Lottie POV: "Pardon?" I asked, my hand reaching up to my neck, running over the cold chill that was chasing down my spine. "I don't think you want to know." Sage added, and my eyes closed as I looked beyond Alpha to the countless other bodies that loitered the halls, left behind by the turmoil and destruction that was Havoc. I watched my mates walk away in the direction my Alpha lay, lifeless and alone and had to agree with Sage; I didn't want to know. But I had to! "Are you coming?" Kane asked over his shoulder, his eyes boring into mine needily. "No, love. Your brother needs you!" I nodded with a small smile. "But I need YOU!" He whined, a smile slipping across my lips at the tenderness in his tone, something he rarely shared with me, although I knew it was there. "I am not going anywhere, Ace!" I offered. Truthfully, I wanted to follow them and be at their side, but I didn't trust myself to hide whatever Sage was about to tell me from my face. They would have enough suff
Lottie POV"Shit!" I hissed, remembering that no one but Knox, Kane and I had their wolves. I had heard Kane say it earlier, but in the madness, I had forgotten! "So, how did he kill Alpha Leigh instead?" I asked, needing more than this before I approached the boys."He doesn't know. Havoc doesn't remember killing his father.. he knows he must have, but he was so angry at times he said he was just seeing red mist." "The red eyes!" I nodded to Sage, who grunted in agreement. "Does Knox know?" I asked, but I already knew the answer because there was no way Knox could fake the heartbreak I saw engraved into his face as he and Kane mourned their father."No.. Havoc just wanted to take on the debt so that Mike didn't get the payment and get.."Me!"Yeah, I get it!" I snapped, hating that a life had been snuffed out because of me. My mate's father and my Alpha's life! The man who raised me, who taught me about shifting, and how to ride a damn bike, was dead because I was some damned prize
Mike POV"Flint?" I questioned nervously while trying to roll my shoulder; the discomfort it radiating to my chest ached like a mother fucker. The bleeding had slowed now I was applying pressure, but fuck me, the pain was insane. "I thought the whole point of that fucking shit was to mute everyone's wolf, not knock them out entirely." I snapped to the man brooding to my right. His eyes locked on the ballroom doors as we stood against a wall under the stairs, allowing the darkness to hide us from the disarray erupting around the packhouse."Your wolf is still there. You are fine! Stop whining!" Anthony snapped, his eyes unmoving from the door. "How the fuck would you know? You haven't even looked", I ground out moodily. "Aw, sorry, Princess, do you want me to kiss your boo-boo better? Or make sure no one is coming out of those doors looking for us!" He hissed low, my cheeks burning with anger and a little shame."Be real; this wasn't our fault; it's equivalent to a kick-ass teen spi
Mike POV "Want me to kill him too?" The hooded figure asked Anthony, without looking over at me, simply nodding his head in my general direction. Given the blase edge to this stranger's tone and the boredom written across his features, I got the distinct feeling he was serious. "How much extra?" Anthony asked, his tone so severe I felt my jaw fall open; I wanted to look at my Beta and ask what the fuck, but the truth was I was too scared to look away from the demonic freak in case he acted on those unnatural impulses and slit my throat or some shit! Not like anyone would find me in this dark corner! "I dunno.. a gold medal?" He grinned so slyly that I almost knew he was enjoying my discomfort. His sarcasm and reference were not lost on Anthony or me; at least, I assumed so, given the chuckle that left my Betas lips. A pit formed in my stomach that made me squirm a little. Is this how I made Lottie feel? "Noted, I will let you know!" Anthony snorted."Fucking try it! I dare ya!" I
Lottie POVI wasn't in the mood for this shit; I had expected to come out here to find my father, the damn beta of this pack, to be supporting people. To be getting those injured, if any, to the infirmary, maybe I don't know, organising our pack warriors discreetly in case one of the visiting alphas decided to launch an attack tonight when we were most vulnerable. But instead, I find him in the darkness with Mike no doubt conspiring with whoever the fuck this male was. Meanwhile, those I cared for were left scared, confused, and running around like headless chickens. It was a joke!"He is a joke!" Sage growled a statement I was inclined to agree with, but I wasn't ready to voice that just yet. "Leave!" I demanded of the stranger who was not part of my pack, I knew I was being rude and had insulted him, but frankly, I didn't have time to kiss his ass; my mate was injured, and my other was close to a breakdown while they secured their father's body, my best friends mate was at death's
Lottie POVTurning to glare at my father and Mike, I pursed my lips, wondering how on earth everything had managed to go so wrong. Their eyes met mine, and I could see more than anger dancing in their eyes because of how I spoke to them; there was something I couldn't place, and it had me more than a little suspicious. "You two better be able to fix this cluster fuck you have caused because I have had enough of everyone's bullshit!" I growled, looking at them with just as much bitterness as they clearly bore me."I don't have to explain anything to you!" My father hissed, the contempt in his tone not lost on me. "Have you forgotten who you are talking to.. girl!" the last word spat out with such disrespect I felt my back stiffen. "How could I forget!" I mocked. "I am your beta; you will show me respect..""Respect is fucking earned, Father!" I laughed, cutting him off brutally. "And haven't you heard... You are no longer Beta because..." Swallowing the lump in my throat, I closed m
Lottie POV"You are exhausted; your body is flagging Char!" Sage moaned at me, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes; I was exhausted! Goddess knows I could fall asleep standing up. "I know, but Kane and Knox need me to get these answers! Lilly needs me to help Bash!" And like fuck was I going to let them down, they had lost their father and needed justice and solutions! "No, Char, they need you to support them, to hold their hands and tell them it's all going to be okay," Sage whispered, clearly nervous about my response to all this. "But it's not going to be okay." I sighed, "Not unless we can fix it.""Char, you can't fix everything." Sage sighed, and I knew she was right, but I could at least try! "Go be with the twins!" "I can't!" I breathed. "This is all my fault; how am I meant to go in there and face them when this... is all on me! If I had just rejected them like my father had said, maybe none of this would have happened!" "Maybe... but they would still be in pain,
Kane POV "Get the door." I told Knox with a nod to the servant's exit. I couldn't keep my Father here much longer. Someone was bound to walk in, and I wasn't ready to answer the questions they would have, much less deal with the pity cast in their eyes. I knew my pack would be grieving as much as Knox and I soon enough. I didn't know how much of that shit Mike had given everyone but going by Lotties experience, I guess we had around another twenty minutes to get my Father somewhere secure. "Careful!" Knox growled from the doorway. As I gently lifted my Father into my arms. Fighting back the tears that blurred my vision, I carried him from the ballroom and out of the servant's quarters. "Watch his head!" Knox roared when I knocked our Father's head on a pillar on the back stairs. "Sorry, Pop's." I whispered, my eyes falling to his face, hoping that, by some miracle, the bump to the head would wake him up. It wouldn't. I knew that. He was gone. Grounding the lump back down my throa