24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

C ain took control the moment Micah finished speaking.

It was like the day he'd killed Kendrick. The extent of Cain's anger took him by surprise as he marched out of the packhouse. It burnt through him instantly as the red haze of his rage tinted his vision. He'd wrested control from him as if it was nothing. As if it was something he could now do at any time.

That was concerning.

‘Calm down!' he ordered the beast.

‘It's their fault. Their wards failed because they thought they were some sort of gods capable of anything. They killed my people and put Layla in danger.'

He couldn't argue with that. The Circle had always been full of people who had big egos. Much like Zach and his friends, who considered themselves higher ranked in his pack when they were nothing but parasites. But as much as he wanted to deal with everyone, he had to think about what they would do to Layla and his child when he was gone. The Circle was much bigger than the three who liked to bother him.

‘Cain, this isn't how we'll fix this situation.'

There was hardly anyone around the packhouse since Dylan had said they were training in the forest, but the few there moved out of his way as he marched to the gates.

His face tightened, and his teeth started to push through his gums. The elastic around the waist of his sweatpants began to dig into him as his body morphed. The day had barely started, and already it had gone to shit. The realisation that this visit from the Circle would prompt his pack to make a move sooner rather than later played in the back of his mind as he felt all their emotions towards him.

The warrior in the gatehouse opened the gate as he approached.

"Do not open the gate to them," Cain growled.

His voice was low and strained with the effort of holding this form. It was something the other wolves couldn't do, another thing that put him above everyone else. They only had their two forms, nothing in between. The warrior nodded as his fear rolled off him in waves. And because Cain was such a sadistic fuck, he took a deep breath to savour it. It was what fed his soul. Fear. Death. Destruction.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

They knew. They always knew who they were talking to. He had never insisted that his pack call him anything other than Alpha, but Cain demanded that respect.

The gate closed behind him and Cain looked towards the main entrance. The stench of dark magic was already assaulting his nose, and he could sense his pack's collective fear. It was never good news for a pack whenever the Circle showed up after a report of a Hunter sighting.

‘I'll rip them apart before they touch anyone.'

On that, they could agree. He wouldn't fail his pack again.

With a sigh, he stopped trying to control the beast as exhaustion set in. Why would the Circle show their faces when they knew what they had done? They knew what Cain was capable of, and they knew the beast had his own mind.

Cain ran through the residential streets until he got to the town centre. There, the dark magic crawled over his skin like bugs as the three Circle members got closer.

‘Stay in your homes,' he ordered through the pack link.

It was unnecessary, though. The town was empty, and only his warriors were closing in. He should have asked them to evacuate to the packhouse in case things went wrong. But it was too late now. The magic had started to lick his skin like flames. The Circle had come fully charged up. They had come prepared to deal with him.

A sleek black car turned into the main street, and Cain stopped in the middle of the road to watch it approach. It was unsuitable for the drive through the forest, but Hugo and Lincoln were anything but practical. Their newest member, Finn, was probably the same.

The car rolled to a stop only inches from him. He felt the darkness and evil within it, but the Alphas remained in their vehicle. To prepare? Had they come to make his whole pack disappear as they had done countless others? Or were they there just for him? If that was the case, they were probably shitting themselves because they knew how much they had fucked up. Cain towered over their car; it looked like a toy from his high vantage point. He could easily crush it if he wanted to.

The door finally opened, and Alpha Lincoln stepped out first. He straightened his crisp suit and didn't come any closer. Though he sensed the fear coming from him, he also felt the resolve.

"Your Majesty," he said with a nod. And he didn't dare look Cain in the eye.

"Which of you cast the magic that put my pack at risk?" Cain growled.

Cain never pretended to be civil. He always went straight to the point.

"The magic was perfectly fine. But we believe the human you're harbouring has brought us to this point," Lincoln said. "Our people come first, even if the human is carrying the future king. Step aside, please, Your Majesty."

They had the nerve...

They had ordered a hit on her life before but he'd let them live. Now they thought they could walk into his home and say that to his face?

His teeth lengthened, and his claws started to extend. Alpha Hugo stepped out on the other side of the car, also dressed in one of his usual expensive suits. Both these men could shift into Alphas more fearsome than any of the Alphas in his territory due to their magic, but he didn't think they intended to ruin their expensive suits by shifting for this fight.

And they knew it was going to be a fight. No man would ever allow another to hurt his unborn child. They knew they would have to kill him to make that happen.

"You pledged an oath to follow our laws like everyone else," Hugo said. "We gave her the benefit of the doubt when we gave her free roam of your lands, but we've since heard she was claimed by rogues and incited the attack on the pack. And now Hunters have come to Wolfdale when we haven't seen them in over a deca—"

"Are you that foolish to believe every little whisper your spies tell you?" Cain growled.

"Several reliable sources verified this," Hugo said.

Was that Amber again? Micah had told him she'd said a lot of nonsense and threatened to go and see the Circle about Layla.

"Stop your bullshit and tell me why you've stepped foot on my land after I told you never to return," Cain growled.

The fact that he was asking first surprised Jackson. It was only then that he realised that Cain had changed too. From the moment he'd met and accepted Layla, all his thoughts and emotions had been determined by his mate. But the beast seemed to understand why a full-on attack on the Circle would not benefit anyone.

"Don't make this difficult, Your Majesty," Lincoln said, his head still lowered. "You slaughtered most of the Red Moon pack in your forest—"

"A justified response to the unprovoked attack on my pack," Cain said.

"You killed their Alpha on your doorstep," Lincoln pointed out.

"Also justified."

Lincoln shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We didn't intervene then, but we can't let this one go. Please step aside, or we'll be forced to subdue you. You know full well that we can."

Cain's simmering rage morphed into something. It swept him along in the sea of destructive emotions that defined Cain but usually lay dormant. But he knew these were not just Cain's emotions. They were his, too. The beast with the black blood and not an ounce of humanity within him. The one who'd slain countless packs and enjoyed it. That side of Cain was just as much his, no matter how much he had tried to distance himself from it.

"Can you?" Cain asked with a smirk.

Darkness had resided within him even before he'd been cursed. Fear rose from the three Circle members, and his dark soul fed from it. It fed on all the fear in the air.

The door on the driver's side opened, and the last member of their little clique came out. Finn stepped back to stand next to Lincoln without the signature fake smile on his face. Dark magic was already rippling all around him.

"Think very carefully about your next moves," he growled. "You've defied my order not to step foot on my land again, and you're threatening Layla."

His pack was listening, and his warriors were close, but they would not intervene against the Circle.

It was Finn's anger that flared up first. The arrogant Circle member sneered and looked him directly in the eye.

"You had no right to do that. We are the law; you must submit to us," Finn spat out.

Finn's magic rippled, fed by his emotions. But it was his next words that broke the string holding the beast back.

"Bring that bitch to me, or your whole pack will pay for your insolence."