Chapter Eighteen

Ipeered out the window, staring at the hotel across the street and watching the flames lick the sky. Two carefully positioned fire trucks battled the blaze as countless cops, EMS workers, and random people milled about, their tense faces covered in soot.

My dreams had been filled with thoughts of my mate, and I'd slept through most of the chaos. It wasn't until they had shifted and sent smoke directly toward my hotel that I'd awakened. We hadn't been ordered to evacuate, but I'd watched as guests poured out into the parking lot, dragging their luggage behind them.

Focusing back on the roaring fire across the street, I couldn't believe I'd almost stayed there last night. If they hadn't been full, I would have been caught in that blaze. The minor inconvenience of the previous day had become the event that may very well have saved my life today.

My phone dinged with a message and I lifted the device to read the words. The fire is on the news. Please tell me you're okay!

Oliver's message struck something deep within me and I realized with shock that my pack likely thought I was dead.

I'm fine. I stayed at the place across the street. I'm looking at the fire right now. I snapped a picture and sent the image along with my message.

He'd mentioned this being on the news, so I turned on the TV in my room, trying to ignore the suffocating scent of smoke. On TV, a newsperson spoke in worried tones about the high likelihood of casualties as the burning hotel came into frame behind them.

High likelihood of casualties.

That phrase sent a shiver down my spine. I didn't want to think about how narrowly I'd escaped death.

"Authorities aren't sure what started the fire, but preliminary findings suggest a blown transformer may have sparked the blaze." The news woman's eyes widened, and she spun around as the roof of the hotel collapsed with a crash that was deafening.

My room shook, and I hurried to the window and glanced out. The heat of the flames had devoured most of the building, leaving a pile of blackened wooden bones in its wake. My heart sank as I recalled the words of the clerk who'd turned me away.

We have no vacancy. Some group is in town for a convention or something, so we're totally booked.

I wanted to rush over and offer help to any possible survivors, but I knew I'd only be in the way. It was best to let the professionals handle things, and acting on impulse would be a good way to get myself killed—or worse, put others at risk. But that didn't stop the sadness I felt by standing there doing nothing.

A car whipped into the parking lot, catching my attention. To my surprise, Oliver exited the vehicle and walked into the office. He looked calm and relaxed, no doubt relieved to know I wasn't dead and he wasn't going to be forced into the alpha role.

I also knew he wouldn't find me, because the man behind the counter had checked me in under a bogus name. And with the heavy stench of smoke, I didn't expect his sense of smell to lead him to my door.

My first instinct was to step out and call his name, but something held me still. Instead, I watched with a sinking stomach as the building across the street collapsed in on itself the rest of the way while firefighters aimed streams of water to douse the flames.

You're not here. Oliver's message jolted me out of my thoughts.

I am. Room three. I sent the message and watched as he exited the office and headed in the direction of my room.

I opened the door for him and stepped back. Oliver practically stormed inside, slamming the door shut and locking the deadbolt behind him.

"If you want something done right, do it yourself," he said, putting his hands on his thighs just above his knees and leaning forward as if winded.

I didn't understand what he meant by the comment.

"You are my best friend and right-hand man. I trust you to run the pack while I'm gone," I said, assuming he meant that I needed to deal with the pack myself.

He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "You don't understand." With a wave of his hand, he gestured to the window. "That fire wasn't an accident."

When he straightened and met my eyes, I saw no warmth in his glowing brown orbs.

The hair on my body stood on end and my blood turned to icy slush. "What are you talking about? The news said?—"

He chuckled, running a hand through his tawny hair. "The news thinks exactly what we wanted them to think."

With another wave of his hand, he motioned me to the chair at the desk. I sat down, sensing something wasn't quite right but struggling to reconcile the unhinged man in front of me with my steady as a rock beta.

Details that now seemed to be sliding into place like keys unlocking a door, even though my thoughts seemed unable to wrap around the entirety of them. Had Oliver lost his mind? Had the pressures of leading broken him?

"Don't even think about doing anything stupid," he said, pulling out a gun and a pair of handcuffs. "Put these on," he ordered, leveling the gun at my face.

I had a 50/50 shot of dodging the bullet. Reluctantly, I fastened the cuffs around my wrist. Keeping the gun steady, he moved forward and pulled a chain from his pocket, which he used to fasten my cuffs to the chair.

The cuffs and chain wouldn't do more than slow me down if I wanted to break free, but as long as he had the gun pointed at my face, Oliver definitely had the advantage.

"What are you doing?" I asked, worried he'd lost his mind even as the truth began to sink in.

"Getting rid of you," he said with a shake of his head, as if he couldn't believe I was too stupid to figure out his master plan. He pressed the gun to my head. "See, I love leading the pack.

"I'd been trying to find a way to take your place as alpha for the past two years. Lady luck must love you, because you were supposed to die the night you disappeared. Hired killers were waiting to ambush you as you walked to the meeting. When you didn't show up for the meeting, I thought I'd finally won."

The coldness in his voice left no doubt that he was being honest. "But then I got the text saying you were a no show. You managed to disappear without a trace. I hoped maybe you'd gone loco again, but then you just had to pop back up."

"What happened to you?" I breathed, moving to stand, but stopping when he waved the gun at me.

"You were supposed to die in that fire! It would have been so tidy and without any pesky loose threads. The pack would mourn your tragic passing and I'd step up and run things the way they should've been run. The way you were never strong enough to lead."

Narrowing my eyes, I studied the man I'd considered a brother, but who I'd never truly known. My heart grew heavy at the betrayal of someone I thought had my back through thick and thin.

In true villain fashion, he continued rambling about his plan. Was he trying to flaunt his genius to have me acknowledge how smart he was? Why didn't he just get on with what he'd come here to do?

His words came to an abrupt halt, and he inhaled. "You claimed a mate. That's why you ran off, isn't it? To get laid. Weren't there enough pack females always throwing themselves at you?"

"We've been friends forever," I said, trying to connect with him, but unwilling to answer any questions about Lilou.

"You're a fool. You should've ruled with an iron fist, not a gentle hand." He moved the curtain an inch to check the fire across the street.

"I want my pack to follow me because they trust my judgments to be fair and they respect me, not because they fear me." I never wanted to lead with force.

Alphas were meant to be protectors, not dictators.

Oliver continued his rant as if I hadn't spoken. "I'm going to do what you should have done all along. Under my rule, the pack is going to grow, establish more ground, and take what's ours."

My throat tightened. "You're going to start a war."

"I'm going to do what you were too weak to do," he spat.

"You killed innocent people in that hotel!" The heart-wrenching betrayal I'd felt quickly shifted to a blinding rage.

He shrugged. "Humans. They don't really count."

"They don't count? They have just as much right to life as we do!" My muscles flexed as I tested my restraints. "And how many wolves will die because of your greed if you try to take another pack's land?"

"I'm the alpha now, and I will make what sacrifices are necessary to ensure my pack prospers." He claimed the title so confidently, as if he simply expected me to agree and bow before him.

"It takes more strength to lead with kindness and do what's right than to try to rule with fear." I knew I couldn't talk him out of his crazed mindset, but I needed to stall him while I planned an attack.

He rolled his eyes. "That's what weak wolves tell themselves to cover up their inadequacies."

I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it as I caught a familiar sweet scent.

Lilou.

I'd hardly registered her name, before a dark shape hurtled into the double-paned window behind him and shattered the glass.

Oliver turned to face the intruder, and I pushed to my feet, still attached to the chair, preparing to tackle him.

But Lilou was faster. Before I could take a single step, the dove gray wolf had launched herself at Oliver, her powerful jaws aiming for his throat.

Oliver threw up an arm, protecting his neck from her sharp teeth, but he was unable to keep himself from crashing to the ground from the impact of her body colliding with his.

She held him in place, snarling in her wolf form, still snapping at his throat. Oliver's fingers wrapped around his gun.

Summoning my alpha strength, I snapped the cuffs and blurred across the room to kick the gun from his hand with a bone-crunching thud. Then, yanking the chain free of the chair, I wound it around his wrists.

Once he was secure, I dealt him a single hard blow to the temple. His body went limp. He wasn't dead, but he would be out for a while.

Threat handled, I turned toward Lilou.

"You shifted," I whispered, my throat dry.

Her long tongue darted out to lick my cheek in what I assumed was some type of apology.

It was a miracle she'd survived at all. Her body wasn't built to handle the shift between forms. But that didn't mean she was safe.

Very few wolves who'd survived the initial shift lived very long after returning to their human form. The damage done to their bodies was simply too much.

All at once, she shifted back into her natural form, naked, trembling, and pale. Her long purple hair covered her body as she met my gaze.

"It was my turn to save you," she whispered, before her eyes rolled back and she fell forward into my arms.