Chapter 21 - Kaiden

The roaring explosion set to the front of Eli's compound was loud enough to make my ears ring uncomfortably, and the smell of burning and smoke was immediate. Willow had created an explosive compound that we could apply to the door in a thick, somewhat sticky line, and the containers of propane gas we'd brought from the compound's generator added fuel to the fire.

Bright orange and yellow flames licked up the side of the building, and my packmates—along with the other alphas—began to chuck canisters of compressed counteragent gas into the new opening in Eli's wall.

"Get in. Find Kit. Take down Eli. Go!"

I barked the command, and everyone jumped into action. Both Gray and Brooks stuck with me. Lupe had been ordered to keep an eye on Willow, who'd insisted on coming, there for patch-ups and to collect further data about the drugged wolves. She'd also had the brilliant idea to send some of the counteragent gas into the house's HVAC system.

Turning to him, I held out a hand, clapping his arm in a shake. "Don't let anyone get past this door. I won't have more mutts running off to carry on their schemes somewhere else."

He nodded. "Got it, Alpha."

With that, I took off inside the flaming compound in search of Kit. I didn't get far, however. A flood of wolves rushed down from the main stairs and from the halls to my right and left. Their eyes were wide and bloodshot, a frenzy about them that could only be the result of that fucking drug.

The wave rushed forward into the line I'd created with my pack and the other alphas. Jet caught one leaping toward him, turning and slamming the man down onto his back mid-shift.

It looked terrible and wrong the way the wolf was shoving itself through the man's body, and we each frowned hard seeing Eli's other wolves changing like that.

"The fuck? This shit is beyond nasty," Brooks offered.

"It can't feel good"—Cade heaved up another wolf who'd shifted and lunged for him, tossing the guy into the wall—"to shift like that. They're doing it so fast."

Rowan growled low as two wolves closed in on him from the left, but when they leaped, the agile fuck just jumped and flipped backward, making the wolves crash into each other.

A blonde wolf was on me from the right, and I allowed a half-shift to rush forward, raking my claws through his throat.

The blood spurted out, splattering across the floor, and the guy was down.

Thicker and thicker gas filled up the room as the counteragent for the drug rushed out of the set containers. After another few moments, the hopped-up wolves had breathed in enough of the compound to eliminate the drug's effects.

Each of them stumbled to the ground, coughing as their bodies receded into human form. Well fucking done, Willow.

But there was still no sign of Eli—or of Reginald and Leon.

"Split up. Find Eli, Leon, and Reginald."

Grayson looked over, glancing between me and Jet. "Orders."

I glanced over at my former alpha, and he just nodded, ceding the floor to me.

"Kill on sight."

With that, we rushed off in different directions. I followed a quiet ping in my blood, sensing Kit was somewhere on the east side of the building. The hallway was dark, the backup power only bathing the seemingly empty hall in a red glow.

I was sure there would be more wolves to deal with throughout Eli's compound, but I also trusted the others to handle it. I had to find Kit. Something…something felt off. I had no reason to feel concerned, but as the smell of lilac got stronger, my blood hummed in warning, my wolf pacing nervously inside me.

Rushing down a dark hall that bloomed with Kit's scent, I passed several doors that lined the hallway. I could smell other wolves and strange chemical odors coming from them, but the musk of wolves wasn't fresh—a few hours old, even.

Opening one, I looked in to see an empty bedroom space, cramped and made entirely of stone. The room smelled like death and bleach, the faint smell of what I guessed to be a female wolf behind it all. It was ancient, though, and the only reason I'd been able to pick it up was because this room looked rarely opened.

Trying another door across the hall, I found the fresh evidence of a kill, wet blood and fur flung about the room like a bomb had gone off. This wolf smelled masculine, with a hint of age to the blood. An older wolf .

On the floor near the thin mattress, which I assumed was a bed, was an empty syringe.

Right. Eli had to test it. I squeezed my hands into fists, exiting and slamming the door shut behind me. Bastard.

The scent of lilacs was so muddled with the others in this hall, and I closed my eyes for a moment, stretching my senses to hear more of what lay ahead. It was quiet, distant scuffling behind me, the only indication that something was going on, and the subtle sounds of hurried footsteps and whining from deeper within the house.

"Ahh!"

The scream hit me like a gunshot. I knew that voice. I would always know it.

"Kit." My eyes flared wide, the noise coming from up ahead. "Kit!"

I took off at a dead run. It only took me a few seconds to reach the end of the hall, where I saw a door open on the left-hand side. It revealed a sliver of a brightly lit room, and I rushed forward just as I heard a deep growl reverberate through the stone walls.

Bursting into the room, I growled—low and furious—before I even comprehended what I was seeing. Eli held Kit pinned down to the ground, snapping at her as she tried to keep him at bay.

The noise emanating from me was enough to draw his attention, and I immediately pegged the bloodshot, frenzied stare he was sporting. He'd taken those fucking drugs, and the gas hadn't reached down here yet.

"Get your fucking hands off her," I snapped, extending my claws through my fingers.

Kit's eyes landed on me, but I couldn't look down at her. Eli was too hopped-up on his goddamn drugs, and I didn't trust glancing at her. He was focused on me. I needed to keep it that way.

Still, I could see out of my peripheral vision that Kit's eyes were wide. She was bleeding from a cut on her head, and the smell of charred lilacs drifted toward me. My blood boiled, and it was everything I could do to avoid shifting.

I didn't want that—not yet.

"Kaiden." Kit's voice was small and terrified, and my chest may as well have cracked right open.

My eyes flicked down to her, unable to resist for a second longer. We locked eyes, and it was everything. She was right there, the human woman that meant so much to me, and my stomach clenched looking at her.

She looked exhausted, roughed up and bleeding. A fury I'd never known before coursed through my veins, and I knew that even if it meant moving the earth itself, I was getting her back home with me.

For good.

Eli noticed the move, of course. And he snarled low as he turned back to Kit and raised his clawed hand in the air. Drool dripped from his fanged mouth, and I could see the intent in his body.

He was going to tear Kit to shreds.

"I said—!"

I launched myself across the room, tackling Eli away from Kit. It sent him flying into the far wall, and I popped back up onto my feet in front of her, offering a protective stance as I let more of the half-shift take me.

"Don't fucking touch her."

"He's not," Kit heaved in a breath behind me, "right. The drug. He took… so much."

Concern bit at me as I watched Eli stand up. His eyes were unfocused and rabid as he laughed and glared in my direction. The sound was unhinged, a hyena in place of a wolf.

Body shifting, Eli let the wolf tear through him, and the same horrible, grotesque shift took him over like it had the others. He thrashed out, knocking into the metal table closest to him and sending beakers and glass vials filled with blue-green liquid crashing to the floor.

It had to be the drug, and I prayed desperately for the antidote gas to push through the compound's air system faster.

This was far from over, but I silently swore on whatever power I had in me—as a wolf, as alpha, as a believer in that V?lva magic—that I was going to keep anything from happening to Kit, even if it was the last thing I ever did.

Which unfortunately seemed increasingly likely.