Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

“ W hy didn’t you tell me?” Jill demanded as soon as Logan walked into the bedroom.

“About…” Logan asked as he made his way to his bureau and took his time pulling everything out of his pockets and placing them neatly on top of the freshly polished surface.

“You called them bait,” Jill said hollowly as she remembered the first conversation they had about the children.

“They have a purpose,” Logan said as she sat there, swallowing hard as she ran everything that Shane told her about the time they’d spent in the compound and-

“Why didn’t you grab the shifters in the cage instead?” Jill found herself asking about the one thing that didn’t make sense.

“The children were more convenient,” Logan said, not quite able to meet her gaze.

“Two six-year-olds and a teenage boy who loves to glare were more convenient than shifters trapped in small cages that were too crippled and out of their minds to escape?” Jill asked, watching as a muscle in his jaw began to throb.

“The children were the main target,” Logan said, sounding bored only to go still when she said, “No, they weren’t.”

“Why would you say that, Angel?” Logan asked as he made his way across the bedroom and sat down in the leather chair.

“Because they told Shane everything,” Jill said, watching as Logan’s eyes slowly turned silver.

“What did they tell him?” Logan asked softly, but there was no missing the rage lacing his words.

“They told him that the buyer changed his mind and wasn’t willing to wait for Caleb and Emma to reach their immortality. They wanted the adults, but just in case their blood didn’t work, they were going to hold onto them. They told him that they were going to dispose of the twins as soon as the auction was over if Pierce didn’t buy them,” Jill said as she thought about the anger in Shane’s eyes as he told her and-

“They’re not going back there,” Jill bit out between clenched teeth as her eyesight suddenly became sharper, letting her know that her eyes had turned silver.

“No, they’re not,” Logan murmured in agreement.

“Tell me everything,” Jill demanded, needing to know if she had time to figure out a plan or if she was going to have to risk it all to get the children out of here tonight.

“Sounds like you’ve heard enough,” Logan said as she struggled to hold it together.

“I want to hear it from you,” Jill bit out evenly.

“What do you want to know?” Logan asked after a slight hesitation.

“Everything,” she said hollowly. “Where are their parents?”

“How much do you know about Pack life?” he asked instead.

“Other than they need an Alpha to lead them or they’ll become dangerous, not much,” Jill said, wracking her brain, trying to remember something, anything, that would help her figure a way out of this mess.

“Alphas stabilize the Packs, protect them when they’re vulnerable and make sure the rules are followed. They’re necessary for the Pack’s survival, which is why they’ll tolerate a second Alpha until it reaches its immortality so that they have a spare,” Logan began.

“And Shane’s the spare?” Jill guessed only to frown when Logan shook his head.

“Shane’s the risk they weren’t willing to take. One child born an Alpha is a blessing, two is a risk that most Packs aren’t willing to take. Too many Alphas in a Pack are dangerous. They create dissension, forcing Pack members to choose sides and destroying the Pack from within in the process.”

“What about twins?”

“If both children are Alphas, most Packs are willing to allow the children to live until their first shift and decide which one would be a better fit for the Pack, but most Packs will drown one of the infants at birth to protect the Pack,” Logan explained, making her stomach drop.

“That doesn’t explain how Shane and the twins ended up at that compound,” Jill pointed out.

Slowly exhaling, Logan said, “While some Packs look at extra Alphas as a danger, others look at them as a resource.”

“Meaning?”

“They’ll trade them to other Packs in exchange for territories and to satisfy debts. If they can’t find another Pack that’s willing to take them, they’ll sell them to Masters who will use them as protection.”

“And the others…” Jill said, letting her words trail off.

“They’ll either be drained by a Pack member when they reach their immortality, hoping their blood is potent enough to transition them into an Alpha, or they’ll sell them to the highest bidder. Shane and the twins come from a bloodline that is known for producing Alphas. Between their parents and uncles, they’ve produced fifty-nine Alphas in the past century alone and every last one of them was sold to Magnus.”

Nodding, Jill slowly looked up and met his gaze as she asked, “And what was your role in all of this?”

“The same as it’s always been.”

“And what’s that?” Jill demanded as she watched his silver eyes flash brighter.

“Revenge.”