Page 53 of Spike

"Olaf, this is all the proof we need," Amelia insisted, her voice tinged with frustration."Surely the others..."

"Hush, we have outsiders here," Olaf snapped, his tone sharp.

"Jack's turned half the pack against you, hasn't he?" I declared.

Olaf and Amelia's gazes snapped to me, their expressions shifting from surprise to realization. In that moment, I knew I had struck gold.

“Aw hell,” Nitro muttered darkly under his breath.

15

SPIKE

Amelia glanced out the window as well and gritted her teeth. "You two need to leave, right this instant," Amelia said.

"She's right. If the others see you two here, then the rest of my pack will side with Jack," Olaf said in a tired voice.

I didn't feel particularly smug about coming to the conclusion that there was division in Olaf's pack, although in other circumstances, I would've been.

In fact, what I unexpectedly felt for Olaf was... pity. Maybe he'd been slowly losing control over his pack this entire time, and the matter of Gray simply worsened the situation.

"Wait, what does all this have to do with Gray?" I demanded.

Nitro gripped my shoulder.

“Spike, now's not the time for this," Nitro said. "We need to leave now."

"I need to know why Jack's after my mate," I insisted.

"There's no particular reason. Jack claimed the moment he saw Gray, he had to have him. It’s as simple as that. There’s no profound explanation,” Amelia said.

Now she sounded as tired as Olaf.

"Jack's been doing whatever he likes for a while now, hasn't he? And you two let him?" I asked, a little furious about the whole situation.

I wondered how many strays Jack had taken back to the compound and had gotten rid of, after he was done with them.

"You have no right to judge us when you don't understand the entire picture, boy," Olaf snapped.

Did he just call me 'boy'? I glowered at the old wolf. Was he provoking me on purpose? Because if it did come to a fight between me and the old wolf, everyone knew I would come out on top.

Then again, if that happened, Jack would probably only use Olaf's death at my hands as an excuse to ignite a war between our two groups.

"Spike," Nitro said urgently. “Come on!”

"Venom would have never allowed for something like this to happen. If he knew the MC was on the verge of splintering apart, he'd have chosen a successor," I said, letting Nitro drag me out the door.

"Not everyone is as strong as Venom," Olaf said, sounding a little defeated and I felt sorry for him all over again.

For a split second, I debated asking Olaf and Amelia to come with us. He could take refuge in Moon Burrow until he came up with a solution...

Then I realized Olaf's pride wouldn't allow him to accept anyone's help. After all, pride kept him from seeking out Venom's aid while Jack slowly took control over his pack.

I followed Nitro out of the building, and as we broke into a run, heading for our truck, I felt a surge of adrenaline.

We were so close to getting out of there alive. But just as I dared to hope, a piercing howl shattered the air, echoing through the night.

My heart sank as I realized one of Jack's werewolves had spotted us.

---