Page 87 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Hey, hey.” I pulled him inside and crouched down to look the poor boy in the face. “What’s wrong, pup?” Behind me, Dom emerged from the kitchen.
“A-Alpha Night, I—” his tiny voice stammered. His body was shaking like he’d seen his own ghost. “I’m so sorry.” He dissolved into tears. “I w-wasn’t strong enough or big enough, and Ifailed!”
I started to calm him down, to parse out what the boy could mean, but a wave of dread washed over me, unlike any I had felt before. It clutched me by the heart, squeezing and squeezing like it wanted to stop my heart from beating altogether.
Dom took the boy when I stilled. He wiped the tears from Pax’s face with a tissue. “Tell me what’s going on, Pax. What’s got you so hurt?”
But I already knew. Somehow, I knew.
“I went to give Bryn a picture I drew for her in school,” he said. It was hard to understand him between his sobs, but with a bit of focus, Dom and I heard him clearly. “But there were wolves running around and around the cabin. They weren’t pack. They smelled weird. Bad. I knew Bryn was in danger, so I shifted, but they pushed me back and held me down. I was so scared. I heard screaming in the cabin, but they wouldn’t let me go until they’d already done it.” He paused to fill his lungs with a deep,shuddering breath. “I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t stop them. They took Bryn and Tavi from the house, and they ran off with them into the woods.”
I flew from the house, my feet covering the distance to Mom’s cabin in seconds. The door was already open, hanging from its hinges. The first scent that hit my nose was the stench of the Kings’ pack and of blood. My mom was on the floor in a pool of red, her throat a ruined mess. I dropped to my knees beside her still body, soaking my jeans in her blood. Dom burst into the house right after me, cursing and spitting at the scene.
Bryn and Tavi were gone, I could sense as much, but now that I was in the house, there was one scent that overpowered the others. I knew exactly who had done this.
He and I were supposed to have an arrangement. I still had two days left before it was time, but the fucker came onto my land, violated my turf, and hurt the three women I loved most.
Troy Redfield had come for my mate and my family. And he was going to fucking pay.
PART II
FIGHTING FOR THE PACK
36
BRYN
Isat up with a sharp gasp, my body shaking. I knew that something—possibly everything—was wrong.
My eyes snapped open, revealing nothing but pitch blackness. The ground beneath me was cold, damp, and rough against my back. The air smelled like the musk of wet moss and swamp. I tried to lift my hands, and found my wrists bound. My ankles, too, were tied with rope. I sat up with a whimper and scooted back, back, back until I felt a craggy, jagged wall at my spine.
A cave?I thought, my mind reeling.But how? Why?
The moment the question entered my mind, the answer came rushing back to me.
Iwas walking up the steps in Violet’s cabin, headed toward the restroom to freshen up after talking with Tavi and Violet. On the stairs, my wolf suddenly stirred, scratching at me to let her out.
Someone knocked on the door. Violet went to answer it. Before I could warn her, before she had even touched the knob, the door was kicked open. We froze as the figure of the man I had believed (hoped!) I would never see again filled the doorway. He wore all black, matching the darkness of his eyes. He looked from Violet, to Tavi, who had gotten to her feet, and finally to me.
The moment his eyes met mine, I was positive that he had figured out that I was different now. The expression on his face morphed from rage to curiosity, and then finally to delight. I felt my bones shiver as his lips pulled away from his teeth in that terrible grin.
“Long time no see, Bryn,” he said, stepping further inside. “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
His two closest men entered behind him: Samson, whose dirty blond hair fell in his eyes like a mop, and Harlon, who kept his black hair in a buzz cut. They also wore only black, wrapped tight around their unbelievably strong bodies.
“Get the hell out of my house, Troy Redwolf,” Violet snapped. There wasn’t a trace of fear in her tone. “If you know what’s good for you, pup, you’ll turn tail and?—”
Troy’s hand snatched out, gripping her upper arm with his wolf’s claws extended. The scent of Violet’s blood—sharp and metallic and tinged with her sweet, floral scent—cut through the air. Troy’s teeth became fangs and he pierced them into her neck. Violet would have screamed, but he pulled his head back, viciously ripping through her skin. More blood spurted from the wound, drenching the wall with blood.
The sight of the beautiful, strong Violet falling to the ground nearly broke me. It sent me back to the time before I had a wolf, before I found out I was a shifter, when I had been at my most vulnerable. I sank down to a crouch, my body shaking as I watched the terrible scene through the wooden railing. Troy wiped blood from his chin with the back of his hand.
“Violet!” Tavi called, her voice a half-growl. She launched out of the kitchen with all the grace and terrible focus of a predator. She lunged at Troy, but Samson grabbed her and slammed her to the ground so hard, the entire cabin trembled. The breath was forced from Tavi’s lungs in one awful, sharp second, and as she writhed on the ground, Samson covered her with his body and knocked her unconscious.
Troy laughed as Harlon mounted the stairs. His dark brown gaze riveted on me, and I was so paralyzed with fear that all I could do was watch as he approached. I winced as he grabbed me by my shoulder and lifted me to my feet. He forced me down the stairs, each step bringing me closer to Troy and his horrific smile, which was stained red with Violet’s blood.
“That’s a good girl, Bryn,” he said as Harlon forced me onto the landing. “Just as meek as I remember you.”
Just then, Pax—precious Pax—burst into the cabin. The room froze as every eye turned his way.
