Page 45 of Cruel Alpha Daddy

“We wanted to send a message to Bailey,” he growls. “They have had it over us for far too long, and it’s time he knew his place.”

“I did hear a rumor about a very foolish plan you had to kidnap mates from the Silver Meadows Pack.”

“Well, I just couldn’t hold the boys back any longer,” Tobias says, a little grin creeping over his face. “Some of us are real wolves. We need action, and danger.”

“Did you get your share of action today?” I demand, leaning over and grabbing his shirt to shake him. “Did you?”

Tobias grins at me, blood leaking out around his teeth. “Not yet, Alpha,” he whispers. “Not quite yet.”

I stare at him as shock settles into my guts. He doesn’t care about the people who were injured—or killed—today. All he cares about is strategy, and making me look bad.

“What happened?” I roar, shaking him.

“We hit Silver Meadows. I planned to get the mates of all the top wolves—Bailey, Jack, and Kyle’s women. They were outorganizing a party at their favorite camp area, and it looked like it would be a cinch. We moved in, caught the beta’s girl—Lena, I think? And we started to retreat. But then Bailey hit us.”

I let go of his shirt and step back. It’s taking all my control to stay still and not kick the living shit out of him the way he deserves.

“He came at you, full force,” I say.

Tobias nods. “I’m not even sure what happened. Suddenly, there were wolves everywhere. We got slaughtered. I don’t know how many we lost, but I struggled to bring home as many of my brothers as I could.”

I can tell by the look on his face he didn’t give a fuck who he left behind. He’d do anything to save his own skin and wouldn’t raise a paw to help a fallen brother.

“If you had been with us, if the pack had been with us, we would have won!” Tobias’ voice is rising as his wounds begin to heal. “We needed you, Alpha!”

“This was a terrible fucking plan!” I hiss at him. “Even if you pulled it off, it just would have made Bailey come after us and slaughter us all.”

Tobias grins, just briefly, and the cold gleam in his eyes makes me sick to my stomach. “All of us knew it was time for action. We can’t be Bailey’s lap dogs forever—we want our glory back! We were proud fighters, wild and savage. We answered to no one! Now that you call yourself alpha, we have no power, no respect. We are weak!”

Tobias leans on the wall and struggles to his feet. All around us, I can see people raising their heads, listening to us fight.

Everyone wants an explanation for how this happened, and they aren’t looking at Tobias. They’re looking at me.

“We thought if we proved ourselves, if we brought honor and blood back to the pack, you would finally listen,” Tobias continues. “That if we dealt Bailey a big enough blow, you would stand behind us, and the entire pack would fight with us!”

I shake my head, astounded that anyone would believe this bullshit. Unfortunately, though, I know some of the pack do believe Tobias and would rather blame me than him.

“So, we ended up alone out there, fighting for our honor. You stripped us of our pride, and when we went to get it back, insult was added to injury. There weren’t enough of us. I knew then that our alpha had betrayed us.”

“You couldn’t have won even if the entire pack was with you, right down to the last pup,” I growl. “This was a fool’s mission, Tobias! Look at what you’ve done!”

“Win or lose, Alpha, this one was always going to go my way.” He chuckles and taps his chest. “What are you going to do, kill me? Go ahead. See what happens.”

Rage burns in my blood as I take a step forward. All I want to do is rip the disgusting traitor to shreds, but Tobias has set me up perfectly.

If I kill him now, I’ll look worse than Jethro. Before a leadership challenge goes down, I need everyone to understand I did not abandon these boys.

“You win this round,” I tell him very quietly. “But it’s a war you’ve started, Tobias, and I don’t think you’ve got what it takes to finish it.”

“Bring it on,” he says, grinning.

I turn and walk away, joining the others in tending the wounded and counting the dead.

It’s been a dark day for the pack—maybe the darkest ever. But I swear, no more will die.

Except for Tobias.

Chapter 18 - Fiona

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