Page 8 of Nick
The door swung open again with a decisive push, and four figures stepped into the room, their presence immediately filling the once quiet space with the humming energy of wolf shifters.
Sarah’s heart quickened as Nick stepped aside, his gaze meeting hers for a brief moment before he gestured toward the newcomers.
“Sarah, this is Steele, our alpha,” Nick said, his voice carrying an undercurrent of respect.
Steele approached, tall and imposing, his gray eyes assessing her with an intensity that made her feel as though he could see straight through to her soul.Everything about him demanded attention without a word.
Beside him stood a woman with generous curves and kind eyes—the alpha’s mate, Sarah assumed.Behind them were two more men, each exuding their own brand of strength.Their own mates completed the group, their expressions a blend of curiosity and warmth.
“Hello,” Sarah managed, the word coming out with a nervous flutter.She extended a hand, which Steele accepted, his firm grip like a promise of solidarity—or retribution.
“I’ve spoken to Nick this morning already,” Steele began.“I need you to understand something.”He paused, ensuring he had her full attention.“Nick is one of us.He’s Moonstone.Our pack.Our family.”
Sarah nodded, the significance of his words not lost on her.
“Your past… We can’t ignore it,” Steele continued, unblinking.“But we’re willing to move forward.I expect him”—he tilted his head slightly toward Nick—“to return to us unharmed.If you betray him again, if you betray any of us…” His voice trailed off, but the implication hung in the air, unyielding as stone.
“I won’t,” Sarah said quickly, the words tumbling out with fervent honesty.“I would never—”
“See that you don’t,” Steele cut in, his gaze softening ever so slightly.“Because, make no mistake, I will protect my pack at all costs.”
Sarah swallowed hard, her throat tight.
Sarah’s fingers clutched the hem of her shirt, a nervous gesture as she met the alpha’s gaze briefly.His words echoed in her ears, a stark reminder of what they were about to undertake.“I understand,” she said, her voice steady despite the whirlwind of anxiety inside her.“And I agree.”
“Before you head out, I need to understand something.”
“Of course.”What little she’d seen of the Moonstone alpha so far suggested he was kinder than any alpha she’d ever known—and yet Sarah still cast her eyes toward the floor when she spoke to him.
She’d learned long ago that it never hurt to show submission to an alpha.
“Why doesn’t anyone challenge Vincent?Is fear all that keeps your pack from rising against him?”
“It’s more than fear,” she began, her voice wavering slightly before she steadied it.“Vincent isn’t just cruel—he’s vicious in poisonous ways.He revels in pain, not just inflicting it, but watching others dish it out too.”
Sarah glanced up in time to see a flicker of revulsion passing over Steele’s features as he tried to grasp the depth of Vincent’s malice.
“Vincent wasn’t always the alpha, you know,” she said, realizing she whispered as if her voice might carry her words back to New Mexico.“Right after Vincent took power—after Nick…left—one of the other wolves challenged him at a pack meeting.Jay Ballentine.”
Steele’s attention sharpened, but Sarah turned her gaze back to the wood floor.
“Jay was strong, noble even.He thought he could end Vincent’s cruelty.”Sarah’s hands clenched into fists at her sides as images flashed behind her eyes—the snarls, the clash of teeth and fur, the scent of blood in the air.
“Who won?”the alpha asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
“Vincent,” she said, her throat tightening around the name.“He didn’t just defeat Jay.He destroyed him.Left him utterly broken.And then—” She paused, swallowing hard against the lump that had formed there.
“And then what?”
“By dawn the next day, Jay’s family was found dead.”Her words tumbled out.“It was brutal, calculated.Children, mate, all slaughtered.”
“Vincent did this?”Steele’s jaw clenched, his eyes darkening.
“Everyone knows it was him,” she said.“Even if no one saw, even if there’s no proof.Vincent is cunning, leaving no trail, no evidence.But we all know.He made sure of it.It was a warning to anyone else who might challenge him.”
“And it worked.”It wasn’t a question.
“It did,” Sarah agreed.His cruelty is…calculated.It’s a weapon—and he revels in striking when and where it will hurt most.He does it with such a cold heart that even those who dream of freedom are paralyzed by the certainty he will retaliate.”
