Chapter 22 - Grayson

Literal years. That's how long it had been since I slept this damn soundly. I'd wholly sacked out, standing absolutely no chance against the potent exhaustion and after-sex bliss that had sucked me down into the depths of sleep. I'd surfaced a bit to pull the blanket over Kenz and me, but I'd still been so wrapped up in the warmth of her that I fell right back to sleep, smiling like a damn idiot.

Boom!

The entire compound rumbled, and Kenzie and I shot up from the bed, looking around the room for the source of the massive disturbance. The lights were flickering, and the hall quickly filled with the sound of confused voices.

"Something's happening."

Kenzie looked over at me, her face a mask of horror and rage. "Again? Seriously? What the fuck is up with the damn world?!"

We hurried to pull on our clothes, both of us knowing that even though we didn't want to, even though we had just reestablished our mate connection for real, we needed to go. There was work to do.

It didn't take us long to get out of the room and down the hall. Jet and Kaiden were there, and Kit and Senna were likely tucked away somewhere. I wanted to do the same with Kenzie, but I knew better than to order her to stay in the room. She'd just tell me to get fucked.

Which should be less attractive.

Forrest and Willow were running down from the other side of the hallway, and then Cade and Rowan rushed out of their rooms. We all met up in the center above the stairs.

"Where the fuck did that come from? I haven't seen anything up here. But there's no way we all just hallucinated that explosion."

I met eyes with Jet as he spoke and then tracked my surroundings, noting the undamaged upper floor and entryway.

"No, it happened. But you're right. Where? It's not the front. Did they—"

"The basement." I shot my attention to Kenzie as she cut me off. "Leon is down there. If we can't see the impact, it has to be."

Kaiden's eyes flared wide as he looked at his sister, and then his worried stare shot to me. "They're trying to break him out!"

My gut clenched, and driving fear coursed through my veins. "We need to—"

Boom!

"Dammit! Let's fucking go!"

I was getting really sick of things interrupting me, especially when they came in the form of an explosion. Leon wasn't going to be taken. I wouldn't let him get away with what he'd done. As we rushed down the stairs for the basement entry, I was hit by Kenzie's scent as she followed right behind me.

Stopping short, I held out my hands halting Kenzie and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Wait."

"Grayson," she glared, "we need to go."

Shaking my head, I forced her to meet my eyes. "If it gets bad, please, Kenz. You need to leave. To protect them."

I put my hand on her stomach, sending all the love and concern I had for the both of them through our connection. I could sense how much easier it was to get the message to her, the emotions flowing through the pack bond as well as our rekindled mate bond.

Kenzie nodded. "Okay, okay. I promise. Now let's go."

That was as good as I could expect from her, and if I noticed any threats myself, I'd deal with them, even if it cost me my own life.

And with that, Kenzie took off at a dead sprint again, and I was tight on her heels as I followed her to the basement.

When we got down there, an enormous crack in the wall had been blown out right in Leon's cell. The other Alphas were surprisingly unharmed, and I could see the tunnel that was dug directly to Leon. It was like whoever had busted him out knew precisely where he was, and even for wolves, that was impressive.

I mean, fuck, we're underground.

"What in the absolute fuck? Ugh!" I stalked toward the cell, ready to see a big fat wad of nothing. "Lie to me and tell me Leon's still tied to that…"

But my words drifted off as I finally got a look inside the cell. All the other wolves were crowded around it, and as I pushed through, my mouth dropped open. Sure, I'd expected that Leon would be gone; I just didn't think it would be so permanently.

"What the…" I rushed into the cell, crouching over Leon's body and eyeing the obvious hole that had been shot straight through his skull. "Did any of you—"

"He was like that when we got here, Grayson. I swear to you," Kaiden replied.

"Fucker was blown clean through by someone else. We're not packing guns, Grayson. Don't need ‘em." Cade held up his hand, letting his claws elongate through his fingers.

I clenched my jaw, squeezing my hands into fists.

"Dammit!" My curse echoed through the stone chamber, and I pounded my fist down into the ground, cracking the ancient flooring. "Gone. All the information that I could have learned from him is just gone! And he was a damn wreck. Who would want to kill him and not rescue him?"

The question got us all sniffing the air for any indication of who was just there. I closed my eyes, focusing past the overwhelming stench of Leon's freshly spilled blood, shaking my head. It was Reginald. Hell, I couldn't scent any wolf at all. It was—

"Humans?" I whisper, turning over my shoulder to meet Jet's eyes.

He nodded, and both Kaiden and Kenzie confirmed what I'd scented as well. Forrest and Willow stood far back, and I gestured for them to step forward.

"What can you tell me about his injury?"

Alpha command rang through my words, instinctual, and it took some doing to pull it back.

Willow was first to come forward, and she nodded at me, lowering her head even though I wasn't her Alpha. When I flicked my stare to Kaiden, I ducked my head slightly, apologizing for "harassing" his wolves.

"He was shot with a relatively small caliber weapon. Direct impact with the skull, which passed straight through the brain matter and out the back." Willow moved Leon's corpse with the help of Forrest, eyeing the ground and then the walls. "No bullet fragmentation, so it wasn't a hollow point. I don't see any sign of multiple shots, and the bullet impacted the ground beneath Leon's head."

"Whoever did this shot Leon while he was on the floor. And going by the dirt on his shirt," Forrest pointed out the stain on Leon's chest, "they held him down with their boot and fired."

Growls reverberated from the Alphas, including me, and Jet punched a bar of the cell.

"They shot him while he was down. He's still fucking tied up, for fuck's sake. Bastards."

Jet had a point. As much as Leon could get fucked two times over, this wasn't a merciful or honorable killing. They'd shot an unarmed, bound man who lay on the damn floor. It was heartless.

Shoving off the ground, I left the cell, my blood fuming with rage that burned like acid. My one fucking lead about what was going on with these mystery killers—and Reginald—was dead. I had nothing.

"Fuck!" I growled, stalking off toward the stairs to get some fresh air.

"Ugh."

The low groan stole my attention, and I whipped my attention to my right, where the other Alphas were still behind bars while we waited for the antidote to take effect. Unfortunately, that had taken longer than expected because Leon's drugs had been upgraded, it seemed. Still, Brooks was pulling himself off the floor, looking significantly worse for wear, with a handful of fresh cuts and scrapes.

"Brooks!" I rushed over to the bars, gripping them and on edge to see if my friend was back to himself finally.

"What the fuck happened? I was sleeping…and then there was some asshole." He rubbed his head like it ached. "Damn, I remember being fucking feral. I couldn't keep myself from shifting. And then when I'd started to come out of it, there was this big fucking boom and—"

"It was an explosion. Let's get you out of here." I looked down the hall where Jet and the others were still inspecting Leon's corpse. "Guys! They're okay! Let's get the Alphas out!"

Kenzie was the first to run up toward me, and I drank in her comforting presence. "Gods. You look awful, Brooks."

"Gee, thanks." But he smirked, shrugging until he realized the movement hurt. "Ahh, hell."

"Yeah, you're not the only one who went three rounds with a goddamn weedwhacker. Get me out of here."

Alder walked up to the bars, and I reached through, clapping my arm against his gently.

I smiled. "Actually, with Jet, Kaiden, and me, but it's fine."

"Well, look at that. The Scot is impossible to get rid of." Rowan's silky, midnight-deep voice rumbled from my right, and he handed me the keys to the cells that he'd been keeping a hold of for me.

As I got Alder out, I handed the keys back to Rowan and he took care of opening Brooks' cell. We got the two of them caught up regarding our recent unfortunate events, but I stopped short when Alder cocked his brow, sniffing the air.

"I could smell them. Even though I was mostly unconscious, I could smell the humans. They were hunters. The stench of gunpowder clinging to them. They tried to come up to the bars, but Brooks and I were still…well, a bit rabid. They backed off rather than lose a finger."

"Hunters?" My stomach dropped, and I looked over my shoulder at Jet. "Senna's vision."

He stepped up toward Alder, putting a hand on his shoulder, and almost without thinking, I moved past everyone to Kenzie. I pulled her close, not caring in the slightest that it might "look like" something to them. I needed to touch her, to ground myself with her presence.

"It has to be related. That's too much of a coincidence. Still," Jet glanced down at the floor, and Kaiden was quickly at his side, lending his adoptive father his support, "I can't imagine this was it. One unwanted wolf dead? That's hardly threatening wolfkind."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with him," Cade offered. "That was barely a genuine threat. We didn't even run into them. It's like they just got in, did what they wanted to do—namely, killing Leon—and then got out. It…it makes me think that Leon was possibly more valuable than we realized."

Rowan nodded, trading glances between Cade and me. "Definitely. Leon clearly knew something about the hunters that they didn't want to get out. With him off the board, they believe they're safer. It's something to investigate for certain."

"We need to find out why they wanted him so badly." I scanned my gaze across the Alphas—my friends. "And I don't fucking like that they had the gall to come into my home. I want them eliminated."

"Grayson," Kenzie cut in, "we're lucky they didn't do more. They obviously have significant resources. If we go in there without the right preparation—"

"I understand, Kenz. I do. But we can't let them think they can just pull this shit. It sets the wrong precedence, and I have a pack to look after. What if they all think that this kind of thing is just going to happen around here? I can't let them believe they're not safe."

As if on cue, a commotion started upstairs, and I could hear several raised voices shouting about what was going on.

"Tomorrow, after we've rested, we go after them. They might be hunters, but nothing can track like a wolf."

The Alpha growled in agreement, and I nodded. Humans had come into my home looking to terrify us, and I would not stand for that.

***

A small team of volunteers went with the Alphas to track down the hunters. It had rained last night, and the wet earth dampened the scents around us. It had all but eliminated footprints as well. Thankfully, tire tracks sunk in much deeper, especially when they were weighed down by several men.

We stalked through the woods, trusting our noses and impeccable eyesight to navigate the trail of clues left for us. After about thirty or so minutes, it became impractical to do this on foot. We all needed to be faster.

"We can't keep going in this form. Shift and stash your belongings for afterward. We'll be faster in wolf form."

A few of the men hesitated, but eventually, we all shifted and began to sprint through the forest, tracking our quarry. Cade was thrilled to change into wolf form. Hell, he'd done it before I even suggested it, and he was now acting as our scout, keeping an eye out down the road for threats.

When he returned from checking out the area around the bend in the trail, Cade shifted into his human form again to speak. Which was a delight considering the guy was naked and didn't seem to give a single fuck.

"The woods get thicker up ahead, but I can still smell that burn of gasoline. They definitely went this way. Even more, I think this is a common route. There are older scents and several tire treads from different vehicles. We're getting close to a base or something."

I snuffled at him, acknowledging that I knew what he was getting at. Grumbling at the other wolves, I indicated the threat and pawed at the ground softly to emphasize how we needed to tread lightly. As Cade shifted back, Rowan's massive wolf form stalked up to me, his black fur nearly absorbing all the light that hit it.

He stuck to the shadows; his mild sunlight allergy was always worse when he was in wolf form. Rowan grumbled, though, which bled into a low growl as he scanned the forest with blood-red eyes. Shaking his head, it looked like he didn't want to sit still, and I could sense the concern wafting off him.

What's up, huh? What can you sense that we can't?

Over the past few years, working closer and closer with the other Alphas, I'd learned—like we all had—that Rowan was different. He sensed things quicker, better, than the rest of us, and he was vicious in a fight, not as primal as Cade but equally as ruthless when he wanted to be.

I projected my question to him through the Alpha magic. It was getting easier to manipulate it, and while I couldn't communicate telepathically with the other wolves since none of us could, this was a very close second in usefulness.

Rowan turned to me, sinking into his haunches and growling. We weren't alone, but I still couldn't smell or hear anything. As I regarded Jet, Kaiden, Alder, and even Brooks, none of them could tell what was going on with Rowan, but we all knew it wasn't good.

The fuck is going on?

Then, almost too quietly for even a wolf to pick up, a branch snapped a way off in the trees. I tensed, whipping my head in that direction as I sent out the command to my packmates to be ready to fight.

I could sense the concern ripple through the wolves who'd joined me and the rage behind the other Alphas. Cade hurried up alongside Rowan as he finished his shift, and Jet and Kaiden were right behind me.

Arrooooo!

Alder howled out at the rear of the group. He'd been keeping watch, and as I swiveled to see what had spooked him, the forest around us erupted into chaos.

Men in tactical gear surged out of the woods, surrounding us. I growled, commanding the others to go, to fight. They leaped into action, and I turned back to the noises coming from in front of me and launched myself forward, tackling one of the men headed for me.

My fangs sunk into his jugular, finding that soft spot beneath his helmet and just above the protective padding that covered his chest. He screamed, and warm blood flowed into my mouth. I tore chunks from the man's neck, ensuring he wouldn't cause any future problems.

The hollering stopped short, and he went limp, his gun clattering to the ground. I snatched it up between my teeth, then used all my strength to smash it into the tree trunk next to me, destroying it.

"Take them down!" A human man cried out. "Save the best for testing!"

Testing?! Well, that doesn't sound fucking good.

But as I swung around to sink my teeth into another one of the fuckers who'd jumped us, everything went black, and the earth came up to meet me in a flash.