Page 109 of The Alpha King's Fate

But the Hunters didn’t even look in her direction as they pulled Faith by her neck towards the cage door. Her screams didn’t move them. Her banging didn’t move them. Faith was too weak to struggle much; she was no match for the Hunter’s strength when they dropped her to the floor.

They didn’t bother to pick her up by her shoulders. They pulled the catch pole, tightening the silver chain around her neck.

A calm settled over her when Faith’s harsh breaths reached her ears. When the sound of her scraping along the cold floor and the scent of her blood registered in her head.

It took her a second to turn around and rip the cage door off its hinges. A second to drop to the floor and start running up the aisle. The stabbing pain in her body didn’t register as only one tithing became her focus.

No one was taking Faith from her. No one.

By the time she reached the top of the aisle, her claws were extended, and she saw nothing but red. Her nails dug into the Hunter dragging Faith first. One second he was walking towards the door, and the next, his head rolled across the floor. And then there was nothing else in her mind except the hunger for their blood. Their screams. It filled her so completely that even saving Faith fell to the back of her mind.

She didn’t feel their punches when they fought back. She broke their weapons when they tried to use them. It was just like the night at the gates when she killed Hailey, but this time she didn’t see giant red paws. The blood was on her hands. Dripping downher chin. Spilling all over the warehouse floor and splattering against the walls.

Flashing lights brought her focus back to the room and a loud siren pierced her ears. Faith sat against a wall, covered in blood but with the wire no longer around her neck. Tears rolled down her face, but her eyes focused on the Hunters who lay dead in front of her.

‘Save her,’ the beast in her head said. ‘Let’s go.’

She looked back at the cages in the warehouse, at the wolves inside, looking at her with eyes full of hope. Save Faith? What about everyone else? They were her people, too.

‘We can come back,’ the beast said. ‘Move.’

A hissing sound made her look up at the ceiling. The same contraption hung up in the glass room where the doctors tortured her, but a smoky gas came out of this one right over the door. It spread quickly above her, filling the room. The wolves in the cages started to cough.

‘Move!’ the beast screamed.

But her head was woozy before she took a step towards Faith. She fell to her knees, her eyes on Faith as the girl continued to look at the destruction around her.

She knew before her head hit the floor that she’d fucked up. The Hunters were going to make her pay for what she did.

The last thing she saw before the darkness took her again was the heavy doors sliding open and many heavy boots marching in.

Chapter 49

It was a fortress. A colossal monstrosity of wire and metal that lay hidden in the woods on the outskirts of Bluffhill. The scent of Hunters was as overwhelming as the stench of death that hung over it.

Jax’s eyes were red and his claws extended as he watched from the treeline. There was a wall of Hunters guarding the perimeter, hidden from his view and a thick wall topped with barbed wire all around the property. He was willing to bet it was silver.

‘We should wait,’ Dylan said in the mindlink. ‘We need backup.’

Wait? His bond with Layla was still distorted, but her scent led him there. She was writhing his reach. How could he wait when he didn’t know what they were doing to her? He could sense hundreds of people inside, most likely all the wolves that had been kidnapped, but he could feel just as many Hunters. It had been hard enough fighting the few that came after him at the hotel. He could get many of them if shifted fully, but how would he fight their weapons? Going in blind wasn’t a good idea.

But still, how could he wait?

“Chase is walking around town to make sure we don’t get any surprises when we go in. I’ll walk around the perimeter,’ Dylan continued.

The truck that took Gavin went through double gates. The Hunters didn’t mess with their security, it seemed. This was the first time he’d ever seen a Hunter base, but he was willing to bet anyone who saw one didn’t live to tell any tales.

‘I’ll go around the perimeter. Go and meet up with Chase.’

‘You should go back into town. Chase will book a motel so you can calm down a little. We can’t afford any mistakes right now.’

He looked down at his clenched fists, still partially hairy. He still couldn’t return to his human form. He knew his eyes were glowing, and bumping into anyone was a no-go. But there was no calming down now. Dylan knew that.

‘You should stay out here or meet Chase,’ he said. The command rippled through their bond, and Dylan’s disappointment was evident as he stepped back.

‘Jax...’

‘Hope will need you. You and Gavin have done more than enough by getting me here. You’re more important than I am right now; you have to raise the future Queen. A hybrid that we have never seen before. The Circle will want to get their hands on her. You have to stop here, Dylan. I can’t trust anyone else with her.’

---