Chapter Eleven

Emmaleigh

Six Months Later

Number Two, yes, I still don’t know his name because I don’t care, came through on his promises. He is still being held in the compound but Caine has made some improvements to his life. He now lives in a bunker where he has free reign of his own cell, no longer bound to a chair or living under a hundred bright lights.

In return for his safety and not being changed—what a fucking joke—he has supplied us with anything and everything we’ve asked for.

Already we’ve taken out two more compounds and saved nine more people. I stare at the red brick building—another fucking farmhouse—waiting for the go-ahead. In the beginning, Nico was apprehensive about having me join them on the raids. But Max and Godrick have been training me and Thomas and I have become somewhat instrumental in these raids.

Taking down these bastards is our way of reclaiming what was taken from us. Getting a little revenge.

Raleigh answers his phone, listening intently before nodding at us. Stepping out of the tree line, I run toward the building, crying and screaming.

“Please! Oh, God! Someone help me!”

A man with a semiautomatic rifle turns my way, his eyes as big as saucers. It makes sense, though, I am covered in blood and my clothes are torn to shreds. Thomas caught an elk in the woods and we smeared its blood all over me.

“Ma’am,” the man starts, “what seems to be the problem?”

“I was attacked,” I sob, falling into his arms. I know the boys get a kick out of my dramatics. “There’s a wolf. It’s massive. It killed my husband and my brother.”

“A wolf?”

“Big, black,” another sob. “It was so fast.”

“Come with me.”

He leads me inside the building, sitting me down at a table in the kitchen. “Stay here. We’ll take care of it.”

Grabbing his radio, he calls on his friends, asking them to help him hunt down a monster. He doesn’t realize he is the monster or that the thing he is so afraid of is already right in front of him.

“We’ll be back,” he says turning on his heel.

“Is there a bathroom?” I ask meekly, stopping him in his tracks. “I’m covered in blood.”

He studies me, trying to find any signs of deception. “Second door on the left.” He points down the hallway before hauling ass outside to join his friends. Apparently I seem trustworthy enough to be left alone with free reign inside the building.

With a smile, I make my way deeper inside. These Hunters are all predictable, no one would miss the opportunity to hunt down a wolf. Real or shifter.

I access the panel behind the door leading to the basement—these places all have the same layout—and enter the code our friendly captive supplied. Three soft beeps and then the thick metal door swings open.

Gunshots and howls sound outside and I know the guys have found their targets. I continue on my path. I’m the only one that ever enters the compound, no use in getting too many people stuck in here if something goes wrong.

My heart sinks when I see that all the cells are empty, and I’m about to leave when my eye catches a wall of glass. It looks like one of those cells they portray in mental asylums in horror movies and I slowly inch my way closer, expecting to see something horrific.

Instead, inside is an older male. Long grey-and-white hair with eyes so blue they almost hurt to look at. Alpha energy pours off him in waves and I almost fall to my knees in submission.

“Who are you?” the man asks, his voice like velvet. The Alpha infliction is too much for me to deny.

“Emmaleigh,” I reply instantly. “I’m here to save you.”

He tilts his head, studying me and scenting the air. He nods and I can finally move again. It takes me a moment to get his cell open. Once he is free, he crowds me against the wall, holding me in place with a hand banded around my throat. Detaining but never hurting.

He runs his nose along the column of my neck, and if I could speak I would tell him to fuck off. As it is, I’m only praying that I live through this.

“Tell me, Emmaleigh,” he speaks into my ear. “Why do you smell like my daughter?”

The End