Chapter 27

There's no way in hell she's going to sit at home and wait quietly for my return. I only told her about Blake so she'd focus on his arrival, no doubt planning to convince him to get involved, maybe even bring her to the meeting, rather than follow me alone.

And the decoy seems to have worked.

As I back away, I can see Mandy's shrewd mind running over the various options, none of which include doing as she's told. She's already spent a lifetime battling to stay alive and keep Noah safe. There's no way Seth and Lucian will be able to keep her inside if she wants to get out.

Although watching them try would be hugely entertaining.

She'll stay at home and wait, rather than fight with Seth and Lucian, before she'll convince my brother to help me. Which he will, even if he doesn't like me very much, because he's a regular boy scout.

Except it will all be over by the time they can reach me, one way or another.

And I'd be willing to bet Blake is going to have his own distraction to deal with before the night is through.

Shifting into my black wolf, I race as quickly and as quietly as I can through the forest. Small animals scatter, and the birds fall silent as I approach, feeling my power and deadly intentions. I'm early, but I expect him to be also, along with the enforcers I have no doubt he'll bring along.

It all comes flooding back to me as I approach the gorge, the hill sloping gently down toward the stream that meets the steep edge in a waterfall further down the mountainside. The events of that day come rushing back, as clear as if it had happened just yesterday. I'd come out here to sulk, frustrated that my mother refused to fight for my place as future heir to the pack.

In hindsight, I should have been patient. When it came time for one of us to step into the alpha position, a role that fell to Blake far too young in the end, I could have contested his automatic right to the position then.

Knowing what I know of him now, Blake would have dealt with it calmly and fairly. But I was a headstrong kid, reeling from the discovery that my biological father was not the man who'd raised me as his own, and it felt like the rug had been pulled from underneath me.

Walking closer to the edge, I scan over the deep gash torn into the side of the mountain and sigh. If I could go back, I'd also have done a better job hiding the body. At the time, I assumed Lee's father was hot on their heels, but maybe I would have had time to hide the evidence if I'd been more level-headed.

Although what male with a mate in danger, getting further from him with each passing second, has ever remained composed?

Staring into the overgrown scrub below, I still can't feel any sympathy for the man whose body I rolled off the edge. Gritting my teeth hard, I close my eyes, willing the red mist to subside so I can keep my wits about me. Because I'm going to need them. Even though Lee's father knows who he's meeting, I'm still hoping the element of surprise will work in my favour.

My feet take me in a wide arc around the site, one I've visited countless times over the years in the futile hope that it would bring me closer to her. Everything looks as it should. I don't see anything that looks out of place. I settle against a broad tree set near the riverside clearing, where a small cross marks the spot where I spilled Lee's blood.

From here, I can see someone coming from any direction. Resting my elbows on my knees, I lean back and wait. And wait.

The last of the light fades as the sun slips down behind the mountains and darkness washes across the forest. Shards of silvery moonlight bounce off the branches overhead which dance in the stiff breeze. It's almost the full moon, but not quite yet. By the time the new moon comes, hopefully, this will all be over.

After what seems like hours, the snap of a twig in the distance has my ears pricking up. Then another a few metres to the left of it. The nearer they get, the more careless they become until, finally, Alpha Wilson marches into the clearing, his face purple and incandescent with rage.

Eyes narrowed, spit flying from his lips, Wilson loses his well-polished alpha facade at the mere sight of me with an arm propped against his son's cross. He stomps out of the brambles circling the site where his son lost his life, arms raised, one finger pointed angrily in my direction.

"How fucking dare you?"

I thought this might be his reaction.

"Weston said someone had information for me, but if I'd known it was you, the coward that killed my son, who was dragging me out to this godforsaken place, I'd have burned the entire forest with you in it."

"You thought the choice of location was a coincidence?"

When I scoff, his face goes an even darker shade of puce, and I secretly pray he does us all a favour and has a heart attack.

"I assumed this was the informant's way of proving he knew what happened here. Not that it was actually you. It never entered my mind that someone could be that stupid."

With a flick of his wrist, he summons his half-a-dozen warriors, who emerge from the inky shadows to stand behind him, ready to attack.

"So, you came here yourself searching for Lee," I say, tilting my head as I examine him closely. "You knew it was me all along. You just couldn't find me?"

With a shark-like grin, he laughs. "Your scent was faint, the rain washed away most of it, but I was able to pick up a trail and followed it back to the Steel pack border. Either you lived there or were hiding there. It didn't take me long to figure out which." Wilson sneers, his face twisted in anger and disgust.

Wilson's on the council. He pretended to care for Blake after the rogue attack on our pack, became like a father figure to him when our own started to lose his mind. All that time, he was just waiting in the wings, hoping that Blake would confide in him or give away some nugget of information that would tell him where I was.

"The rogues were supposed to bring back your head to me, but as with any important job, if you want it done right, you need to do it yourself. They returned empty handed but promised there was no way you could have survived; but I knew, deep down, I knew you weren't dead."

Though I keep my expression blank, I'm hiding the urge to vomit into the damp, dark soil beneath my feet. The rogues were sent by Wilson. Members of my pack were slaughtered in retaliation for something I did. If I hadn't gone home after killing Lee, we would never have been attacked. Narrowing my eyes, the urge to charge at him is almost overwhelming.

What kind of man attacks an entire pack over something one person did? A sick fuck, that's who.

"Imagine my surprise when Blake came to the council, sixteen years later, claiming you were still alive and trying to take back the pack you feel is rightfully yours." Teeth clenched, his body vibrates with fury, and I think I have a pretty good idea of how he reacted to the news. "Everyone thought he was losing it, that moon madness was close; but I knew you'd soon be within my grasp."

His eyes gleam with manic delight. Wilson thinks this is all over.

"Sitting in all those meetings while Blake dithered over how to deal with you was torture. He wanted to track you, but didn't want to kill you. Like a fool, he hoped you weren't as bad as you were pretending to be. That there was some soul left inside you to salvage."

That Blake didn't want to kill me when he found me is a surprise. Now that I have a mate of my own, anyone who threatened to take her as their own would die a long and painful death. I may have pushed it a little too far with my brother. No wonder he was so angry. Wilson prowls around the clearing, arms gesticulating wildly as he builds up a head of steam.

"Except, I knew you had no soul, and what a monster you really are. Because only the devil would murder my son in cold blood and leave his body exposed to scavengers and the elements."

That's a statement I can't really argue with. He's right, I did do that. But Lee deserved it.

"In my defence, I wouldn't have done that to anyone else. I mean, if I killed Blake, I wouldn't leave his body lying around. But your son… he didn't deserve a decent burial. When I came across them, Mandy was black and blue. He had her by the hair, and he was threatening to kill her. Said he'd give me a turn with her if I looked the other way and let him take her home." Shrugging, I meet the eyes of each and every warrior standing behind Wilson, some of whose expressions have gone pale and tight.

Wilson seethes, but he doesn't deny that his son hurt her. As alpha, he was responsible for stopping it, for protecting a member of his pack. Just because Lee was his son, doesn't mean he can turn a blind eye to behaviour he wouldn't have allowed anyone else to get away with.

It's time to up the ante. "Lee was a piece of shit, and you know it. But I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Blake looks up to you, but what kind of man chooses his family"s reputation over the safety of a member of his pack."

Wilson looks like he's about to explode, apoplectic with rage.

"You filthy fucking mutt. Who do you think you're speaking to?" Wilson roars. "You know nothing of what it takes to run a pack. If your mate acts up, everyone will think they can ignore the chain of command! He was keeping her in line."

This is the lie he's told himself to help him sleep at night. Maybe his own mate suffered the same fate. He has a golden reputation but you never know what's going on behind closed doors.

"Except, he wasn't the alpha yet. So, if anyone was losing control of the pack, it was you. I bet you let them all believe Mandy was killed for being a traitor, for killing Lee, to quell the discontent, rather than admit she ran away, and why she needed to flee." For the first time, I lift my head and step out of the shadows, allowing him and the men around him to see exactly what they're dealing with. Letting my fangs extend down into my mouth and the red in my eyes glow brightly in the dark, I laugh. "But you can't play the devil unless you really are one."