45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

C ain didn't bother hiding as he ran down the road leading to his gates. Dylan hadn't been kidding. He sensed the dark magic all over his woods—Circle soldiers lying in wait as if they came prepared for war.

Diedre reinforced the wards, so they probably couldn't go in. But how did the Circle go in? How were they rounding up his people?

Two vampire assassins stood on either side of his gates as if they owned his pack's property. Their eyes trailed his movements even though he was still going at breakneck speed, but they didn't look concerned.

Did they think they had already won? He had no time for this shit. He needed to go back to wait for the Hunters and send Gavin back to his chosen mate and kids.

Without stopping, he launched over the high gates. The vampires didn't even flinch. He should have killed all of them when he had the chance. Lesson learned. He'd gone soft when he'd been counting down the days to his death when the witch cursed him, and even more so after accepting Layla as his mate. The Circle had never once been so blatantly disrespectful to him to go as far as to summon him for that trial.

The town was deserted, so he hoped Dylan had the good sense to have everyone inside the packhouse wards. Diedre had assured him those were impenetrable.

He'd sensed the group of people outside the packhouse when he'd vaulted over the main gates. He slowed down as he turned down the main street that led to his home. A familiar flashy car was parked behind some people. They sat in front of the packhouse gates, some huddled together, all with their heads lowered. And their scents were familiar. Were they Chase's pack?

He sensed his pack in the house and the fields behind it, away from the Circle's reach. But Alpha Chase's pack was all exposed.

Behind them, two more vampires stood. The wards weren't supposed to allow in anyone who meant them harm. How the hell did The Circle manage that? Diedre was strong before the curse, but after Layla healed her, the spells and potions reached another level. He doubted the Circle had anyone as strong as she was to break through it easily.

They would only have gone in if someone invited them through. As members of the Circle, they were strong enough to have commanded any of the wolves present to do that.

The group turned back to look at him as they sensed his approach. They shuffled back and parted, creating a path for him to the packhouse gates.

Cain slowed to a walk, his head down as he assessed the situation. There was a lot of fear in the air; it ramped up as he walked past them. Only a few people outside his pack saw his beast and lived to tell the tale.

‘We've been waiting all day for you, Jackson King."

Cain lifted his head to look at the men standing directly in front of his gates.

Jackson King? Did they forget their last encounter so quickly that they thought they could push Cain's buttons? What gave them the balls to do that? Before he attacked their assassins, Hugo at least tried to calm Cain down after they'd separated him from Layla. But now, there wasn't even an ounce of fear from them, not even from the new Finn.

Something was wrong with that picture.

The beast continued walking until his face was inches from Lincoln's. The Alpha didn't even flinch.

But that close, the stench of dark magic assaulted his nose. Maybe that was what they were relying on. A ward made with dark magic, perhaps a protective ward. Maybe something that would curse him as Hailey's mother did with her dying breath.

Such magic shouldn't have passed the first gates because its only purpose was to harm others.

‘Let's find out why they're here,' Cain said. ‘They were scared shitless at the trial. I smell a trap.'

‘So do I.'

He shifted faster than any of them could do and closed the distance between him and Lincoln again.

"Why are you here, Lincoln? Doing Cole's dirty work again?"

A muscle in Lincoln's jaw ticked, but he didn't look away.

"Alpha Lincoln. And I don't need an excuse to give you what you deserve."

"And what's that?"

"The Circle hereby strips you of your role and title. You're banished from this land effective immediately," Lincoln growled. "Anyone still here by sundown will burn along with everything here."

"Do you really want to believe I'll stop being a king just because you say so? Would that make you feel better?"

"There you go again. Selfish as usual. You don't give a shit what happens to anyone but yourself," Lincoln hissed.

It was the first time he'd seen Lincoln lose his composure. No, he'd seen that look before. At the trial, when he told the three of them that Cole didn't acknowledge their complaints about Layla.

"I see what's happening here. You're angry that Cole's got your balls in his purse, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"This has nothing to do with Alpha Cole."

"I know it doesn't. I bruised his ego. I killed his people, and he couldn't stop me. And he still has no idea how my mate commanded you and also walked out of her prison at the trial. A man like that isn't going to send his minions to kill me—he will want to do it himself."

"Every member of the Circle is equal. I have every right to be here today," Lincoln spat out, stepping back from him. "Now open the gates and let us in."

Hugo and New Finn stepped back, too, and only then did he see Alpha Chase on his knees in front of the packhouse gates. He was bloody, bruised and naked, with his head lowered like the rest of his pack.

"What did you do to him?" he growled.

"He tried to resist. And now the mighty Alpha has fallen in front of his pack."

Lincoln sounded proud of himself.

The rage still stewing in him bubbled up as he faced Lincoln again. These were all mind games. Lincoln would never stop until he went on his knees for the Circle, too.

"Right now, all of us are in danger, but you'd rather be here, trying to make me submit to you instead of doing your fucking job to protect us all," he growled.

"All of that is on you. You messed with the Hunters—you and that bitch, and now we all have to cower and hide!"

He had Lincoln by the throat before he finished speaking. Immediately, he realised why the Alpha had been so confident. The dark magic stung his hand and sizzled up his arm, burning his veins as it slithered into his body.

Lincoln grinned, even as he lifted him off his feet.

"Say it again. Call Layla a bitch one more time."

His fingers tightened and the grin fell off Lincoln's face.

"Your Majesty!" Hugo shouted.

The vampires that had been waiting appeared behind him in a flash. Something sharp sliced into his side, but he side-stepped and turned before it went deeper. Without missing a beat, he slashed his free hand across the vampire's throat and pulled the silver blade from his side. The second vampire's body fell at his feet.

The fear around him ramped up as Cain took over, half-shifting with his fingers still around Lincoln's neck.

"Do you think this is a game?"

The dark magic burned in his body. Without Layla beside him, he didn't know if he could still heal himself, or even what it would do to him. But he was done wasting time.

"Please put him down, Your Majesty," Hugo whispered.

"Your Majesty? I thought you stripped me of that title?"

His claws lengthened and Lincoln's blood dripped onto his crisp blue suit. Lincoln started to struggle and claw at the fingers that could finish him in a second.

"We're following protocol..."

"Protocol? To bully and threaten your people until you get your way? To put us all in danger just because you can? To humiliate a worthy and strong Alpha who only wants the best for his people?"

Hugo's gaze landed on Chase as if he'd only remembered what they did to him.

"If you disband the packs now, the Hunters won't find us. We have to control the situation—"

"Alpha Chase, please rise."

Chase lifted his head. There was anger coming off him in waves, but there was humiliation. Helplessness. The confident Alpha had been knocked down. When he slowly rose, he put his arm around his bruised side and lowered his head.

"Hold your head up, Alpha Chase. Look me in the eye."

There were murmurs from the people seated on the ground behind him. While people sometimes looked him in the eye, the beast never tolerated it. Never.

He met Chase's confused gaze and nodded.

"You're my mate's and child's protector. That makes us equals. That makes you my brother. So I will burn the world down for you if you ask me to."

He looked back at Lincoln and lifted him higher. The Alpha's face lost all colour, and his eyes were drooped. He was on the verge of unconsciousness.

"So tell me, Alpha Chase. Do you want me to burn the world down for you?"

It was his call. They had humiliated Chase for hours while he'd waited for the Hunters. It was Chase who would decide if they lived.

Hugo stepped back and New Finn fell to his knees. The fear they had hidden came back in full force.

"Please," New Finn said. "I didn't have anything to do with this."

"Do we end this shit now?" he asked Chase.

There was a pause before Chase walked to stand beside him.

"No. We have bigger problems to deal with right now," Chase answered.

Countless soldiers in his forest were ready to kill him if he killed the Circle members. Killing them now would bring more trouble to their heads before he could rescue Layla.

But he would do it. The shit with the Circle would only end one way.

He threw Lincoln to the ground where he landed next to the dead assassins. His fingers stopped stinging, but he could feel the dark magic wrapping around everything in his body, still moving within him.

"How did you do that?" Hugo whispered as he knelt beside Lincoln. "How did you even touch him? Is that how Layla broke through the door at the trial? How you walked on the silver stage?"

Though Hugo was still scared, his curiosity still came through. Did he expect answers now?

"I thought you were the sensible one, Hugo," he said as Cain retreated. "Take your people and go. The next time I see you, it won't end well."

Hugo lowered his head and nodded before he helped Lincoln to his feet. New Finn was already in their car. He doubted he would see him again.

As the car drove away from the gates, they swung open. Dylan came out and rushed to his side.

‘I couldn't let them in. I'm sorry I couldn't handle them myself; I knew they would command me,' he said in the mind link.

‘You did the right thing. They came here to kill us.'

Dylan's gaze lowered to his side.

"You're hurt."

"It's already healed," he answered. "Take care of everyone. I have to go back."

"Wait," Dylan said, pulling a phone from his pocket. "Gavin's moving. I think they've taken him."