“You’re right,” Trey remarked dryly. “Which is why I’ll be relinquishing my place before we leave.”
“What?” Everyone in the room questioned in unison, their disbelieving gazes falling on him.
“I’ve lost over half of my pack tonight.” His voice nearly cracked, strained by emotion. “Some of them were friends, others were family. I have to make sure something like this never happens again. We can’t continue to allow Shepherds to choose the battleground and kill us as it suits them. We’ve been neutral for too long. That means some hard choices have to be made. It’s the best time for me to step aside and allow another to take my place so that things will transition smoothly.”
No one spoke yet Trey could hear the unspoken question. The remaining pack wanted to know who would be in charge when he left, who would take control to rebuild and put things back in order. Every Alpha chose his successor. While there could always be a challenge for the position, it was a common practice and display of respect to honor the Alpha’s decision in the matter.
Taking a deep breath, he decided there was no better time than the present to make his intentions known. Although he hadn’t asked the man of the hour to consider accepting the position, he was confident he would nonetheless. It wasn’t just his city at stake but his race as a whole. Being an Omega didn’t change that, it only raised the stakes.
“I plan to ask Diskant to take his rightful place as Alpha. He was born into my pack, raised in my pack, and had the Omega mark not surfaced upon maturity would have become my immediate choice.” A stunned silence spread through the room and he waited several seconds before he continued. “Diskant will want to remain here with his mate. He’s fully bloodbonded now, which means he’ll need to establish a safe haven for Ava and a family.”
“But he’s an Omega,” Brian remarked cautiously.
“So is Ewan McCormick,” Kinsley said, taking slow, intentional strides into the room. “He manages the jaguar pride in New Orleans and resides over the packs in the vicinity. A shifter can be an Omega and the Alpha of a pack. If Diskant is willing to take on the responsibility, it is possible to do both.”
“Do you honestly think he’ll consider it?” Nathan asked.
“Yes, I do,” Trey answered. “He’ll want to make as stable and safe an environment as he can for his mate. There is no better way than to call on the power of a pack.”
“Unless he decides to move to Alaska where they can’t be tracked,” Nathan countered.
“How about you discuss the situation with me instead of taking bets on what I will or won’t do?” Diskant appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in nothing more than blue jeans and a grim smirk, his mate standing at his side.
Trey watched him descend the stairs with the blonde pixie. Diskant’s gaze darted to the Shepherd strapped to a chair, the bandage obscuring his stumped wrist bright red with blood, and for a moment his eyes shifted gold—revealing the wolf. He stopped several feet away and stared at the man, saying nothing, just watching him with a hunter’s eyes. Trey could understand the impulse he was experiencing. Setting the asshole loose and giving chase appealed to him as well but that couldn’t happen.
Not yet.
“I should torture you slowly, you know,” Diskant finally said, tone menacing, moving closer as Ava remained rooted to the spot. “Considering what you are and what you to do our kind, I’m sure you’re aware of how long you can keep someone alive if you really want to. There are so many ways we can stretch the misery out. Maybe we could start simple, by breaking your fingers at the knuckles. We’d reset them, of course, so that we could do it all over again. Or maybe we could get a few needles from the tattoo shop Brian owns. I’ve always wondered how badly it hurts when your cock is pierced like a fucking pin cushion.”
The man remained silent and harsh lines appeared around his mouth as he forced his lips together, as if he knew he’d give over the goods if the punishment for remaining silent was brutal enough. It was a damn shame the son of a bitch couldn’t be told that he would be tortured regardless of his cooperation, his pain used as a balm to nourish and solidify the bonds of the pack. When this was all said and done, he would be provided the opportunity to flee, a fucking sheep amidst a pack of wolves. They would hunt him. They would track him. And when they found him they would take him down as a group, feasting on his blood while ripping him apart piece by piece.
“Nothing to say?” Diskant asked. “That’s all right. We’ll get there. We have all the time in the world.” Bending at the waist, he pressed into the man’s space, forcing him to move his head back or risk bumping noses. “You’ve gone and fucked with the wrong pack, Shepherd.”
“Is that a yes?” Trey asked, stepping closer. “You’ll ascend?”
Diskant snarled into the face of the man in front of him, his teeth no longer human but wolf, the canines large, sharp and prominent. “I’ll deal with you soon,” he promised. His features returned to normal as he moved away from the bound man and stared at Trey.
There was an enormity of pain in his eyes but there was also something else. Something that removed the sickening weight in the pit of Trey’s stomach, providing the first semblance of relief he’d experienced since he’d made the decision to hunt each and every Shepherd down until they’d never threaten another shifter.
“Ava mine,” Diskant’s voice changed as he addressed his mate, leaving Trey’s question unanswered. “Come here.”
She padded over to him, her bare feet silent on the carpet, and stopped at his side. Her focus was entirely on the Shepherd now, a visible crease marring her brow. The Shepherd’s expression suddenly changed. His eyes became cloudy and his facial muscles relaxed. It was as if he’d been given a strong drug of some kind, erasing all the worry, doubt and fear evident in his expression.
Ava unexpectedly brought her right hand to her mouth, her index finger and thumb resting on each side of her nose, and closed her eyes. Even from where he stood, Trey could see that she was trembling. Diskant placed his hand on the back of her neck, his fingers able to encompass the entire circumference of her throat. She took several deep breaths before she opened her eyes and moved her hand until her fingers rested over his.
“They wanted to take out as many of you as they could.” Her voice was quaking and Trey could scent the tangy smell of anxiety and fear radiating from her skin. “They’ve been planning this for weeks.”
“Planning what?”
She lifted her head and looked at Diskant. “To leave a hole in the heart of the shifter population by making sure they killed you.”
“Fucking hell,” Diskant murmured and drew her into his arms.
“And Mary?” Emory asked anxiously.
“She’s at her uncle’s ranch.” Ava’s answer was muffled against Diskant’s chest. “She’s been on lockdown since they found her with you.”
Ava peered up at Diskant and their gazes met. They remained that way for several seconds, as if they were communicating in some manner. Diskant’s face became a mask of fury and outrage.
“Doc,” Diskant growled, never taking his attention from the tiny blonde who studied him with an increasingly sad expression.
The pack physician moved from his spot behind the bar, appearing so different from the professional who practiced family medicine in the human world. His normally tidy appearance was ruined by wrinkled, bloodstained clothing.
“Boss?” Doc asked as he stopped beside the Shepherd who was no longer in a daze and gawked at Ava in horror, trembling violently, the smell of his terror burning in Trey’s nose like Tabasco.
“How long until he bleeds out?”
“A couple hours, maybe more. He’s been slipping into shock ever since we brought him in.”