Layla jolted out of her position when a loud scraping sound echoed in the warehouse. The tension around her rose to overwhelming levels, and a few whimpers came from the cages around her. She pushed to her knees and remembered not to move off the small mat. Around her, the other wolves had withdrawn into themselves, hugging their knees tighter. Only when she caught the familiar scent did she understand what was happening. Somewhere in the warehouse, the Hunters had opened a door. The air shifted as fresher air came in from the other side of the doors, and heavy boots echoed in the room. Her body was taut with tension, but it rose even higher when she heard the dragging sounds and the moans. They were dragging someone else into the room! She blinked and tried to focus, but her head was still swimming because of whatever drug they used to knock her out. Whoever they brought smelled familiar. ‘Don’t bring attention to yourself, or you’ll be next.’ She didn’t look back at Faith wh
Jax barely cleaned the blood off before rushing to the empty lobby with Dylan and Gavin on his heels. Dylan gave him the fresh clothes, but that was pointless as far as he was concerned. He didn’t need them for long. “Alpha Chase is coming over to help,” Dylan said. “This needs all of us, Jax. You can’t find her by yourself.” Chase was bound to Layla through the blood oath he’d made to protect her, so he wasn’t surprised by that news. But all the other Alphas knew to stay away. They’d never fucked with the Hunters, and now wasn’t the time to start. Something had changed. “He can help you with the pack while I’m gone. You’d stand a better chance if he brought the rest of his pack to our territory,” he growled as he switched on the computer at the front desk. Outside, red and blue lights were flashing. The human emergency services responded to the fake call and secured the area, but it would take time until someone gave the hotel the all-clear. Even then, his doors would remain shu
He looked as terrifying as the day he blew Amber’s brains out, even more so because of the smirk on his scarred face that looked unnatural. His hair was still in a military buzz cut, and his brown eyes were just as dead as the Hunters who led her into the room. On her knees, his size was intimidating. His arms were massive, his muscles bulging, and his black vest top looked too small. She usually liked tattoos, especially Jax's, but this man's sleeve tattoos seemed too severe. Almost as if their message was as full of hate as he was. “I apologise for bringing you out so late,” he said as he walked forward. “I normally like to greet my guests straight away, but you were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to disturb you.” She shuffled back until he stopped, a grin on his face that showed how excited he was with the situation. “Look at you. You act like a meek little lamb; it’s easy to see why anyone would be taken in by the fake innocence,” the man said with a chuckle. “Who are
The Hunters had access to weapons that could seriously injure him, but all Jax could see were handmade traps or antiquated weapons. He’d easily overpowered the kid and tied him up on one of the pillars that separated the lounge from the dining area. A rookie. Not important enough to the Hunters to know all the details, but the details of any missions he went on the past few weeks would help.If the kid talked. He threw an old crossbow across the lounge and looked back at the Hunter. His blood was pouring out of all the places he had clawed him. He would bleed out if he didn’t get help, but the kid’s lips remained sealed. Maybe it was part of their training. He’d have thought facing death would change his mind.“Do you even know what you’re fighting for?” he growled as he stalked the kid. He picked up the knife the kid threw at him after his gun ran out of silver bullets. It was wider than a butcher’s knife and a little rusty. The same strange smell came from it, the same one on th
Layla drifted in and out of consciousness as they dragged her back down the hallways. Sunlight filtered through some skylights, so she guessed it was very late in the morning. It had been hours since they strapped her down and started butchering her. She didn’t know how long exactly since she passed out often. The fuckers hadn’t bothered to use any anaesthetic. The pain was excruciating, and the scent of her blood was overpowering. Now she understood why her wolf wasn’t coming to her aid when they were in so much danger, but she’d assumed she could still heal, even if it happened slowly. Her other senses seemed intact, even if her head was muddled. So why wasn’t she recovering? She’d just closed her eyes again, ignoring the pain from her knees scraping on the concrete floor, when something forced her to open them again. It took all her strength to lift her head, and the huge guards standing outside the restricted door loomed ahead, standing at attention with a hand on their weapons.
Jax stood perfectly still behind some trees at the back of Irvine’s house. It was almost noon but there was no sign of them. Some of Irvine’s neighbours left for work, while others seemed elderly and content to potter around their little houses all day. He could sense them without moving from his spot. It was something he had always been able to do. He’d taught Layla how to control and focus her senses, but everything seemed to have gone into overdrive. He could sense things that should have been too far for him. He could smell them, hear them from miles away. And somehow, he could form a complete mental picture of his surroundings, almost as if he could see it. It was because of his bond with Layla. His red wolf. Before all that shit started, he’d been excited to learn what his mate could do as she discovered herself. He never coveted her gifts, but now this link was the only thing keeping him sane. It meant she was still alive. But for how long? They wanted Layla for a reas
Cain 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 gone 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
‘You have to move back, Miss Layla. There’s nothing you can do for her now.’ Faith’s words cut her—nothing she could do. How many children did they have locked up like this? What traumas had they already endured? Was this the world Hope would grow up in? Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it as she kept her face against the silver bars, looking over at the girl who hadn’t stopped crying since the Hunters threw her into the cage. She looked even younger than the girl above Faith, maybe five or six. She hadn’t heard anyone else being brought in with her, so she might have been alone. Where did the Hunters find her? Why was she covered in blood? ‘Do you think they killed her family?’ ‘Or they could have just snatched her off the street like they did to me,’ Faith answered. ‘I still don’t know how they found out. I was always so careful around humans and went two towns over when I needed to shift. But they caught me as I walked back to my room after classes.’ She turned back to lo