Page 118 of The Alpha King's Fate

Samuel turned away from them and wiped the tears falling down his cheeks. His hand paused on the handle of his car door, and he squared his shoulders. Watching his demeanour change would have fascinated him if he was capable of feeling anything other than rage.

He might have even felt sorry for the kid. Irvine took his own life and left him to deal with the consequences. Though he wasn’t sure if he would have killed Irvine in the end, he could understand the hatred and determination that coloured the air. That overwhelming need to hurt someone. It came through so clearly that he didn’t even have to guess what it was.

Perhaps because he felt the same way. That rage wouldn’t be quelled by anything other than the blood of his enemies. For him, it was every Hunter in that base. For Samuel, it was every wolf.

It felt like a challenge.

The gates finally started to slide open as Samuel started his car. He rose slowly to his feet, watching the small gap he would have to run through. And he would have to face Hunters carrying the same festering rage that Samuel now carried.

By himself.

‘It’s not possible. We won’t get Layla out alive,’ he admitted to Cain. ‘But I think I know what we can do.’

Cain’s displeasure washed over him as the beast tried to take control. It had been a long time since that happened against his will.

‘We are not leaving her in there a minute longer,’ Cain growled. ‘We have waited out here long enough. This is our only chance. Most of them are sleeping.’

The gate slid all the way, and Samuel’s car started moving forward.

‘They’re Hunters. They sleep with one eye open. They’ll all be on me the second I step foot in there. Even if I follow Layla’s scent, there’s no telling what the security is like inside. I might not make it to her. There’s a better way, Cain. The others are right.’

The beast pushed through. Fur sprouted on his face, and he stepped forward out of the trees.

‘Listen to me. They want a war, so we give them one. As the others said—we have an army, too.’

‘They’re too chicken shit to go in there, no matter what bullshit they told us,’ Cain growled, taking another step.

The second gate started to slide open, just as he had known it would.

‘They won’t go in there. We’ll draw the Hunters out.’

Cain stopped.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you trust me, Cain?’

‘You’re an incompetent fool,’ Cain growled.

‘But do you trust me?’

The first gate started to slide closed. The second gate was wide open. Beyond it, he saw the base, bathed in a false sense of security as they all slept. They were all dead, they just didn’t know it yet.

‘Of course, I fucking trust you,’ Cain growled in frustration.

He stepped back into the trees, hiding from the moon's light. The first gate slid into place, and the whirring of the security system indicated that everything was back the way it was supposed to be.

They missed that chance.

He turned back to see Dylan had already gathered the other wolves. Though he sensed them, he hadn’t heard them move. They stood naked among the trees as far out as he could feel, ready to shift at any moment.

‘Did you say Chase went around the town earlier?’ he asked Dylan.

‘Yes,’ his Beta said, stepping forward. He was frowning as if trying to work out what just happened.

‘Did he find out where the Hunter families live?’

‘Some of them. He was mapping out the safest route to escape,’ Dylan said.

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