Page 7 of Dante's Circle Reborn

“No, the dragon is letting us since it’s a wolf. He said he’d be on standby if needed. Same with his mates and the rest of them.”

“This is a wolf matter, so we’ll handle it.”

“That’s the plan.” A breath. “Turn off here. We’re almost there.” He directed Liam towards where the body had been found. Sweepers had come in to clean up the evidence, though they’d done their best to preserve the scent trails.

They got out of the car in silence, Alec’s wolf at full attention. He inhaled, trying to untangle the mess of scents surrounding the scene. He could smell the burgers from the fast-food restaurant across the street, and pine from the trees surrounding the small grassy area where Kelly Martin had died.

No,diedwasn’t a good enough word.

She’d been gutted, pawed at, mauled, and left bleeding out with her entrails wrapped around her neck and her heart missing.

The fucking rogue had eaten the organ according to Hunter, and they only knew that because there had been saliva near her chest cavity. Licking for scraps, for blood.

No, the rogue wasn’t human. Wasn’t shifter. Wasn’t even merely animal.

It was worse.

It was an anathema. The absence of life. Of hope. Of death. Of sorrow. It was the worst of all creation.

And now, Alec and Liam would be the ones to destroy it.

“Got anything?” Liam asked, and Alec shook his head.

“I need to untangle first.”

Liam gave him a tight nod. “Same. Let’s find this son of a bitch.”

Alec pulled his gaze from Liam—something easier to do when blood ran hotly between them because of death and not lust or whatever the hell they hid behind—and went back to searching. The two of them moved around as one, each taking in scents and trying to get beneath the top layers of the trail and into what they really needed.

The rogue.

Alec could still smell Kelly’s blood and tucked that away for future tracking. The rogue could still have her blood on its fur or skin since, in that mindset, it wouldn’t be thinking of DNA and scents and safety measures.

Alec stalked down the path, leaving Liam in the clearing. He ducked under a tree, following Kelly’s scent. Underneath that was a layer he didn’t recognize until he laid eyes on it.

“Damn it,” he growled, looking down at the mangled corpse of a raccoon. He knelt down near the furry body and sniffed, his muscles going as taut as a bow. No. That couldn’t be right. That couldn’t be the scent.

He lowered his nose and inhaled again, his wolf howling deep inside as he caught the familiar musk beneath the gore, rot, and insanity.

He knew that scent. Had grown up with that smell. It couldn’t be the truth.

“Alec?” Liam asked from behind him, and Alec almost jumped. It was only the fact that he always knew when Liam was near that he’d been able to sense him at the last moment. Not a safe thing when they were on the hunt. He needed to be on top of things, be better aware of his surroundings. Fuck. This couldn’t be right.

“It’s Charlie,” he rasped, and Liam froze behind him.

Alec couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus. It couldn’t be Charlie. He knew that scent, even under the horror, he knew it like the back of his hand.

Liam put his hand on Alec’s shoulder. He didn’t react. He couldn’t. Not when it was all he could do not to shift and throw his head back, howling at the world, at the irony of the injustice.

“It’s Charlie,” Alec said again. “It’s my brother. The rogue is my brother.”

And they were going to have to kill him. Soon.

ChapterThree

Liam stood up, rolled his shoulders back, and then held his hand out for Alec. “We should go. I’ve got the scent.”

Alec just knelt there, his whole body still like a statue. Liam wanted to scream, shout, dosomethingto help fix this. He didn’t think there would be any fixing this. He remembered Charlie. Had neverlikedCharlie, though that was of no consequence. Because, in the end, he and Alec would have to kill Charlie. Kill Alec’s older sibling, the one who should have been there this entire time to help, to be the big brother that could guide Alec through the darkness that had been their Pack.

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