Page 86 of Pack Ruin
He turned his head and spat to one side. “Luke. Our Alpha. Or he’s gonna be. Those assholes had him locked up in the Pack House.”
“Yeah,” I said, my heart pounding. “The Council was trying to kill him, or get him to die. Almost did. He got free of the Pack House, but they took him to Eastern not a half hour ago.” I closed my eyes. I could feel him moving farther away, and I put a hand to my neck. “They’re moving fast.”
“That his claim?”
My eyes snapped open, and I sneered. “Yeah. What of it?”
He almost grinned. “Makes you our Alpha Mate-to-be. Second in command, accordin’ to pack law.” All the shifters in the line moved restlessly. This wouldn’t sit well with a lot of them. But this guy was their leader, or was acting like it for now. “Heard that Torran asshole say they’s gonna burn the whole compound down. Maybe we oughta ask for your orders about that, Alpha Mate.” The whole group went silent.
I didn’t wait. “As the Southern Alpha Mate, I command you to go beat the tar outta all those fuckers who came to burn us out. Kill every last one of them. Use whatever weapons you can hold, teeth or claws. Don’t kill the rogues, the Ghost Lady, or the tattooed Alpha named Sergeant. They’re on our side.” His eyes went wide, but he nodded. “Be careful. The Council brought guns into our packlands.”
He sucked his teeth. “Silver shot?”
It didn’t stink of silver. It was lead, or steel, or whatever humans used in bullets. I thought about mentioning the silver buckshot that we’d dug out of Grigor. But that seemed counterproductive, and Grigor had said he’d wrecked that gun. “Nah. But the shit still hurts.”
“It does indeed. Thank you, ma’am. Let’s whup some East Coast ass, boys.” At that, they all slid off into the trees, as fast as bare feet and treadless shoes would carry them. Only a few wereshifted, probably because Callaway was still alive somewhere, and had forbidden shifts without his permission for most of the pack.
It was a ballsy move this guy was making, to declare Luke was the Alpha. But maybe the ranked shifters had been sick of Callaway, too. Or maybe they’d realized anyone was better than Torran.
I wouldn’t ever forgive them for the shit they’d pulled on all the unranked shifters here. For the abuse they’d heaped on us, and the way they’d all looked aside as long as it wasn’t them getting treated like crap. But who knew? Del had always said a common enemy could make friends out of anybody.
We’d find out.
38
Answers
FINNICK
Drop the blade. Claws and teeth.
The words that had spun through my mind the day before still echoed now, as I stood before the doorway to the lower levels once more. This time, Father had returned my access so I could go in alone, keying my fingerprint in on his way to a final meeting in the city with the heads of Imregin.
“I don’t know why your mother thought you’d gone soft,” he’d said the day before, as I’d come up from killing Trevor Blackside. “I’ve never seen anything more brutal than what you did in that cell. It made me proud.” Of course he’d watched on the cameras.
I couldn’t care less what he thought of me, though I was glad to have my access restored to the lower levels, and to the main tech room for the entire Mansion that was at the end of one of the locked halls. Since Mother had not returned my access to the Mansion’s computer systems, I had to use the computers down here to contact the pack who’d promised to help rescue Tana. I might even have a moment to speak with the Hilliers. I’dpocketed a few supplies, though I wasn’t certain I’d be able to deliver them without being noticed.
Proud of me.I’d wished for so many years for him to say those words, and he never had. And of course he didn’t understand what had happened down there. Why I’d dropped the scalpel and used my hands to finish the job.
Claws and teeth.
My parents believed that silver was a more civilized way to deliver pain and death, and it left a lasting memory for the scarred souls left alive. I’d gone into that room ready to skin the one who’d hurt my mate with silver, the weapon of choice in Eastern’s torture rooms. But Flor’s voice had changed my plan, somehow making the murder I’d delivered cleaner than any of the ones that I’d committed before.
I lifted my fingers to the keypad and waited for the soft click. My first stop was the tech hub of Eastern. Two of my father’s favorite Enforcers guarded the room from the inside, but I knew neither of them had any idea what I was doing when I sat in front of the desk and logged in. They were, in human terms, goons. Muscle that knew their place, but never aimed any higher.
The only one who would have known I was up to something was my mother’s favorite, Torran. And perhaps Niall, though he was still recovering from the wolfsbane-laced coffee I’d had delivered to him that morning. He’d been shadowing Tana as often as possible, even following her to school until I asked Father casually if Niall didn’t have enough to do, that he could haunt our pack’s school when the rest of us were working. He had not been pleased to hear of Niall’s dereliction of duty. He’d probably laugh if he knew I’d poisoned him. Maybe even be proud of me.
With Mother away, Father was the only one who might come down and discover what I was doing. I typed quickly, writing up reports for Mother about some new tax laws that we could useto our advantage for long enough that the two guards stopped paying attention. Then I began recording a video loop of the empty hallway outside where the Hilliers were being kept. I’d need that for later.
While the recording ran, I opened a new window and spent the next few minutes making certain everything was lined up for Tana’s rescue, and leaving precise GPS coordinates for where the body of their Heir was buried behind the Mansion. It would be up to them to exhume him, but I’d given them enough details to satisfy them.
Tana’s extraction had to come first, of course, before I could even try to rescue the Hilliers and escape. She would be taken from school the next day, and the Italians had assured me she’d be kept safe. I hadn’t told her anything about it, except a general warning to be ready for anything at any time, but I’d given her rescuers the private code words we’d used for years, between the two of us. I hoped it would be enough.
After a few more moments, I saved the video loop, then cleared up as much evidence of my online activity as possible—though I knew a skilled hacker would be able to see I’d done something unusual—and spent the last few minutes rebalancing the pack’s investment portfolios.
I was almost certain my financial acumen was the only thing my parents valued me for. At least their paranoia about security meant I had access to this room, and that meant I could visit the Hilliers without being discovered. I grabbed a bottle of water from the minifridge in the corner, opened it, and pretended to drink.
The guards grunted at me as I left, not bothering to notice that I turned in the direction of the cells rather than the exit. In a dozen steps, I stood in front of the Hilliers’ cell. This could go so wrong, but I had to try.
