Chapter 23

The front doors of the factory opened as their group approached. Leif and Jacob were in the lead of a large group of males. Most he recognized from the pride, but there were others, and he figured them for humans like the hunters he’d just dealt with.

Jacob folded his arms. “Come to acquiesce your position as interim alpha now that Thyme is dead? Without her, you can’t lead, you know. Only the family line can lead.”

“I’m aware that I can’t lead without her, but I don’t need to,” Remy said.

Jacob frowned. “What?”

“Thyme is alive and well in Copper Creek. Your plan to take her out with those hunters failed, just like your other plans failed.”

“No, that’s not possible,” Leif said. “I saw her?—"

Jacob elbowed him and Leif stopped talking.

Remy just smiled. “I know you were there. You and Brilla. And I talked to those hunters, and I know you threatened them and their families. I’m interim alpha, and Thyme is my mate. You tried to kill her.” He moved closer, letting his wolf out a little bit. He felt his eyes change and knew they were the amber of his wolf.

He was taller than both Jacob and Leif, and unlike them, he was a true alpha, born to lead. They were fakes and usurpers, and the worst kind of shifters, who turned on their own.

Something dawned on Remy right then. “This is your factory,” he said to Jacob.

“So what if it is?” he countered.

“You’re the one polluting the town?” Liam demanded as he stepped forward. “You stood with me as an elder and demanded the owners shut the factory down. But it was really you that was behind it all along?”

Liam rushed forward and Leif lowered his shoulder and nailed the male in the chest. The older male jolted backward and Remy caught him and helped him to his feet.

“It’s all been engineered from the beginning,” Brilla said as she wove her way to the front. “The Olson family should never have been in charge of the pride. I took out his mate and got pregnant with Leif, forcing Mahn to mate me. I knew my child would be the rightful and true alpha, but Mahn wasn’t going to let Leif take over. He refused to change the laws and stuck to the ridiculous traditions and said that he would wait for Thyme to find a mate. I knew that as long as Mahn was around he would make sure Thyme was the alpha, not Leif, so I did what I had to do.”

Remy felt a chill wash over him.

Holy shit, every single member of Jacob’s family were murderers.

“She was going to take the pride away from Marin,” Leif said. “We couldn’t let that happen. If you hadn’t fucking showed up, I would have defeated her in the challenge and kept the pride here.”

“Enough talking,” Jacob said. “I’ll give you an hour to get Thyme and leave town, and anyone who supports you.”

Remy laughed. Jacob’s smug smile slipped.

“No,” Remy said. “ I’m going to shift and hunt you, Leif, and Brilla along with my father and friends. If you and the people loyal to you survive until dawn, then I’ll give you your lives, but if I catch you, I will kill you.”

“You can’t do that!” Leif sputtered.

“I can and I will.” Remy grabbed his shirt and pulled it off, then he raised his voice. “If you’re human, you should run far and fast and never set foot in Marin again. If you stick around, you’re going to die.” The humans ran away, leaving only eleven wildcats.

“This isn’t right,” Jacob said, backing away.

“Dad, do something!” Brilla said with a screeching-high voice.

“You took out Thyme’s mom, insinuated yourself in the pride to take over, and then you killed Mahn. Thyme wants what’s best for the pride and she’s the rightful heir.” And she was a damn fine female that he was fucking crazy about.

“Shift or die on your feet,” Remy said.

Liam stripped next to Remy. “If any wildcats want to leave the pride, Alpha Remy will grant you this one-time opportunity to tuck your tails and leave town with the humans. If you stay, you will fight for your lives and only find safety if you evade the pride until dawn.”

Logan said, “Rem, we’ve got your back.”

He looked at his dad and Logan. “Thank you for being here.”

Linus nodded. “Proud of you. Alpha.”

Brilla screamed and turned away in a panic.

Leif grabbed Jacob’s sleeve. “You did this! You said I’d be alpha!”

Several males ran away. Good riddance to disloyal wildcats.

Clapping his hands together, Remy lifted his head to the sky and let loose a deep and purposeful howl: vengeance is mine.

Remy’s wolf took over and he was on his paws in a heartbeat. The pride traitors were running away. Some shifted, but most, including Jacob and Leif, ran into the factory. With his dad and Logan at his side and the pride at his back, he raced toward the factory. Several wildcats split off to go after the others, but Remy’s mind was on Jacob and Leif alone.

His fur bristled as he braced for impact, leaping at the glass doors, which shattered when he hit them. He rolled into the factory over the broken glass and rose to his paws. His senses were on high alert as his eyes adjusted to the low lighting in the building. He was in some kind of storage area, a large warehouse-type open space with metal shelves stacked with equipment.

Jacob and Leif had disappeared into the rows of shelves. Using his heightened senses, he stalked forward, following their scent. He heard the slither of clothing as it was discarded. Rounding a row of shelves, he saw Liam and Jacob shifting into their wildcats.

Leif was larger than Jacob, but Remy was bigger. Leif’s claws scratched on the floor as he hissed. A snarl ripped from Remy’s throat as he launched himself forward, teeth bared and claws curled. Leif met his charge with a graceful leap, and they collided in midair.

Leif’s fangs gleamed in the faint light as he snapped and caught Remy’s forearm between his jaws. His skin split and bled as pain shot up his leg.

He kicked out with his back legs, catching Leif’s side with his claws. Leif let go of his hold on Remy’s leg and they both backed away. Remy charged forward and Leif danced out of reach. He lunged again and this time, Leif darted into the shelves and fell backward, and Remy was able to sink his fangs into his neck with a vicious snarl.

But Leif twisted free and raced away, blood dripping to the floor.

All around him, Remy heard the sounds of fighting, and saw his dad and Logan squaring off against Jacob.

Remy stalked around the corner of the row of shelves and spied Leif as he made his way down another row. Without a sound, Remy moved forward silently and followed him.

Leif turned with a hiss and slashed out at Remy, but he avoided the deadly claws. Leaping over Leif, Remy spun and pulled him off his paws by his tail, slamming him into the shelf.

Leif rose to his paws and they circled each other. Leif’s eyes blazed with malice.

With a sudden burst of speed, Leif launched himself at Remy, but he was prepared, extending his sharp claws like daggers and sinking them deep into his side.

Hot blood poured from the wounds as Leif let out a sharp yowl of distress.

Rising to his paws, Remy towered over the vicious male who’d tried to take the most precious person in the world away from him.

Putting Leif’s neck between his jaws, Remy delivered swift justice, the cracking sound that ended his life like the gunshot that had nearly ended Thyme’s.

He let go of his hold on the dead male’s neck and lifted his head, letting out a triumphant howl.

Moments later, he found his dad and Logan, plus several wildcats, standing by the bodies of the males who’d tried to destroy the pride.

They each howled in victory, but Remy was also mourning the lives that had been lost. He didn’t think they’d ever know why Jacob had wanted the pride to stay in Marin, but most likely he was protecting his interests in the factory and wanted to install his grandson as alpha to keep the status quo.

Money and power could make people do terrible things.

Remy shifted back to human, as did the others.

“What should we do with the bodies, alpha?” Liam asked.

Remy put his hands on his hips and looked around. He was tempted to burn the factory down, but it contained toxic chemicals and that wouldn’t be good for the environment either. “What do wildcats do?”

Liam glanced at the other males, and Marty said, “We could bury them at the clearing. The bonfire pit is quite large and deep.”

“Let’s do that,” Remy said. “After we get dressed, I’ll call my mom and find out how Thyme is doing.”

“You did good,” Linus said, clapping him on the back as they left the factory to go to where their clothes were. “How do you feel? It’s not easy taking a life, even when it’s justified.”

“I’m okay. But if I need to talk, I know I can reach out to you.”

“Definitely.”

They dressed and Logan went off to get the truck to drive up to the parking lot. Remy pulled his phone from his pocket and called his mom.

“She’s doing so good honey, another ninety minutes and she’ll be able to change. Are you guys okay? Are you safe?”

“We’re fine and yes. We’ll be another hour at least, keep me posted if anything changes with her.”

“You bet.”

He returned to the factory and grabbed Leif’s body, slinging the dead cat over his shoulder.

“Well, she’s missing,” Marty said when he reached the others.

“Who?” Remy asked.

“Brilla.”

“I saw her run,” Remy said. “I don’t know where, though.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for her,” Liam said, “but I suspect she’ll keep running since she knows what she’s facing if she shows up again.”

“The important thing is that we’re all safe and we didn’t lose anyone tonight,” Remy said. “Let’s get these bodies to the clearing and then get the hell out of Marin.”

“Hear, hear,” the wildcats cheered.

It had been a difficult and bloody battle, but Remy had gotten his vengeance for what was done to Thyme. And for her father and mother, too.

He hadn’t known that finding his truemate was going to lead to him taking out a dangerous group of wildcats, but the pride was safe now, especially Thyme, and that was worth anything.