Weston covers his nose and shuffles into a corner once Ford goes to let Gabe out. Abbott gets up and jumps on my back. He thumps my head and winds an arm around my neck to choke me out. I grunt, driving him into a column repeatedly until he lets go. He staggers to the side, then comes at me again.
“Get him, Alpha!” Tobin cheers.
The commotion draws Kip in from outside and two more guards from the security team from upstairs. Jordan flies down the steps with a curse, Lyle on his heels.
They pass by Hodge, still hidden by the spell. He snags Lyle by the scruff of his collar, dragging him backwards. Lyle compensates, throwing his weight to jerk Hodge to the floor with him. Hodge doesn’t let him get away, wrestling him.
Gabe emerges from the cell, blocking Kip’s charge. Ford tosses the keys to one of the witches and joins the fight.
The other witch shoots magic at Jordan. He dodges, clothes shredding as he lets his wolf out. Jordan leaps at her and attacks her shoulder, biting down. She screams, wrenching his fur in her grip to get him off. His bites are brutal and relentless. Fuck, I need to get over there.
I shove Abbott against the wall with all my might. He hits it hard and collapses with a groan as he loses consciousness, taking the chair he reaches for with him. I’m too late to help the witch. Her hands loosen, falling away. Her blood coats Jordan’s snout and the floor.
Weston pushes away from the corner with a yell. To my surprise, he doesn’t join the fight to attack my loyal guards. He goes for Jordan’s wolf, shifting as he tackles him.
His wolf’s a scrapper, smaller than his older brothers, but a cutthroat fighter. Jordan’s a fast wolf, yet in a confined space like the cabin, he can’t outwit Weston when he clamps his teeth on his back leg, rending it with a hard toss of his head. The bone fractures and Jordan’s wolf screams in agony. Weston wastes no time breaking the other one, then goes for his throat.
“Stop,” I command.
Weston freezes. I push him aside and drag Jordan by his scruff into an open cell. The remaining witch closes it.
Ford and Gabe have Kip beat. Hodge is up. He hoists Lyle off his feet, glowering.
“Enough,” he barks.
Kip struggles, but Gabe doesn’t let up, twisting his arm to the breaking point behind his back.
“It’s over. Give it up,” Gabe bites out. “You lost.”
Ford holds the cell door open while his mate shoves Kip inside. He slams it behind him with a scowl, surveying Kip and Lyle’s cells.
“Get comfy. We’ll be back to deal with you assholes later.” Ford points at Kip with a deadly glare. “Your days are numbered. You never should’ve touched my mate.”
“Ford, I’m fine,” Gabe mutters.
Ford releases a rough noise, pulling Gabe into his arms and tucking his nose into the crook of his neck. Gabe clutches him, murmuring to his mate.
Weston’s wolf crawls on his belly to my feet, whining. His tail is tucked between his legs and he covers his snout, muscles twitching continuously with how hard his wolf shakes. At my booming growl, he shifts back, remaining crouched and bowing his head. The others watch in silence.
“I’m sorry,” he pleads.
“You turned against your brother,” I say.
“He’s not Alpha. You are.” He bends his neck, shoulders quaking as hard as his voice. “I’m sorry. I failed you. I should’ve been stronger. I—I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do.”
I grit my teeth. “Did you join the security team so you could feed them information?”
“I—” He gulps, forcing out the words shamefully. “Yes. They made me. I didn’t tell them everything—only the patrol schedules and the route map.”
He cuts off as my wolf makes himself known, my hands beginning to shift. “You betrayed the pack. Betrayed your alpha. I should kill you for that.”
Weston presses his face to the floor with a fearful noise. “I know. It’s what I deserve.”
I work my jaw, staring him down. He’s no threat to me. He might’ve been swayed down the wrong path by pressure from his family, but he doesn’t smell like trouble or lies. When it came down to it, he did the right thing.
“Who do you pledge loyalty to?”
“You,” he answers immediately.
“Not your brother? Your father?”
“No, Alpha Blackburn,” he declares. “They’re traitors. I give my life to serve you.”
My gaze narrows. “You have one shot to prove I can trust you. Understand?”
He nods quickly, uttering a relieved cry. “Yes. I won’t let you down. We have to get to the compound. Lorne’s waiting for you there. He knows you’re coming back today.”
My lip curls. The smug bastard expects me to go to him? I want to rip his spine out by his tail.
“Get up. Help Tobin unlock the other cells and meet us there.”
We check the entire patrol cabin. There aren’t any other guards under Lorne’s command here. The witches ward the entrances and windows to keep out anyone who would help the traitors we captured escape.
“You three come with me,” I tell Hodge, Ford, and Gabe. “Tobin and Marissa, meet up with the group that made it off the packlands. Keep an eye out for any runners. Let’s go.”
I vault off the front steps of the patrol cabin, relinquishing control to my wolf. The transformation ripples through me before my paws touch the grass. His senses sharpen, listening for any signs of enemies. None are near, the stench of a threat wafting on the breeze from the opposite direction.
My lieutenants follow my lead, shifting to their wolves right behind me. My chest reverberates with a dominant rumble and they paw the ground, licking their jowls.
We take off for the Blackburn compound to the western slope of the mountain. It looms from the trees as they open to the wall he built around the territory he claimed for himself. I growl at the affront, not stopping my charge. I crash against the barrier to knock the outer wall down with a forceful blow of my shoulder. The stone gives. It’s no contest for the Alpha power flowing in my veins, giving my massive wolf immense strength.
The courtyard is empty. No guards. No one inspecting the unsubtle entrance.
Offense roils my stomach and ruffles my wolf’s fur as we careen through the compound. No one stops our group from busting through the doors to Cormac’s massive lodge set at the edge of a cliff face.
Power driven by my fury radiates from me with every bounding step. I shift back mid-leap, landing in a crouch at the center of the great room.
Lorne sits in a regal chair with my uncle at his side on the raised platform backlit by windows overlooking the valley like he’s won. Like he’s the Silver Falls Pack alpha.
I’m pissed as fuck, furious growls tingeing every panting breath. Outrage rockets through me at the sight of females cowering behind the males who all wear self-important expressions. At how many of my pack has accepted Lorne’s takeover. At my beta in Dane’s headlock near the front of the crowd to my left.
My heart stops. An unconscious female is sprawled at Lorne’s feet.
Avery.
Something’s wrong with the bond. I can’t sense her.
I’ll fucking kill him for this. He’s harmed my mate and my pack. My wolf surges forward to take my skin again, ready to destroy everyone in the damned room to get to our mate.
My outraged roar rattles the glass and sends half the room to their knees cowering. Those that manage to remain standing look to my cousin.
Lorne gives me a vicious grin.
“Cousin.” He rises, spreading his arms. “I’ve been waiting for your return. I challenge you for the title of Alpha.”