Page 43 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Pilot
They moved with coordinated precision, spreading out to flank me.Two of them raised their guns while the others began their own partial shifts, their clothes tearing under the strain of bulging muscles.
I didn’t wait for their attack.With a snarl, I launched myself at the nearest gunman, moving faster than human eyes could track.My partially transformed hand squeezed around his wrist, bones cracking under my grip as I wrenched the weapon away and slammed him into the tunnel wall.
The second gunman fired, bullets pinging off the rocks as I ducked and rolled.
A half-shifted enforcer caught me with a glancing blow across my back, his claws ripping my skin.Pain lanced down my spine, but I used the momentum to swing around and drove my elbow into his throat with enough force to crush his windpipe.
The tunnel filled with growls and the copper scent of blood.I fought with cold precision, each movement precise and devastating.This wasn’t the berserk rage of an out-of-control alpha.This was the calculated violence of a predator protecting what was his.
Through the dust and chaos, I glimpsed Victoria retreating deeper into the mine.
A chunk of rock exploded next to my head as the remaining gunman fired.Before I could react, a massive black form burst through the partially collapsed section of tunnel.Logan in full wolf form, his midnight fur bristling as he launched himself at the shooter.
I didn’t wait to see the outcome.Logan could handle the remaining enforcers.I sprinted after Victoria, following her scent through the maze of tunnels, as my wolf howled for blood.
My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I raced through the tunnels.Each breath brought me the acrid taste of chemicals and dust, but beneath it all, I caught the scent of something that filled my vision with red.Felicity.Victoria’s henchmen had her in their grasp.
The wound across my back burned with each movement, warm blood trickling down my spine.I ignored it.Pain was irrelevant when my mate was in danger.
Logan caught up to me.A deep gash above his eye dripped blood down his face, but his eyes were clear and focused.
We moved forward together, two alphas united by common purpose.My back throbbed, and Logan was favoring his left leg, but neither of us slowed.The sound of water rushing through pipes grew louder as we approached the heart of the mine’s drainage system.
Victoria’s voice pierced the air.“Your mate is quite resourceful, Tanner.I can see why you chose her.”A pause.“Or did she choose you?I’ve always found it fascinating how some wolves just submit to the bond without question.”
Felicity’s reply was steady despite the fear I could sense through our connection.“You’ve lost, Victoria.Even if you kill us, the authorities know what you’ve done.”
“Lost?”Victoria laughed.“I’ve only just begun.”
I jerked my head in a signal to Logan, indicating positions.He nodded, understanding my plan without words.In this moment, we moved with the synchronization of wolves from the same pack.
I stepped into the doorway first, drawing Victoria’s attention while Logan slipped around to flank her.
The scene inside froze my blood.Felicity sat bound to a chair in the center of the room, a thin trickle of blood running from her temple, but her eyes blazed with defiance.Victoria stood behind her, one hand holding a detonator, the other clutching a document.
“There he is,” Victoria crooned.“The prodigal son returns to witness the end of his dynasty.”
I kept my expression neutral despite the rage boiling beneath my skin.“It’s over, Victoria.Your enforcers are dead.Sheriff Reyes has the mine surrounded.”
She waved the document in her hand.“Do you know what this is?Your father’s true will.Signed the day before he died.He recognized I was the only one strong enough to lead.That you were too weak, too soft for the Roberts legacy.”
The document was obviously forged, but Victoria’s madness had progressed too far for reason.
Felicity caught my eye, her gaze flicking meaningfully toward the ceiling.I followed her glance, noting the weak support beam.Through the bond, we agreed on a silent strategy.
“How did you do it?”I asked, taking a careful step forward, drawing Victoria’s attention away from both Felicity and Logan’s approach.“How did you get my father to trust you so completely?”
Victoria’s face lit with sick pride.“Brilliance.Patience.Years of careful prodding.”She paced behind Felicity, waving the detonator carelessly.“Your father was brilliant in his way, but so easily led by his weaknesses.Greed, ambition, and that pathetic need for validation.”
I took another step, noting the positions of the chemical tanks connected to the mine’s drainage system.“And the contamination?Was that his idea or yours?”
“Mine, of course.”She scoffed.“He balked at first, still clinging to some vestige of morality, but I showed him the profit margins.”Her eyes gleamed with remembered triumph.“Still, he grew difficult in his final years.Started talking about legacy, about making amends.”
Victoria’s smile turned cruel.“He thought it was cancer making him sick.The headaches, the tremors, the confusion.”She laughed, a brittle sound that echoed off the concrete walls.“Roberts never suspected I was dosing his whiskey for years.By the time he realized something was wrong, the damage was irreversible.”
The revelation hit me like a physical blow.My father hadn’t just died.He’d been murdered.Poisoned slowly by the woman he had trusted.By the woman now threatening my mate.
Something broke inside me.The transformation exploded through me, bones cracking and reshaping in a surge of primal power.
