Un.Bridled (Claimed Series #2)

by Reese Morgan

  Sophia narrowed her eyes on Hayden. “I don’t know what she sees in you. You’re sloppy and unaware. And you’re so predictable.”

  With the swiftness of a lethal hunter, Nicolas emerged from the shadows and took an aggressive stance behind Sophia. A hair-rising growl emitted from his chest, his posture entirely hostile. His hackles were raised, proudly revealing sharp and unrelenting teeth. Even the hair on his shoulders was standing on end.

  Sophia matched his quickness. In a fraction of a second, she turned and fired at him, taking her aim off Hayden.

  But that was all the time Hayden needed.

  As Nicolas lunged away from the rapid fire, Hayden sprinted towards Sophia, descending to her knees and sliding across the floor. Her hand plunged into the folds of her jacket and removed a blade, the hilt twirling on her palm until it fit properly into her grip. By the time Sophia turned back to her, Hayden had already thrown her knife.

  The blade cut through the air and flew straight at Sophia’s chest. With a surprised gasp, the woman dived to the floor. She barely moved in time, for the knife scratched her cheek, drawing a minimal amount of blood.

  Hayden jumped to her feet and kicked the gun out of Sophia’s hand, sending the weapon spiraling across the floor. She then sent her elbow into the woman’s face, fracturing the bridge of her nose.

  Sophia refused to let a broken nose get the better of her. She delivered a painful kick to Hayden’s back, sending the blonde-haired Alpha to the ground. Hayden grunted as she landed on her stomach, feeling the reverberations of the kick all the way to the front of her chest. She exhaled levelly, gathering herself and waiting for Sophia to lunge at her fallen figure.

  As soon as the brunette bent down to grab her neck, Hayden threw her head back and slammed it into the woman’s face. She then kicked Sophia in the stomach, forcing her to stumble backwards.

  Hayden braced her weight on her hands and executed a backflip in order to get back on her feet. She barely got her arms up to block Sophia’s anger-driven fist. Standing her ground and refusing to be driven backwards, Hayden endured the relentless attacks. Her reflexes were honed enough to stop the punches from reaching her person, but she was surprised by the force of them. They certainly weren’t as strong as the three rogues who had attacked Cole, but they were stronger than ordinary.

  Doubtless, Hayden countered the attacks with equal ferocity. She remembered Cole’s brief skirmish with Tobias and took a leaf from his book. With a single-minded intensity, she began focusing her attention on her opponent’s dominant elbow. Anytime she could, she would punch, grab, and twist Sophia’s right elbow. The skin began to grow raw and pink and the joint began to swell and knot, effectively lessening the force behind the woman’s punches.

  Judging from Sophia’s pinched expression, the other female was aware of Hayden’s intentions. A nasty scowl marred the woman’s face before she slipped past Hayden’s defenses and punched her squarely in the face. With her left fist.

  Apparently, she was ambidextrous.

  Hayden stumbled back, disorientated, but stopped herself from falling to the ground. Instead, she leaped off the ground and swung both legs around, keeping her torso horizontal and executing a strong butterfly kick to Sophia’s face.

  Landing and grabbing a second knife simultaneously, Hayden whirled around, halting her throw at the last moment. Sophia had fallen near her gun and now had it aimed at Hayden.

  It was a draw.

  “I want you to keep your nose out of Celeste’s business,” Sophia spat, her dark eyes alight with rage. “Just stay away. I will take care of her.”

  The admission nearly caused Hayden to drop her grip on her knife. She kept it aimed at Sophia, ready to throw it if the situation proved necessary. “Excuse me?”

  Sophia stood, refusing to turn her back on either Hayden or Nicolas, wherever the wolf disappeared to. With slow, measured steps, she began to make her way towards the back exit. “It took me months to earn her trust,” she whispered heatedly. “I don’t need you coming into the fold and diverting her attention away from me.”

  Hayden watched the beta, unsure whether Sophia was using a ploy to lower Hayden’s guard or if she was telling the truth, and that she really did want to destroy Celeste herself.

  “She has Cole,” Hayden reasoned. “I’m not letting this go. I’m not going away.” She paused and considered the delirious-looking female. “We can work together.”

  Sophia narrowed her eyes. “The next time I see you, I won’t hesitate to kill you.” Without another word, the woman fled the home, leaving Hayden standing solitarily in the kitchen.

  Her gaze hardened when she saw Nicolas twitch towards the exit, clearly intent on hunting Sophia down. “Don’t,” she growled lowly with authority. “You will not disappear again. You have some explaining to do.”

  His unnerving blue eyes assessed her blandly, hardly impressed with her attempt of intimidation. He did give a long look at the knife in her hand, which Hayden dimly noted was now aimed at him.

  She kept her aim firm, her expression hard, and her eyes level with his own. When she was sure he wasn’t going to lunge across the kitchen at her, she lowered her knife and sheathed it.

  “Is there no one else here?”

  She assumed, during her fight with Sophia, he had searched the house. It would explain his absence and willingness not lend his assistance to Hayden.

  When the wolf inclined his head in simple confirmation, Hayden lowered her gaze. The pack wasn’t here. She hoped they made it out safe. It would certainly explain the fallen bodies on the ground, but she didn’t know the extent of their condition. She wouldn’t have any idea how track their whereabouts.

  And without tracking them down, it wouldn’t feel right looking for Cole. Who knew how long it could take to reach him. Plus, he’d be disappointed if she couldn’t reassure him of the pack’s whereabouts. Their safety had been his last request.

  Hayden wiped the blood from beneath her nose, glancing again at the immovable form of Nicolas. She didn’t know what to do with him. Despite her willingness to follow him to the cabin, she didn’t trust him.

  He had many things to answer for.

  Nicolas stood from his haunches and stretched his front paws. His body began shuddering and his fur ruffled, a sign of his impending transformation. In one fluid motion, human appendages began replacing his canine form. It wasn’t long before a naked man was crouching in place of the black wolf.

  Hayden wanted to avert her eyes from his state of undress, but she willed herself to remain indifferent. Nicolas would think little of her modesty.

  Gradually, he stood, unfolding from his crouched pose and standing tall and proud. Hayden’s earlier assumptions about his wolf form were only confirmed now that she saw him in his human skin. He appeared in bad health, having lost a bit of weight, both fat and muscle.

  The cool, aristocratic man was gone, and in his place was a rugged scoundrel. With his beard and shoulder-length black hair, he looked strikingly similar to Cole. Only, Cole carried his ruggedness with natural grace, whereas Nicolas just looked out of place without his refined aristocracy.

  Though his body appeared to have gone through much, his eyes were sharper than ever before. Hayden lowered her eyes again, wondering if she was intimidated by his stare or just curious to see what his feet looked like.

  To justify her curiosity, mud was caked up and down the length of his legs and even his toenails were torn and muddy.

  “You don’t look well,” Hayden remarked darkly. There was nothing else she could think to say to a man like Nicolas.

  “I thank you for your concern.” Nicolas said dryly, his voice hoarse and raspy. “You even expressed your concern for me in front of Cole. I find it touching and admirable.”

  Anger coursed through Hayden and she had no trouble meeting his gaze. She had confronted Cole about Nicolas just before the attack. “You were there the whole time,” she accused hotly. “You could have prevented them from t
aking Cole.”

  Unimpressed with her outburst, Nicolas merely raised his eyebrows. “Even with Cole standing beside me, it wouldn’t have been enough. We would have both been taken and you would have still been in Celeste’s clutches. The best way to rescue Cole is through stealth and surprise.”

  She faltered at that. “You want to rescue Cole?” Hayden’s lips twisted in a disbelieving grimace. “You want me to believe that? After all this time, you…” she trailed off, afraid if she started, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “You are the rogue Alpha.”

  Nicolas chuckled breathlessly. “Haven’t you ever heard of smoke and mirrors, my dear? Celeste wanted everyone to believe I was the Alpha, when in reality, she was and is the mastermind behind the rogues.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You don’t need to believe me. You just need me to retrieve Cole.”

  Hayden took a step back, her mind reeling. “You were never the rogue Alpha?” she asked, needing confirmation.

  Nicolas appeared amused, if anything. “Depending on how you look at it, yes and no. Celeste needed someone to hide behind while she perfected her research. She controlled things from behind the scenes. I was the face behind the rogues, the one everyone is after. I was the mere distraction until Celeste was ready to execute her plans.”

  “Why?” Hayden pressed. There had been too many betrayals. She couldn’t take Nicolas’ words at face value. “Why would you willingly betray your family and follow her?”

  He was suddenly in her face, his blue eyes bright and cold. “I never betrayed Cole. My reasons for joining Celeste are my own. Perhaps when you earn my trust, I will share those reasons.” Nicolas watched her intently. “What matters now is that I am no longer on her side. What matters, most of all, is that we retrieve Cole as soon as possible.”

  Any sort of uncertainties Hayden had over Nicolas’ allegiance were suddenly eclipsed by her worry for Cole. Blood drained from her face as she studied him, needing to see some sort of reassurance.

  “What do they plan on doing to him?” she whispered brokenly.

  Before Nicolas could respond, an engine sounded from outside, followed by a succession of car doors opening and closing. Her pulse quickened at the prospect of Celeste finding them again and she struggled to pull herself together.

  But her worry absolved as soon as familiar faces rushed into the cabin. Blake was the first one through the kitchen, his expression relieved when he spotted Hayden, but it darkened immediately when he noticed Nicolas.

  Without any sort of hesitancy, Blake charged. Hayden winced at her beta’s efforts. Every attempt he made at attacking Nicolas was only blocked and countered twice as lethally. Even though Blake was an impressive fighter, he was nothing compared to Nicolas.

  It wasn’t long before Nicolas had Blake on the ground with a foot pressed into his neck. Hayden quickly stepped forward, putting a stop to the situation before Blake tried to persist.

  “He’s on our side, Blake.”

  Considering the looks she garnered from the rest of the pack, Addie in particular, Hayden realized how outlandish that statement really was. She didn’t know if anything would convince them, simply because Hayden wasn’t convinced herself.

  “Where’s Cole?” Nathan was quick to demand.

  Hayden exhaled forcibly, avoiding the pack’s eyes. “He’s gone,” she muttered. “Celeste took him. I don’t know where she brought him.”

  “But why?” Blake growled and forced Nicolas’ foot off his throat. “Her members tried to persuade us to stay in the cabin, giving some line of bullshit, but we figured it out pretty quickly. It really is Celeste?”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Nathan entered further into the kitchen, keeping Fergus and Addie at his back. He gave Nicolas a suspicious once-over. “Celeste and Nicolas are probably working together.”

  Nicolas didn’t appear interested in defending himself, which meant Hayden had to speak for him, though she was clueless how to proceed.

  “Celeste needed someone to charade as the rogue Alpha until she perfected her… her creations.” Hayden watched as Blake scrambled up, keeping his distance from Nicolas, but not far enough to admit defeat.

  “Creations?” Addie inquired softly.

  Hayden clenched her jaw. They were taking too long explaining things when Celeste could be looking for them, when Cole needed rescuing. “She wants to create a superior werewolf. I don’t know the details—”

  “Among other things, these werewolves are stronger and more difficult to kill.” Nicolas met eyes with each member of the pack, clearly unabashed about his past deeds. “Celeste has found a way to manipulate the venom of three werewolves; Tracer, Evan, and Nolan. Only they are allowed to Sire humans. As a result, the newborn inherits a good portion of their Sire’s heightened abilities.”

  Hayden hadn’t known there were only three. She remembered her conversation with Shane Donovan not too long ago. They had theorized that Nicolas, or in this case, Celeste, was only allowing a set number of wolves to Sire humans. But their theory was nothing close to the extent of this.

  “By doing this, by only allowing three werewolves to Sire humans with the altered venom, they are creating an unbreakable chain of command, an obedient army,” Nicolas continued. “A Sire has control over the werewolf they’ve turned. These altered newborns have a stronger bond with their Sire.”

  Hayden tried not to consider her own situation, not when Cole was the one who needed saving. Yet, she found herself wondering about her own circumstances regarding Celeste’s experiments. Tracer was her Sire, yet she was able to defy him.

  Then again, Celeste had stated that Hayden was the first round of unsuccessful prototypes. Perhaps obedience was something she improved on with the others.

  Blake shifted uncomfortably, appearing to have understood the implications but unsure if he should support anything Nicolas said. “All these newborn werewolves, the ones who will inherit the modified genes, will be obedient to Tracer, Evan, or Nolan…” he trailed off, a sour look to his face. “If they are all obedient to those three—”

  “Carriers,” Nicolas interrupted. “They are called Carriers.”

  “If the newborns are obedient to the Carriers, then who are the Carriers obedient to?” Blake looked at Nicolas, as if afraid to hear the answer. “If they have powerful numbers following them, why wouldn’t they just turn as many humans as possible and try to dominant over the others? It would be an all-out war against each other.”

  “Celeste,” Nicolas supplied. “Celeste has complete control over her three Carriers.”

  Hayden pressed her lips together in disapproval, having figured that would be the answer. It seemed grim. Celeste had an unimaginable amount of power. Through the Carriers, she inadvertently controlled the newborn werewolves as well.

  “But why?” Blake asked. “Why is she doing this?”

  “Celeste has many layers. She is not simply bent on world domination.” Nicolas looked at Hayden. “Her reasons are sensible, but they would take time to explain. I think we have more pressing matters to attend to.”

  She nodded. Earlier, after she had woken up, Celeste had given Hayden a few reasons for her actions. Depending on the individual, some may even say Celeste had justified reasons for doing the things she was doing.

  But to Hayden, Celeste was going about it the entirely wrong way.

  “I still don’t believe it.” It wasn’t surprising that Nathan was the one to rebuff the claims. He must have been desperate, because he was looking at Blake for support. “We haven’t seen proof of these superior rogues or newborns.”

  “I trust Hayden,” Blake countered firmly.

  That effectively shut Nathan up and the rest of the pack descended into a grim silence. Hayden hated to see them so forlorn and divided.

  “They were able to defeat Cole as if he were a child,” Hayden started softly. “Cole and I also saw proof of Celeste’s capabilities when we were on our way to the cabin. We came a
cross a small town that was full of slain humans. It wasn’t the full moon, but they were alive. They had been Sired by a werewolf.”

  “Why didn’t Cole tell us? Why didn’t you?” Nathan demanded.

  All eyes turned to Hayden in accusation. She stood stiffly, her position as Alpha requiring her to face hardships. “Cole—we—thought it would be best not to worry all of you. We had our theories, but we couldn’t be sure.”

  Before Nathan could rebuttal with a fierce argument, Fergus interrupted. “What do they want with Cole?”

  “What they couldn’t have with me.” Nicolas shifted, stepping away from Blake and approaching Hayden. “An obedient Slayter as a Carrier.”

  Hayden faltered at the information, trying to picture Cole slaughtering towns of defenseless humans in an attempt to spread his venom. “He would never—”

  “They have ways to ensure his loyalty, or in this case, obedience.” Nicolas gazed down at his body, seeing something only he could see. “They have methods to break down their subjects and create total dependency. I wanted nothing to do with it, and eventually, I was able to escape. Celeste caught wind of my presence here and intended to capture me again, but Cole took my place.”

  Hayden looked closely at Nicolas’ body. There weren’t any physical markings besides the occasional silver scars, yet the damage done to his physique was obvious. He had suffered and Cole was experiencing the same thing.

  She swallowed her bile. “How long do we have until he’s…” Obedient? An entirely different person?

  “Impossible to tell,” Nicolas responded shortly. “You and I need to leave as soon as possible.”

  And then the chaos began, Blake being the most vocal.

  “You can’t seriously be considering his suggestion, Hayden.” The beta prowled closer to the female Alpha. “This could be a trap. You can’t trust him. He could be working with Celeste and this is some elaborate ruse.”