sire,” he says quickly.

It only takes five minutes for both Samuel’s backup and his traitors to enter the lobby. He wears a track in the marble floor while he waits. It doesn’t seem to help calm his anger. If anything, he’s more outraged by the time the guilty parties arrive.

They all step off the elevator together, and they’re already looking at each other nervously, wondering why the three of them specifically have been called down. “Sire?” Sacha asks warily.

Samuel says nothing. He simply steps aside, revealing Skylar’s presence. As she predicted, they take one look at her and turn white as ghosts. It’s obvious. They’re guilty of everything Skylar accused them of.

Samuel starts to shake. He’s a volcano about to explode.

Unable to speak, he slices his hand through the air, gesturing for his enforcers to take the traitors away.

One of them struggles, one tries to run and gets exactly one step, but Sacha?

She stands proud, glaring at Skylar like she’d love to flay the skin from her body.

I step in front of Skylar and growl a warning.

Not that the vampire could get to my mate when she’s got two vampire enforcers dragging her away.

After the enforcers take the traitors away, Samuel is left in the lobby with us. At first, he doesn’t speak. He continues to pace back and forth for a good five minutes. I don’t know that I’ve ever been that angry. I don’t know that I’m capable of it.

We wait patiently, and then, like a switch being flipped, Samuel turns his intense gaze on Skylar. He forces a smile. It’s not quite the charming one he gave her when she arrived, but it is sincere. “You could have bargained,” he says. “I would have given you just about anything.”

“I know,” she says quietly. “But you deserved the truth.”

He steps close and takes her hand in his, squeezing it. “And what would you ask of me in return for this boon? If it’s in my power, I’ll give it.”

Skylar takes a deep breath. She closes her eyes and says, “I’d like to free the shifters in your kennels.”

Bree and I share looks of shock. We hadn’t either of us considered this possibility.

I didn’t even remember Skylar said there was an underground fighting ring.

But now that it’s come up, a fierce need overwhelms me.

I want to save those shifters. One look at Bree’s face and I know she feels the same.

I could kiss the hell out of my mate right now.

Samuel jerks his head back in surprise. “You want my shifters?”

Skylar sucks her lips between her teeth and nods. “They’re my people, and they’re suffering.”

Samuel shows no remorse for his actions, but he’s not angry with the request. He shakes his head. “They’re completely feral. Without my omega to keep them sane, they lost their humanity ages ago.”

Skylar doesn’t give up. “My powers have grown a lot since you last saw me use them. I’ve got much more control now.”

Skylar looks up at him with her big, blue eyes, and I can tell he’s as lost to her allure as I am.

I’m not sure there’s a man alive that could say no to that sweet, innocent face.

He taps his finger against his lips, then presents a counteroffer.

“If that’s what you want, you can try. Keep any you can bring back.

If you can’t, they stay. I won’t let you take feral shifters with you.

They’re too dangerous. But for this, we are even, regardless of the outcome. ”

Skylar nods slowly. “Agreed.”

I really hope she can help the shifters. I can’t stand the thought of leaving any behind, completely feral and forced to fight. It’s a despicable practice, and I’d like to raze the whole operation to the ground. But I know what I am realistically capable of, and we’ll be lucky to save any of them.

Samuel smiles at her. “Are all omegas such bleeding hearts?”

Skylar blushes. “I’ve never met another one to ask.”

Samuel chuckles. “All right, let’s go see about your shifters.”

He leads us back to the elevators and presses a button for a basement level three floors down.

In the quiet of the elevator, Skylar’s voice filters into my mind.

Don’t react . I glance at Bree, and she nods slightly.

That warning went to both of us. It’s bad.

Samuel is heartless in this respect. He considers feral shifters no better than trash, but they make him a lot of money.

This is a big ask. He’s feeling grateful because I rooted out his traitors, but if we act anything but gracious, we could lose his goodwill.

He most likely thinks you can’t save them , Bree says.

Skylar nods. If I can, he won’t be very happy, but he’ll keep his word. We just need him to think we’re grateful for allowing us this opportunity. He can’t see our hatred.

Bree straightens her spine, and I brace myself. I’ve got a decent poker face, but abused, enslaved shifters is asking a lot of my control.

The doors slide open, and the smell hits me first. Blood, urine, feces, and something else I can’t identify.

“You’ll have to excuse the smell,” Samuel says jovially.

“With them so wild, we can’t do much more than hose them down, and we have to tranq them in order to clean out their cages, so we only do it once a week. ”

Rage bubbles up inside me, but Skylar quickly calms me down. She doesn’t go full power like she did upstairs, but I start to move a little slower.

The next thing I notice is the sound of barking, hissing, squawking, and snarling.

It’s like a zoo. If the zoo were full of rabid animals.

Again, my rage tries to consume me, but with Skylar’s influence, I manage to keep calm.

Don’t use too much of your power. You’re going to need it if you have any hope of bringing these shifters back .

We walk down a dimly-lit corridor until we come to a large, open parking garage-type space.

Along one wall is a row of cages barely big enough to fit the animals they contain.

There are eight of them. Three wolves, a black bear, a jaguar, a coyote, and a pair of hawks.

When we come into view, all of them attack their cages, crying out and even foaming at the mouth.

I can’t see a speck of humanity left in them.

I’m pretty sure this is a lost cause, and it’s going to kill me to have to walk away and just leave them here.

They need to be put out of their misery.

“Hawks?” Skylar asks. “That’s new.”

Bree and I take it in and try to keep a lid on our anger. I was almost okay with Samuel upstairs, but this is unforgivable. How can I be allies with a monster like him? We still need to get out of here alive, though, so we need to keep up the act.