Page 37 of The Alpha's Grave Secrets

“Let’s move,” I bark, the team springs into action.

I send Elara back to my house with several agents. She doesn’t argue; instead, I feel relief flood her as she reaches out for me as well. I don’t shut her out of my thoughts, and I won’t ever shut her out again.

The shack is just as Elara described. Small, barely visible through the thick trees, a stream trickling nearby. My wolf’s low growl vibrates through my chest as we surround the place.

Richard has used scent blockers again. We returned the favor so that he couldn’t smell our approach either. We might not be able to smell him, but I’m sure he’s there.

“Positions,” I whisper into my comm. Callie, once again, is gracefully poised with her rifle. Like a cat waiting to catch her prey, her finger hovers over the trigger.

Bruce, Hati, and Gun fan out around the shack. We’ve got him surrounded. My wolf snarls inside me, clawing to break free. But I keep it together, just barely. I can’t rush this.

“Let her go,” I growl, letting a hint of my wolf bleed into my voice, ripping the dinky door off its hinges. Richard’s eyes widen, scrambling toward his victim, putting a blade to her throat.

He’s too far gone. Too desperate.

I take another step, and my body shifts just enough to let my wolf’s presence flood the air. My claws lengthen, my teeth bare, and the snarl that escapes my throat isn’t human.

Richard falters. He knows what I’m capable of.

“Drop the knife,” I order, my voice thick with the power of the shift.

For a split second, it works. The knife wavers in his hand.

And then Callie fires the bullet, whizzes past my ear too close for comfort, hitting him square in the knee, and Richard crumples with a howl of pain.

The girl collapses to the ground, sobbing, and Gunnolf moves in instantly, pulling her to safety. But I don’t have time to watch it.

Richard is already shifting.

His body twists, bones snapping as he shifts into a large, brown, feral wolf. A snarl rips from his throat, and without hesitation, I shift entirely, meeting him head-on.

We collide, breaking through the shack’s wall. The building crumbles in our wake, but my team moves fast, and none of them nor the young trembling woman is injured as it falls.

As we smash into each other, the force of the impact shakes the ground beneath us. His claws tear into my side, but I don’t care. All I see is red—fury consumes me. My massive black wolf surges forward, faster, stronger, slamming him to the ground.

Richard snaps at me, his jaws closing around my shoulder, but I twist, throwing him off balance and off me. My teeth sink into his neck, and I hear the crack of bones and taste his metallic blood as I tear his throat out.

It’s over in seconds.

He doesn’t get back up.

Blood pools around his body, and the forest falls silent except for the ragged sound of my breathing. I shift back, standing over his lifeless form, the adrenaline still pounding in my veins.

“Clear,” Bruce calls from the other side of the clearing, but I barely hear him. All I can think about is Elara.

Back at the station, my boss is livid. His voice cuts through the room like a whip as he berates me for the mess we left. “Shifting on-site, Blackwood? Really? You know it complicates things when it comes to clean-up.”

I stand there, unmoved, arms crossed. I don’t care. My team just stopped a serial killer, and all he can drone on about is the added paperwork.

“You’re lucky there were no witnesses,” he adds, his voice sharp with warning.

“Lucky isn’t the word I’d use,” I mutter, staring past him. My thoughts are already back with Elara. The kill might have satisfied my wolf, but nothing will calm the storm inside me until I see her again.

The boss dismisses me with a wave of his hand, and without a second thought, I’m gone. There’s only one thing on my mind now.

Elara.

Chapter 20

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