Page 62 of Betrayed By the Alpha Wolf

And with that, Kenzie took off at a dead sprint again, and I was tight on her heels as I followed her to the basement.

When we got down there, an enormous crack in the wall had been blown out right in Leon’s cell. The other Alphas were surprisingly unharmed, and I could see the tunnel that was dug directly to Leon. It was like whoever had busted him out knew precisely where he was, and even for wolves, that was impressive.

I mean, fuck, we’re underground.

“What in the absolute fuck? Ugh!” I stalked toward the cell, ready to see a big fat wad of nothing. “Lie to me and tell me Leon’s still tied to that…”

But my words drifted off as I finally got a look inside the cell. All the other wolves were crowded around it, and as I pushed through, my mouth dropped open. Sure, I’d expected that Leon would be gone; I just didn’t think it would be so permanently.

“What the…” I rushed into the cell, crouching over Leon’s body and eyeing the obvious hole that had been shot straight through his skull. “Didanyof you—”

“He was like that when we got here, Grayson. I swear to you,” Kaiden replied.

“Fucker was blown clean through by someone else. We’re not packing guns, Grayson. Don’t need ‘em.” Cade held up his hand, letting his claws elongate through his fingers.

I clenched my jaw, squeezing my hands into fists.

“Dammit!” My curse echoed through the stone chamber, and I pounded my fist down into the ground, cracking the ancient flooring. “Gone. All the information that I could have learned from him is just gone! And he was a damn wreck. Who would want to kill him and not rescue him?”

The question got us all sniffing the air for any indication of who was just there. I closed my eyes, focusing past the overwhelming stench of Leon’s freshly spilled blood, shaking my head. It was Reginald. Hell, I couldn’t scent any wolf at all. It was—

“Humans?” I whisper, turning over my shoulder to meet Jet’s eyes.

He nodded, and both Kaiden and Kenzie confirmed what I’d scented as well. Forrest and Willow stood far back, and I gestured for them to step forward.

“What can you tell me about his injury?”

Alpha command rang through my words, instinctual, and it took some doing to pull it back.

Willow was first to come forward, and she nodded at me, lowering her head even though I wasn’t her Alpha. WhenI flicked my stare to Kaiden, I ducked my head slightly, apologizing for “harassing” his wolves.

“He was shot with a relatively small caliber weapon. Direct impact with the skull, which passed straight through the brain matter and out the back.” Willow moved Leon’s corpse with the help of Forrest, eyeing the ground and then the walls. “No bullet fragmentation, so it wasn’t a hollow point. I don’t see any sign of multiple shots, and the bullet impacted the ground beneath Leon’s head.”

“Whoever did this shot Leon while he was on the floor. And going by the dirt on his shirt,” Forrest pointed out the stain on Leon’s chest, “they held him down with their boot and fired.”

Growls reverberated from the Alphas, including me, and Jet punched a bar of the cell.

“They shot him while he was down. He’s still fucking tied up, for fuck’s sake. Bastards.”

Jet had a point. As much as Leon could get fucked two times over, this wasn’t a merciful or honorable killing. They’d shot an unarmed, bound man who lay on the damn floor. It was heartless.

Shoving off the ground, I left the cell, my blood fuming with rage that burned like acid. My one fucking lead about what was going on with these mystery killers—and Reginald—was dead. I had nothing.

“Fuck!” I growled, stalking off toward the stairs to get some fresh air.

“Ugh.”

The low groan stole my attention, and I whipped my attention to my right, where the other Alphas were still behind bars while we waited for the antidote to take effect.Unfortunately, that had taken longer than expected because Leon’s drugs had been upgraded, it seemed. Still, Brooks was pulling himself off the floor, looking significantly worse for wear, with a handful of fresh cuts and scrapes.

“Brooks!” I rushed over to the bars, gripping them and on edge to see if my friend was back to himself finally.

“What the fuck happened? I was sleeping…and then there was some asshole.” He rubbed his head like it ached. “Damn, I remember being fucking feral. I couldn’t keep myself from shifting. And then when I’d started to come out of it, there was this big fucking boom and—”

“It was an explosion. Let’s get you out of here.” I looked down the hall where Jet and the others were still inspecting Leon’s corpse. “Guys! They’re okay! Let’s get the Alphas out!”

Kenzie was the first to run up toward me, and I drank in her comforting presence. “Gods. You look awful, Brooks.”

“Gee, thanks.” But he smirked, shrugging until he realized the movement hurt. “Ahh, hell.”

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