Nine

Omar appeared to have been true to his word as Alpha Nathaniel never requested Chloe's company and Chloe had been allowed to return to the den with the other girls at the end of the night. She hadn't seen Lucas again once he had let her go and strangely, the rest of his friends were no longer in the main part of the club when she passed by the doors in the back. Then again she had just been so relieved and giddy that she had been able to hopefully help impress Lucas into making a deal with Nathaniel.

By the time the girls were back in the den, clean of sweat and glitter and all tucked up in their cots under layers of blankets and clothing to fight off the cold, Chloe had all but forgotten about her meeting with the mysterious British werewolf.  Sleep came quickly, pulling her into its warm embrace when her dreams were filled with sultry hazel eyes that would glow gold.

She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep but she was pulled from her dreams by someone shaking her. 

"Chloe!" Katie whispered roughly. "Chloe, wake up!" 

"What's going on?" Chloe mumbled, voice thick with sleep and blue eyes bleary. 

"Something is going on outside." Katie replied, grabbing a pair of trainers and socks and shoving them at Chloe. "Someone is attacking the packlands. We have to get out of here." 

It took Chloe a few moments to register what was going on but when her brain started to finally process what she was seeing, she realised all of the girls were rushing around, pulling on shoes and coats. The door to the den which was usually closed and locked was now wide open and yellow light was pouring into the dark room letting them see enough to escape. 

Escape?

Chloe didn't need to ask what they were doing, but it didn't make sense. They had never spoken of it before. In fact, they knew the males tested them by leaving the door unlocked to see if any of them would try and get out but the girls knew what would happen if they tried. The thought probably never even crossed their minds. And yet now they were all scrambling to dress with hurried movements. Somewhere outside the sounds of howling and snarling filled the air only to be broken up by the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. It was enough to make Chloe's blood run cold with fear but she kept moving, following Katie out towards the stairs. 

"Is that everyone?" A familiar voice made Chloe gasp, her eyes going wide when she saw Omar at top of the stairs. 

"Yeah." Katie replied breathlessly, brown eyes glancing around nervously. "Are you sure it's safe for us to run?" 

"As safe as it's ever going to be." Omar replied. "Just head south until you find the dirt track. You just need to make it to the cabin. I will come find you when the coast is clear." 

Katie gave a firm nod only to surprise Chloe when she launched at the male, their lips crashing together in a desperate and emotional kiss. 

"Stay safe." Katie mumbled when she had finally released the male before grabbing Chloe's hand and pulling her towards the exit. 

"What was that? And why is Omar helping us escape?" Chloe asked as she hurried to keep up with Katie. 

"I'll explain everything when we're safe." Katie replied. "Right now we need to get to the cabin and it's a long journey." 

"But what if we get caught?" Chloe frowned, the night air still filled with the sounds of battle even if it seemed far away and not coming from the direction they were headed. 

"We won't." Katie whipped around, her brown locks flying around her face. "Chloe, I know it's scary but this is the only chance we are going to get to be free of this hellhole. Do you really want to spend the rest of your days being forced to strip for disgusting perverts and treated like property? I swear I will explain everything when we get to the cabin but right now I need you to run." 

There was a desperation and urgency in Katie's voice that stunned Chloe. Katie was basically begging her to follow her and while Chloe was absolutely terrified of what would happen to them if they were caught by the Alpha, Chloe didn't want to disappoint her friend and she certainly didn't want to stay here anymore. With a soft nod, she grabbed Katie's hand, just about returning the relieved smile on Katie's face as they headed for the treeline that other girls had disappeared into.  

---

Lucas snarled as he knocked the gun out of the hands of one of Nathaniel's men. It didn't surprise him that the coward would arm his men with guns but they were useless against the raid. With a swift kick to the chest, he sent the startled male flying into the unforgivingly hard trunk of a frozen pine tree. A grunt mingled with the wet smack of the man's skull cracking against the bark before he fell lifelessly onto the snowy ground. 

Lucas was already onto his next target though as wolves and vampires fought all around him. They had done well to catch the pack off guard but they were still resisting at the command of their Alpha. It was no surprise to the Brit that Nathaniel was hiding in his castle, letting his men sacrifice themselves. Even before he met the man Lucas had determined he wasn't worthy of the title of Alpha. It was part of the reason he was here. 

Lucas! Nathaniel's trying to make a break for the garage. I think he's trying to run. The familiar voice of one of his cousins filled the mind-link. 

Sierra, Alvaro and Johnny, you're with me. Lucas replied. Everyone else, push Nathaniel's men towards the paddock. This will be over as soon as Nathaniel surrenders. 

He didn't wait for a reply. He finished off the male he had been fighting before breaking out into a sprint, heading towards the Alpha's residence. Nathaniel was doing nothing to surprise Lucas and he would likely consider this a boring raid if it weren't for one small but very important detail. 

His mate was here. 

Just thinking about Chloe had his eyes flashing gold as his wolf, Ares, tried to take control. He had not been expecting to find the one the moon goddess blessed him with in some backwater corrupted pack being forced to dance for men's entertainment. It had taken everything he had not to pounce on her the moment they met, which was just as well because disturbingly, Chloe didn't seem to be responding to the mate bond. 

That was an issue for another time. Right now he needed to bring Nathaniel to justice and he couldn't do that if the slimy bastard succeeded in getting away. 

The lights of the Alpha residence came into view pretty quickly. Lucas knew where Nathaniel was going. They had only been inside the pack proper for a couple of days but they were very familiar with the lay of the land. They had been studying it for nearly a year and Lucas especially had researched and studied every inch of the territory. He knew every way in and out of the packland. He knew where the patrols concentrated most of their efforts and where they were slacking. It was how they had been able to get on and off of the territory without anyone noticing. 

"Have you got all of the money?" 

"Yeah! What about the girls?" 

"Fuck that, we will get more when we are out of this fucking shit storm!" 

It baffled Lucas that Nathaniel wasn't even trying to make a quiet exit. His ears had pricked at the mention of the sixteen girls currently being held prisoner in a basement nicknamed the den as if somehow that would make it sound less like hell. The sickly scent of their fear had been strong enough to burn the back of Lucas's nose and he had seen red. It took a lot not to succumb to that level of rage and tear Nathaniel's throat right there and then. Months and months of investigation would have gone down the drain if he had. 

He slipped through shadows like a ghost, following the racket Nathaniel was making with his beta. The spineless coward wasn't even going to try and defend his title. He had left his men to the mercy of an unknown threat. It was an honour to be an Alpha of a pack but Nathaniel had no honour. 

Rounding the corner the four werewolves surrounded the SUV. Sierra and Alvaro had shifted, their tawny and black pelts and glimmering in the moonlight as they stilled, their hard eyes on the two men. 

"Lucas!" Nathaniel jumped at the sight of the young male when he turned away from the car. "Thank goodness you're here! Rogues have breached our borders!" 

"No, not rogues." Lucas tilted his head. 

"What?" Nathaniel looked confused, the penny dropping soon after. "Wait. What are you doing here? I thought you left hours ago!" 

The sound of a skirmish on otherside of the vehicle dragged the soon-to-be-ex Alpha's attention away from the young male. It was an error on his part as Lucas was on him in a split second, a savage snarl erupted from his throat as he slammed the older man face first into the passenger window. A dull thud mixed with the pop of cracking glass and the scent of blood filling the air almost immediately. 

"Nathaniel Thorn, on behalf of The International Committee, I Lucas Wolfe, senior agent of the law enforcement division am placing you under arrest for the crimes of false imprisonment, trafficking, slavery, murder and desertion." Lucas spoke as he twisted the wolf's arms behind him, ignoring the roars of protest and rage. "As is your right, you do not have to say anything when questioned however anything you do say can be relied upon in your trial."

"You fucking bastard!" Nathaniel screamed just as Johnny appeared with beta Kevin, dragging the man towards them. "I will kill you for this! You have no idea who you're messing with!" 

"No, you have no idea who you're messing with." Lucas growled, pulling Nathaniel away from the car once he was handcuffed. "Did you honestly think you could get away with this forever?"

"Fuck you." Nathaniel spat back as blood gushed from his nose.