“Get Kane on the phone. I want to know where Stanley is and I want him brought to me now,” he tells Everik, watching his brother pull out his phone and dial Kane’s number. It rings once before he hears Kane’s voice come over the line, and Everik moves away from them to speak into the phone.
“Rik, I pressed him further,” Roman’s voice stops him, and fear seeps into his skin. “He gave me her name, and yours. Which is what brought me here. If this was going on in my own backyard, I’d want to know too. You’re a good man, always been respectful toward me and even vouched for me the day the Enforcers finally got a hold of me.”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Alarik admits, taking a step toward him and holding out his hand. He knew the moment he met Roman what kind of man he was. A good one, whose moral compass was pointed in the right direction, even if he didn’t always agree with Roman’s methods.
“He’s one of yours then?” Roman asks and takes Alarik’s hand with a firm shake.
“It’s complicated, but yes he is.” Alarik hangs his head as he tries to sort out what to do. He can’t kill Stanley, as much as he wants to. There are rules and protocols he must follow.
“And the dragon?” Roman lifts an eyebrow. If it wasn’t for Roman’s history with the Enforcers, there’s no way in hell Alarik would tell him the truth.
“Is my mate,” Alarik answers honestly—mostly because if Roman wanted to, he could easily pry the information from him.
“The man I got Stanley’s information from didn’t have a chance to tell anyone else about my informant.” Roman is trying to reassure him, but it isn’t enough. He needs to make sure that was the only call Stanley made.
“You gonna stick around for a bit?” he asks, hoping he does because he might need him to help pull the information from Stanley.
“Long enough to help you get what you need,” he replies with a nod, like he could read Alarik’s thoughts.
Everik walks back toward them, ending his call with Kane. The look on his face isn’t what Alarik wants, but the look of determination in his brother’s eyes gives him the confidence they’ll get their man. “Stanley’s bailed. His cabin is empty.”
“Kane know where he’d go?”
Everik nods. “He’s headed out right now to check it out.”
“Good. Alert the elders.” Alarik all but dismisses the men before heading toward the fifth wheel and his mate. “I want them there when I handle this shit. And get Roman a room with Ma.”
This isn’t how Alarik planned for this day to play out, but he’ll be damned if he lets Stanley threaten his people this way. He may not be alpha by vow just yet, but his heart is true when it comes to them.
No, Stanley will face justice for his betrayal.
Alarik watches as Kane pulls a hogtied Stanley out of the back of his pickup and tosses him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The smaller man tries to fight, but Kane’s bigger and stronger, and there isn’t much he can do with his hands and legs tied together.
“Good, makes it easier on us,” his grizzly growls with triumph, but Alarik didn’t care about easy. He wants to make an example out of this man. He wants to show his power and his force, warning any others in their clan what will happen if they step out of line.
The elders gathered not too long ago, encircling the alpha as tradition requires. Whether Alarik wanted it or not, the man was going to receive a fair trial by way of the clan. Ultimately what happens to him is Alarik’s call, but the elders can address his betrayal and advise their alpha.
Kane walks into the center of the circle and drops Stanley at Alarik’s feet.
The clan has also gathered to watch the event. Once word spread about Stanley’s betrayal, he lost any chance at redemption in their eyes. While Alarik agreed with them, he still wanted to hear the man out.
If nothing else, to find out if the weasel had any other tricks in play or up his sleeve.
Stanley’s eyes widen with fear at the sight of Alarik, and he was pretty sure the other man realizes as he looks around that this is even worse than Kane taking him to a secluded spot in the woods and doing away with him.
“Stanley St. Clare.” Alarik says his name out loud, quieting the rustling crowd. He’s doing his best to keep control of his anger and follow protocol. What he really wants to do is kick the shit out of the man before him until he can’t move or breathe without pain. Instead, he reaches down and rips the tape away from Stanley’s mouth, taking pleasure in the outward pain it causes him. He then holds out that same hand, bringing Stanley’s attention to his right, and a man step forward. “I’ve been told you’ve been in contact with an old friend of mine, Roman Delgado?”
Stanley eyes grow even bigger as Roman’s name spawns a fresh wave of fear that washes over his face.
“I have no idea who this man is,” Stanley gasps, lying through his teeth.
“Don’t lie to us, Stanley.” Alarik circles the man, bringing his attention to the crowds that have gathered around them. “We all know what you did, we all know about your betrayal.”
“Alarik,” he cries out, knowing he’s been had. His eyes dart from Roman, to Alarik, and back to Roman, as he tries to find a way to explain himself. “Please, I can explain, let me explain.”
“Explain what? How you tried to hire a group of hunters to take down my mate in order to get to me? Or, should you explain why you sold out the entire clan the moment your life was threatened?”
“It wasn’t like that—”
“No more lies,” Alarik cuts him off with a shout. “There are ways we can make you talk, Stanley.”
“Please,” he wails as his body shakes in terror over Alarik’s threat. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
This admission is enough to prove what kind of man Stanley is, and what he would do to keep his own skin safe, but something doesn’t seem right about the whole thing. Yes, Stanley is guilty for his crimes against the clan, but what Alarik can’t understand is why.
“Why did you do it?” he asks, making his voice less authoritative and more coaxing.
“Does it matter why he did it?” Kane calls from behind him. “He betrayed us.”
“If I recall correctly, you started this, but I heard you out. I will give him the same respect.” Alarik spins to face his omega and watches as the crowd around them gasps.
“This is not my doing,” Kane insists before taking a step forward, but Alarik hold up a hand quieting him.
“No, this is on all of us,” Alarik shouts and everyone grows silent once again. He turns back to the man sobbing like a child on the ground. “Why did you do it, Stanley? Why did you betray the clan?”
“Because they betrayed me,” he answers between sobs. “Because they betrayed my mother.”
Alarik watches as the elders exchange a look between one another, and he realizes with a punch to the gut that Stanley is telling the truth. He stops in his tracks and kneels next to the man, a new rage boils in his veins.
“What did they do?”
“Enough,” an elder named Thomas speaks up, trying to gain control of the situation. But Alarik isn’t having it. “We are ready to advise you now.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” Alarik pushes him back, using his alpha strength to prove prowess and rule over the older man. “I want to know what wrong has been done to Stanley and his mother.”
“It is of no consequence,” Thomas murmurs.
“What did they do, Stanley?” Alarik asks, ignoring Thomas’ comment—because there obviously is consequence and truth to the other man’s claim. And before he gives Stanley his punishment, he wants to know why the man would do this to them. He wants to know the truth. He rises to his feet, turns toward the elder, and silently dares him to speak out again. The elder steps back and bows his head, but not before Alarik sees his eyes darken with anger and disgust.
“My mother was an innocent, away on vacation with her parents and family friends,” Stanley begins, finding it in himself
to explain his hatred. He glares at Thomas with pure hatred as he continues to tell the story. “She was a good girl, but he—he hurt her. But no one believed her, so when she found out she was pregnant, this clan—this family—turned their back on her. They treated her like a disease, casting her out to raise a child by herself, and no one ever believed her.”
“Your mother was a whore,” Thomas shouts while rushing forward to kick Stanley in the ribs. Alarik moves quickly, pulling Thomas by the collar, away from the helpless him. “A lying, filthy whore. She wanted it. Every fucking inch—”
Stanley’s words and Thomas’ omission rocks through the crowd as the clan realizes what’s happening. Thomas was a quiet man who’d never married or had children, but he has always outwardly put the clan’s best interest at heart.
Or so it seemed.
“I never wanted you,” Thomas spits while fighting Alarik’s hold on him. “She should have taken the money and aborted you—”
“Get him out of here.” Alarik tosses Thomas toward Kane and his brother. “I’ll deal with him next.”
“Fuck you,” Thomas sneers, this time turning his anger on Alarik. “You’re not my alpha. You aren’t even worthy of the title. You’re nothing, just like your father was nothing. I should have done away with him the way I did away with those fucking dragons.”
“What did you say?” Thomas’ new confession hits Alarik’s hard and fast, and he checks for Reaghan in his peripheral vision. There’s no chance she missed his words, not with her enhanced hearing. She’s staring at Thomas, and he has her dragon’s full attention by the way her eyes shimmer green. Her body begins to visually vibrate as Thomas begins to speak, confessing everything.
“Their presence put this community at risk. Your father wouldn’t listen. The elders wouldn’t listen. So, I did what I had to do to protect this clan, and even made a little coin doing it.” The way Thomas’ face transforms, twisted and angry, looks nothing like the man Alarik has known his entire life. This man, this new Thomas, has a deep seeded darkness no one ever noticed. “That fucker, Fernandez, paid a pretty penny for the information regarding the female.”
From the corner of his eye, Alarik sees his mate gives herself over to her dragon as her body shifts beautifully into her dragon form. He turns his head to watch her shift for the first time. Her smooth pale skin turns into violet with iridescent green scales that sparkle underneath the sun, and as she lengthens and broadens, she carefully moves away from the group before jumping in the sky and spreading her wings wide as she can. She hovers above the clan watching Thomas, ready to take her revenge.
The clan gasps in awe at her power and beauty, trapped between somewhere between fear and amazement. They look between their alpha and the dragon, waiting to see his reaction. Reaghan also waits for her cue.
“Thomas, have you met my mate?” Alarik turns toward the elder, but although most of his attention is on Reaghan, he still catches fear in Thomas’ eyes like he’s never seen before. “I believe the dragons you took care of were her parents.”
“W-what?” he stutters, bringing his attention back to the alpha. “That’s not possible. They had no children.”
“That you knew of, but dragons tend to keep their children secret, especially if that child is a female,” Alarik explains, watching the faces of those around him as they soften on the dragon above them. He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with Thomas and the revelation of what he did to Stanley’s mother, but his confession regarding his part in the destruction of the Bennett’s required swift justice.
But Stanley’s punishment requires more thought. Even though his crime against the clan was a deep betrayal, Stanley and his mother were treated unfairly and unjustly. To Alarik, the clan’s actions toward them were just as unforgivable.
He takes a breath and decides he doesn’t need the elders to make his decision. It’s time for change, as Thomas’ ability to fly under the surface for decades proved the weakness in their small justice system. It’s for reasons like this their world needed Enforcers to police fairly and without bias.
But first, he planned to give the Bennett’s their justice, as well as Stanley and his mother.
Alarik toward the men he trusts most in this world. “Release him.”
They obey, releasing their hold on Thomas as the elder falls to the ground, his eyes never leaving the dragon in the sky above him.
“Thomas Fletcher, elder of the Blue Ridge bears, I sentence you to death for your crimes against Rufus and Rayna Bennett, as well as your crimes again Stanley St. Clare and his mother, Isabelle.” Alarik pauses, giving Thomas a moment to respond, but he says nothing. Alarik looks up into the sky toward his mate. “Have at him.”
Reaghan descends on Thomas. The clan watches as she delivers justice with one fell swoop, swallowing the man whole and eliminating Thomas Fletcher from the earth.
Alarik moves toward Stanley, untying the man’s hands and feet.
“Please,” he wails in terror, scrambling to put distance between himself and Reaghan. “I don’t want to die like him.”
“No, Stanley, your fate will not be decided today,” Alarik tells him, before addressing the clan. “Or by us. Stanley will face unbiased justice from a newly formed group called Rogue Enforcers, and I will send word for their expertise after we are finished here.”
A murmur buzzes throughout at the crowd at his bold statement.
“I believe, after today, we need change in Eileen. We cannot allow what happened to Stanley and his mother to happen to anyone else in this clan. I was raised to see each of you as an extended member of my family, and I find it heartbreaking that we’ve treated one of our own as we have.” Alarik watches as the clans look to one another as his point strikes each member in the heart. “I’m just as guilty of treating them with disrespect and carelessness as most of us are. This reason alone is enough to prove that I’m not unbiased and shouldn’t have a say in how justice is met here. None of us are.”
“Here, here,” a voice shouts from somewhere in the back.
“We are with you, Alarik,” another voice shouts, creating a new frenzy as member of the clan shout their agreement to his proposal.
Alarik smiles at them and drags in a deep breath, allowing his emotions to control the next part of his plan. He kneels before them all, crosses his left arm against his chest, and waits. The clan grows silent as they realize what he’s about to do.
The alpha vow.
“From this moment going forward, I vow, as your alpha, to put the clan’s needs first and my own second. I vow upon my life to protect the clan and lead with my head and my heart.” He pauses for emphasis as he changes the next part of the vow to suit the future he envisions. “I vow to uphold tradition, as long as it upholds the values we hold as a clan and a family. I vow to never betray the trust you grant me, or the respect of my position. I vow to you on this day, to be your true alpha. My life for the clan.”
He looks up to the sky, catching sight of his mate, and his heart fills with pride. He can’t imagine a woman more suited for him. He knows she’ll challenge him every step of the way, but he also knows the reward will be worth it.
Chapter Eleven
“I expected that to be far more painful,” Reaghan admits to her dragon as she shifts back into her human form. She’d flown away from the group to shift back when she remembered Alarik’s nakedness earlier.
“It’s good you relaxed and allowed it to happen,” she replies, sounding tired and sated. Reaghan never felt more powerful in her life as she did in her dragon form. She felt invincible, and it was invigorating.
“Eating that man isn’t going to hurt me, right?” she asks, remembering what caused her to shift in the first place. She was already disgusted with Thomas after he admitted to harming an innocent girl and turning the clan against her. But hearing him admit to contacting the hunters and then selling the information he learned about her mother took everything in her not to kill the man instantly. She didn’t reg
ret swallowing him whole or ending his life, but she was worried about what it would do to her human form.
“You didn’t eat him. I did,” Her dragon chuckles before curling up into Reaghan’s chest. “I’m going to rest now.”
The breeze rustles through her hair, and she catches Alarik’s woody scent. She turns her head with a smile on her lips as he steps into sight.
Time feels like it stands still as he moves toward her, and Reaghan’s heart skips a beat. Seeing him today, strong and in his element, meant the world to her. She admired the way he stood up for injustice and kept the clan’s best interest close to his heart. Though he dreamed about being something bigger in life than an alpha, this was his destiny all along.
And she couldn’t imagine anything better suited to him than being his clan’s alpha. It was destiny.
He stops in front of her and places a hand on her bare hip. “You were magnificent,” he says before leaning down and placing a kiss over his mark.
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