Page 84 of Alpha Reid

‘Not a damn thing,’Gray replies.‘You’re just in time.’He looks toward the ridge and Fallon follows his sight line, picking up on his meaning. Then Gray looks to the rest of us.‘We ready?’

We’re more than ready. We’ve all been waiting for this moment since we found out this war was coming, and every second we delay is a second too long. All of us head toward the ridge, to the fight that will put an end to the battle below. To cut the head off the snake. Fresh adrenaline courses through my veins, my teeth on edge.

We try to sneak up on Xavier and his lieutenants, but the blanket of snow on the ground makes it difficult to blend into our surroundings and they spot our advance when we start closing in. They all leap to their feet, on the defensive, while we fan out to take them on. I zero in the large silver wolf positioned closest to me and spring in his direction, snarling and snapping my jaws.

He puts up a hell of a fight. A wave of pain sears through my flank as something pierces my skin- whether it’s claws or teeth, I’m not sure, but it’s enough to send me stumbling back, nearly tripping over my own feet. I quickly recover, steadying myself and throwing my body into him to take him down to the ground. I snap at his throat, but he’s able to evade me, wriggling out of my hold and rolling out from underneath me. Then we’re both back on our feet, circling one another as a low growl rumbles in my chest.

I’m back in the zone. I don’t see the others around me or wonder how they’re faring- right now, it’s just me and my opponent. Everything else fades away. I dig my paws into the earth below, then launch myself toward him again. I trick him into thinking I’m going left, but go right instead, knocking him down with my front paws and leaping on top of him. Without missing a beat, I bite down hard on his windpipe, crushing it beneath my jaws. He jerks and sputters for air, then goes still.

Only then do I break focus, my surroundings creeping back in. Astrid is closest to me, still taking on Kara. The two of them are rolling around in a flurry of fur and limbs and teeth. Brock is close by, watching his woman do her thing but ready to intervene if needed. I look for my own mate, locating Serena right as she jumps in to help Jax, who is bleeding profusely from either his neck or shoulder and therefore struggling to get the upper hand on his opponent. Together, they take him down- and seeing that they have things well in hand, I turn away and look for Xavier.

More of the wolves in his inner circle fall, and as they do, it’s like I can feel the tide shifting in our favor. I locate Xavier, and I swear I can see the moment he realizes it, too- that he’s bound to lose this fight. He’s spent the past six years attacking other packs; taking them by surprise, murdering their alphas, and absorbing their ranks. Eliminating all who oppose him. What he didn’t anticipate when he took on the six-pack, though, was that he’d lose the element of surprise. He let his past victories get to his head, fooling himself into thinking this would be an easy win for him. Not considering how he’d fare taking on multiple alphas at once.

They say in your last moments, you show who you truly are. When I see the realization dawn on Xavier that defeat is imminent, he fucking turns tail, ready to run. The shadow pack alpha who has instilled fear in so many, who has snuffed out countless lives, is a goddamn coward when faced with his own mortality. I can’t say I’m surprised, but the irony isn’t lost on me. There’s nowhere for Xavier to run to- Brooke heads him off, her crazy ass wolf going straight into attack mode despite the fact that he’s twice her size. And as anticipated, our secret weapon gives him a damn run for his money. She takes him on singlehandedly, keeping him engaged while me and the other alphas finish off what’s left of his inner circle.

It takes Xavier a great deal of effort to finally shake Brooke off, but when he does, Theo’s right there, waiting in the wings to pick up where she left off. He leaps onto Xavier’s back, taking him down to the ground. He gets a few good blows in before Jax jumps in to assist, despite the severity of his own injury. The two of them fight in tandem, the snow beneath them dotted with red as they all rip into one another and bleed onto it.

The rest of us are circled up around Xavier now, preventing his escape and eagerly awaiting our turn to take a shot at him. By the time I square up to take him on, he’s starting to look a little worse for the wear. I underestimate him initially- the fucker is stronger than he looks- but I do wind up getting a piece of him. A chunk of flesh out of his side, to be precise. The taste of blood on my tongue has never been so satisfying.

Brock’s next. The two of them have history- Xavier nearly killed Brock the last time they went head-to-head. It’s only right that Brock gets to exact some form of revenge. Fur goes flying as they collide, teeth bared and jaws snapping. Though he keeps on fighting, Xavier is becoming noticeably fatigued, slower and weaker and more desperate. The five of us continue to take turns with him while our girls hold the perimeter.

Gray is the one who gets to land the final blows. It’s only right that he does, as Xavier took everything from him years ago. His parents, half his pack. His childhood. It forced him to grow up fast and take on the mantle of Alpha when he was barely eighteen, forever changing him. The look in Gray’s eyes is haunted as he throws Xavier to the ground for the final time, sinking his teeth into his jugular. He yanks back hard, tearing open his throat as we all look on.

Crimson blood seeps into the snow below, and I blow out a slow breath, one that I can see in a cloud of vapor in front of me.

The bastard is dead, and with him, so many other things. The anxiety about when an attack may come. The fear for the safety of our packs. The uncertainty of whether we’d live to see our future.

Xavier is dead, and so too is the shadow pack.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Serena

“I don’t see why we can’t just walk up in there,” Theo grumbles. “Their boss is dead, what do they have to fight for?”

“Now’s not the time to get cocky,” Reid warns, shooting Theo a look. “We need to stick to the plan.”

Gray sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Reid’s right, we don’t want to take any chances. The most important thing is getting everybody out safely.”

I nod emphatically in agreement as Reid slides his hand over mine, giving it a little squeeze. We’re gathered in the conference room at the complex, regrouping and getting ready to head out to the location where my sister and pack are being held. It’s about a forty-minute drive from here and if we leave soon, we’ll arrive before dusk.

When Xavier drew his last breath up on that ridge, I let out a breath that I’d seemingly been holding for months. The shadow pack has felt like an iron fist around my throat since they crashed into my family’s packhouse and stole my life from me. When that monster stopped breathing, I suddenly felt like I could breathe again. But that feeling was short lived, because the fight isn’t over- it won’t be until we get my sister and my pack back.

Following Xavier’s demise, we gave his soldiers the option to surrender. Many did. Those who refused were quickly eliminated. Then we deployed our team of medics, tended to the injured, counted the dead. Gave our bodies the chance to heal from our own injuries. All of the unpleasant things that come after war, the beginning of what will be a long rebuilding process. We may have won, but we also lost quite a bit, and the packs will need time to grieve their losses.

When planning for the battle here, plans were also laid for the rescue of my sister and pack after. Much to my surprise, all of the squad leaders and their mates volunteered to join the rescue effort, as well as Astrid’s brother Cole, his beta Sam, and Sam’s mate, Shay- who is apparently a former squad member from the six-pack. Chase joined up, too, but given everything that’s happened today, none of us expect him to actually come along.

The rest of us are getting ready to leave the complex when Chase appears in the doorway of the conference room with red-rimmed eyes. “When are we heading out?” he asks, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe and raking a hand through his hair, tugging at the ends.

The rest of us fall silent, exchanging wary glances. When nobody else speaks up, Gray heaves a sigh and rises to his feet.

“You don’t have to come, Chase…”

“Why wouldn’t I come?” he bites back, his eyes stormy.

Gray pauses, looking toward Reid. I swear the two of them have a silent conversation, communicating with their eyes. Then Gray heaves another sigh, approaching Chase and clapping him on the shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot today already,” he says gently. “It’s probably best for you to sit this one out, give yourself time to process everything…”

“Fuck that,” Chase spits, shrugging Gray’s hand off his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

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