Page 361 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
She nodded. “One of the women who used to bully her is with her, and Bryn believes she’s on her side.”
“Do you think she’s trustworthy?” I asked.
“No. But Bryn promised me she’d be careful.”
I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.
“Can you tell us about his guards?” Lance asked.
“They’re all over the place. It’ll be hard for Bryn to get out because of that. The only reason I could escape was because there was a hole in the roof of the cave.”
“I’m sure they’re expecting us,” Lance said. “They’ll be prepping for that.”
“Troy’s not going to do the ritual until sundown. There’s only a couple of hours until then.”
“We need to go. Now.”
“Tavi, we’ll be back,” Dom told her, pressing his lips to her hand. “We’ll bring everyone back safely.”
“I know you will.” She gazed at him with such love in her eyes that my heart warmed. “I’m just sorry I have to leave you guys to do this without me.”
“No.” I ignored the doctors and brushed my hand over the top of her head. She didn’t flinch or close her eyes or wince at my touch anymore. “You’ve done more than enough, Tav. Just focus on healing. You know we’ve got this.”
She nodded. “I know you all do.”
I stroked her hair. “I’m happy you’re safe, Tav. I love you.”
She was smiling, but her eyes were teary now. “I love you, too, Night. I’ll see you all soon.”
Lance and I turned away so Dom and Tavi could kiss before we left her to the doctors’ care. After Dom said his goodbyes, he was at our side. Though he’d been loving and gentle with Tavi, his attitude changed as we walked out of the infirmary. He was just as pissed as the rest of us.
“Let’s go get the son of a bitch,” he growled. “Make him pay.”
Lance and I growled in agreement before we shifted. Oakley, Birchen, and Leo were waiting for us near the entrance. Now that we knew where to go, Troy was as good as dead.
With over a hundred wolves behind me, I led the way to the caves. There were many of us, but we weren’t concerned about stealth. Our goal was to storm the cave and take whatever Troy threw at us.
But once we entered the caves, we didn’t have to travel far from the entrance to find Troy sitting in his wolf form, alone. He and about a dozen ferals were waiting for us. I hadn’t seen his wolf form in months, but I hadn’t expected it to look like this. His fur should have been a darker sorrel color, but it was caked with dust and dirt. In some places, it was as matted as the ferals’. His right forepaw was covered in blood. A moment later, I realized he was missing his dewclaw.
He bared his teeth. “Took you long enough.”
“You’re the motherfucker who killed my people?” Leo demanded, speaking before I could. “You?”
“That was me!” Troy’s voice sounded almost giddy. “And it was soeasy.If only your pathetic wolves had been able to put up more of a fight…or had a better leader keeping them safe.”
Leo growled. “You lost several of your own men in that fight.”
Troy made a show of yawning. “It’s not really a loss when you have as many resources as I do, kid. And when I’m done here, I’ll make sure to hurt more of you.”
Leo stepped forward, but Lance bumped him to get him to stay still.
“You talk about control,”I said, pointedly eyeing his paw, “but it looks like you’ve been having trouble keeping your ferals in line.”
He turned his paw to hide the injury. “I have perfect control over my men, Night. Your bitch was the one who bit it off.”
I barked in delight. “I hope it hurt.”
“It did…but don’t look so pleased. I made sure she paid for it.”
