His body morphed back into his human form as he died and still I tore into him. He killed my Dad.
The war that had raged so fiercely died down as Jameson’s wolves turned tail and fled. I released the corpse of my enemy, his body unrecognizable as I tossed him far away from my fallen father.
Alex came running over in his human form. Bloodied and battered, he hit the floor next to our Dad. I shifted and joined him as a man, my left arm hanging uselessly at my side as I wrapped my right around his shoulders.
“No. No. Dad,” my older brother cried as I sat silently beside him, stunned.
I would cry and mourn later. First, I would avenge my father. Jameson was dead but I wasn’t going to rest until his entire pack breathed their last breath.
After a few minutes, I stood, “Take dad home. We have to prepare hi-his body for the honorary burial. I have to make sure the wounded are tended to.”
My brother looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes and spoke in an accusatory tone, “How are you so okay right now?”
“I’m not fucking okay,” I snapped, “but I’m alpha now. Dad would want me to make sure our people are taken care of so that’s what I’m going to do. Then I’m going to take that pack out once and for all.”
Alex shook his head as if he were disappointed in me before he stood, lifting our father’s broken body from the cold asphalt. I watched his back as he walked away, my father’s head tucked into my brother’s chest as if he were a sleeping child.
I felt a knot begin to form in my throat as a hand landed on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” A.K. said as she squeezed reassuringly, “He’ll understand one day. Our people have to come first--even before our grief.”
I gave her a sad attempt at a smile before excusing myself. I walked up and down barking orders at every able-bodied wolf we had left. We had a triage set up quickly, lining up the wolves that could be moved. We worked on the most severe cases where they’d fallen. Our healer was tending to as many as she could while the rest of us tried to bandage wounds to the best of our ability. The only hope for a majority of our people was their accelerated healing. We had to keep them alive long enough for their wolves to repair their injuries. It was a long arduous task. Hours passed as I watched my people cry out in pain. Some died, some survived but every wound, no matter how severe, weighed heavy on me.
It was well into the afternoon by the time we’d cleared the fallen from the streets and set to prepare their bodies for burial. Seven. Seven of my wolves were dead--including my father. Seth, Jackie, Melanie, Harry, Lance, and Morgan. They were all gone because Jameson’s pack was hungry for land.
I scrubbed at the back of my neck before I headed down the road to Alex’s, where Alara had brought the worst of the injured once they’d healed enough to be moved without furthering the damage done to them.
“Hey A.K., Can I use your phone?” I asked when I found her. I’d left mine in my truck. It hadn’t been a concern upon pulling up and seeing the destruction of my home.
“Of course,” she pulled it out of her back pocket and handed it over before returning to her patient. I looked down to see Erin’s unconscious face. My eyes watered as I cleared my throat and left the room. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. There was so much hurt, so much grief, that I couldn’t understand how I was still functioning. Maybe it was because I knew I had no choice.
Even in times of hardship, an alpha cannot be weak. It was a phrase my father had drilled into me from a young age and it was one that I had to live by now.
I dialed the phone, waiting for the one voice I needed to hear more than anything--but Lily didn’t answer her phone.
A male voice came from the receiver and I had to stop myself from crushing Alara’s phone in my grasp, “Sam? Is that you?”
“Who the fuck are you? Where is Lily?” I demanded.
“Allow me to introduce myself. See Jameson was nothing but a mindless decoy. I’m the true alpha of the outlaws,” the voice paused. I could hear the smile in his voice as he continued, “and I have your mate.”
35
Liliana
A slap to my face brought consciousness reeling back. My eyes shot open as I looked around, bewildered.
For a blissful second, I didn’t remember anything but then it all came flooding back. Chelsea stood in front of me, clothed this time--thankfully. I moved to stand, only to find myself restrained. I fought at the binding that tied me to a heavy wooden chair to no avail. The rope dug into my flesh as I struggled but it didn’t let up.
“You crazy bitch,” I yelled at the she-wolf. “Seriously? Kidnapping me because you were rejected by a man? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
She laughed, every bit as deranged as I had accused her of being. “You’ve got it all wrong. I told you I didn’t want Sam. I just want him to hurt. This is step one.” She paused to flash a demented smile, “He made it so easy--handing you off to me even after I protested. You know, I wasn’t even the one who was supposed to bring you in but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?”
“You betrayed your pack just to hurt Sam? You’re pathetic.”
Her hand connected with my cheek almost as soon as the words left my mouth. My head snapped to the side and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning in pain. She was strong.
“Not the face,” a man’s voice came from behind me. “Sam has to see her soon. If she’s visibly injured, he won’t submit to me without a fight.”
I strained to see who had spoken--the high, solid back of the chair obstructed my view no matter which way I turned my head. The voice sounded familiar but, no matter how hard I focused, I couldn’t place it.
“Sorry Alpha,” Chelsea said, voice contrite.
“Alpha? You permanently turned your back on your family, because Sam hurt your feelings? Hell, I’m human and I’m not that weak,” I hissed.
I couldn’t help but to bait her. She was despicable. I braced myself as her fist went flying toward me. The hit never connected though.
She froze, mid swing, as the man behind me chuckled. “Don’t be so predictable, Chelsea.”
Again, the voice made familiarity nag at me. Who was it?
The traitorous woman in front of me remained frozen for over a minute before it dawned on me. My thoughts raced to the night I first saw the wolves. Tess had been there, fighting someone... "It... it was you. The witch who helped the wolf.”
“I am the witch,” he said as I heard his footsteps drawing closer, “but I’m also the wolf that almost ended your mate.”
His words sent a chill of foreboding up my spine, “You’re a witch... And a wolf?”
“Yes, you’re smarter than your decisions have led me to believe, Liliana.”
“My decisions? What do you mean?” I asked, confusion filling my voice.
“Your decision to choose that weak little wolf over me, of course. Tell me--have you figured out who I am yet?” He was directly behind my chair now but my eyes remained on the statuesque she-wolf in front of me. The man’s tone remained even, as if taking Chelsea’s mobility away was nothing for him.
“Sam isn’t weak,” I protested. “And I never chose him over anyone else. He’s always been the only one for me.”
Snark filled my tone even as my heart hammered in my chest. I refused to give this man the satisfaction of my fear.
“Now that hurts, Lil,” he said, his voice full of mock anguish. His hand closed over the high back of the wooden chair I was tied to. He pulled it backwards, so fast my head slammed off of it. My vision blurred as pain lanced through my skull and once it focused, I found myself looking up into a familiar face--one that reminded me very much of a lumberjack.
He loomed over me, the sadistic smile on his face made even creepier by the fact I was seeing him upside down.
“Ben?” The name came out as a cracked whisper as shock filled my body.
“Sam’s the only one for you, huh? That hurts,” he said as he sneered dow
n at me. “Or it would if I had actually wanted you. You were just a means to an end once Chelsea told me how important you were to the Beta.”
I rocked forward as he pushed the chair back up onto its four legs. My neck snapped forward at the force he used, my body almost bending in half.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Your boyfriend’s pack and his lands. Now that my beta, Jameson, killed off their Alpha it’s going to be a piece of cake.”
“No,” I shouted, struggling once more. “You’re lying!”
Aiden couldn’t be dead--he just couldn’t. Ben walked around to stand in front of me. He crouched down, grasping the arms of the chair as he leaned into my face. I leaned back immediately.
“Oh, I assure you I’m not. Did you care for the alpha? How cute. Now I can’t wait to see your face as I tear your boyfriend limb from limb.”
Gone was the handsome, light-hearted man I’d met at the bar. In his place was a monster. I fought back the only way I could. I leaned back as far as I could with my limited range and launched myself at him. My forehead connected with his nose. Blood spurted but he ignored it as he gripped my hair roughly. He pulled my face closer to his, I could see his nose already beginning to right itself--the speed at which he healed was alarming.
“I suggest you play nice or you’re going to die before he even gets the chance to bargain for you,” he said as he shoved my face away from him.
He waved his hand behind him and Chelsea unfroze. I’d completely forgotten about her.
“Clean her up,” he commanded. “I want her camera ready when I return.”
Chelsea nodded, bowing low as he strode from the room.
“That maniac is who you betrayed your people for?” My question was more of an accusation, “You had a family and you traded that for a monster who makes you bow to him. You disgust me.”
“That pack wasn’t my family. I don’t have a family. I was nothing but runner up to Sam my entire life and he made me second best to you. Better to start over with a new pack.”
She walked around the chair and began to untie me, “I have a chance at a new life here and I’m not going to let you ruin that for me. Behave once you’re free or I’ll bring the alpha back.”
Her threat of having Ben return worked wonders. I didn’t fight once I was free. I stood and followed orders obediently, changing out of my ruined date clothes into a long blush-colored nightgown.
I kept silent. Not wanting to provoke my captors any more than I already had. Once I’d changed and washed up as best I could with the basin of water I’d been given, Chelsea tied me to the chair once again.
“-have your mate,” I heard Ben say from the hall outside the nondescript room I was locked in.
The door opened and he smiled at me, the malice in the look sending shivers up my spine. “Proof of life? I’ll allow it but, if you displease me, she will pay the consequences.”
The telltale ringtone of a call being turned into a video chat sounded as he turned the phone, my phone, to face me. Sam’s face filled the screen, his face filled with horror as he saw mine. I caught a glimpse of the bruise on my cheek, courtesy of Chelsea’s slap, and knew what he was gaping at.
“Lily? I’m so sorry, my love. How--” Sam began before I cut him off with a shout.
“Call Tess. Tell her it’s Ben. He’s a wolf and a witch,” I spoke as loud and fast as I could, hoping he understood me. I wanted to tell him before the monster cut off our call. I was sure my words would anger him but he stared at me--a look of amusement on his face.
“What? Lily, I--”
“Sam just call Tess. I love you. Remember your promise. Your people come before me,” I cut him off again.
Divulging Ben’s secrets hadn’t phased him but telling Sam to put his people first? That triggered him. He reached out, lightning fast, and backhanded me. “I’d disregard what she said and surrender or her condition is going to get a whole lot worse than a few slaps. Maybe I’ll give her to Chelsea as a chew toy. She has no love for your mate--or for you. What do you think she’d do to her?”
He turned the camera toward himself, the stare he gave Sam terrifying. “Surrender--give me your pack and your land or lose your mate. It’s your choice, Alpha.”
He hung up on Sam, tucking my phone into his back pocket. “You better hope he gives up. If he comes for you, I’m going to bite you. Do you know what happens when a human gets bitten by a werewolf?”
Flashbacks of my conversation with Sam after he told me he was a wolf flooded my mind.
“They die,” I answered, my voice hollow as I tried to come to grips with my own demise. Sam wouldn’t surrender and condemn his people--but he also wouldn’t abandon me. He was going to come and I was going to die.
36
Sam
A howl tore from my throat as the call ended, my wolf tearing at my chest in an attempt to break free. I tried to calm him long enough to think but it was a struggle considering I couldn’t even calm myself. Lily was in danger and it was all my fault. I’d been a fool. Chelsea had always been discontented with her position in the pack but I never thought she’d betray us--that she’d betray me.
A.K. came running into the room, asking me what was wrong but I waved her off, telling her to return to the wounded, as I searched through her phone contacts. Never had I been so glad that my father insisted we all kept a local witch, one who didn’t hate wolves as much as the rest of them, on speed dial.
“Bael. It’s Sam Hernandez. I need Tessa Warren’s number. It’s an emergency,” I ordered, my words coming out in a panicked rush.
“What happened?” the man answered. The deep, relaxing timber of his voice grating on my nerves. The fact that anyone could be calm at that moment--when my mate was in danger--pissed me off.
“Just text it to this number. I don’t have time to explain right now. I’ll call you when it’s over or Tess will. Please it’s urgent.”
My franticness must have shown through in my speech because he agreed, sending the number before we even hung up.
“Thanks. I owe you one,” I said as I hung up and called Tess immediately.
“Hello?”
“Tess. I need you to get to the compound as soon as possible. Lily is in danger.”
“Relax Sam. If she was in danger, I’d feel it. My protection spell is still active,” she said, her tone reassuring instead of bitter for once.
“She’s been kidnapped. I saw him fucking backhand her. She told me to tell you that the alpha who took her is Ben and that he’s a wolf and a witch. Who’s Ben?”
She didn’t answer my question as she replied, “Don’t move. I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”
Three minutes and forty-six seconds later, Tess popped into existence in front of me.
“You’re sure she said Ben?” She asked with no preamble.
“Yes, Ben. Who the fuck is Ben?” I asked, growing more agitated with each second.
“Before you guys got back together, we went to Ruby’s. Ben is a guy she met. He asked her out. She said yes at first but then she got wrapped up in her feelings for you again and blew him off,” she replied, collapsing on a kitchen chair. “He’s a hybrid? Wolf and witch?”
“That’s what Lily said. How are we going to save her?”
Tess pulled her phone out, speaking while she dialed away. “You’re going to get a team of wolves together. I’m getting the witches. We have to work together on this one or neither of us will stand a chance. Hybrids are strong. Where is your dad? Will he sanction the mission?”
“He’s--,” I paused, not wanting to say the words aloud. “I’m alpha now and I agree to a partnership with the witches. I’ll meet you back here in thirty. I’ll grab as many as I can spare and I’ll accompany you as well.”
Tessa’s look of pity made my stomach clench. I nodded my thanks before we got to work contacting our people.
Thirty minutes later, Alex and Alara’s kitchen was overflowing with people. Eight witche
s and ten wolves, including Tess and I. Never had I assembled a strike team so quickly. Most of my most trusted packmates were injured, making my second in command Nate.
Tess stepped up into the center of the room and began briefing everyone, “I’ve met the hybrid in person once. He felt like a normal human--I didn’t feel power from either species emitting from him which means he’s strong. Our mission is to put him down and rescue the human he’s taken captive.”
I stepped up beside her, taking over. “The witches will focus on locking down the wolves of our enemies--except Tessa and Bael.” I gestured toward the two, “You two will focus on locking down Ben’s power. I’ll take him out as a wolf.”
I turned to my left, eyeing my new beta, “Nate, your job is to take out Chelsea. Kill her or knock her out and I’ll execute her once Ben has been dealt with.” I added the last part, unsure if he was capable of going for the kill.
“Yes alpha,” he said, standing at attention like a soldier. I saw the feeling of betrayal echoed on his face and knew he wouldn’t let her escape.
Once we’d finished the overview, Tessa nodded. “We leave at dawn.”
I wanted to protest--we needed to save my mate right away--but I knew better than to undermine a fellow leader in front of our subordinates. I waited until the room emptied out before I turned on her.
“We need to leave now!” I barked.
Her voice was level--calm even--as she responded, “Do you know where she is? How to get there?”
I threw my hands up in frustration, “Can’t you use magic to find her?”
She patted my arm gently, the kindest gesture she’d ever given me. “It’s not that simple, Sam. I know you’re worried, I am too, but he’s using a shield spell. It’s strong enough for me not to be able to sense Lily. I’m going over to Bael’s. We’ll break the magic and find her. Just be patient and try to rest. She needs you and you’re not going to be able to help her if you’re dead on your feet.”
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