Page 128 of The Alpha King's Fate

Jax watched the vehicles drive out of the gates, and several Hunters came out to hide in strategic points around the base wall. Beyond the open gates, more Hunters loaded onto their vehicles.

They wouldn't leave the base unmanned—that much was a given. But fighting even half those bastards was better than the whole army. He only hoped the others were ready. His gaze remained on the Hunters still loading into the cars. The morning sun shone brightly without any hint of a cloud in the sky. There was nothing to hide behind, no darkness to cover him.

The second he made his move, he needed to be ready to get attacked.

‘They’ll lead the Hunters as far away from the base as possible before they attack,’ Dylan said.

His Beta, his brother, stood beside him, bloody from the bait they set when they attacked the Hunter families. He could sense Dylan’s eagerness to attack the base even though he stood perfectly still. It wasn’t their first time fighting side by side. He and Dylan went through everything together from when they were pups. There was no one else he would rather have to watch his back.

But they were still significantly outnumbered, and the Hunters made themselves more indestructible.

‘You should stay here,’ he tried again.

‘You know they’ll be coming up here the second they realise what’s happening. Just do what you need to do, Jax. I have your back.’

And so, too, did the other wolves standing quietly in the woods behind him.

The last car loaded, and he crouched to prepare himself. The guards at both gates stood on either side, focusing on the last vehicles leaving.

‘Since they have access to magic, keep your eyes open. Don’t touch anything you don’t have to,’ he said as his final advice.

Would he still have a friend at the end of it all? It was hard to say, but even that wasn’t enough to bring him to say any goodbyes. They were warriors—dying on the battlefield for their pack was an honour.

The moment the last car started going through the inner gate, he launched forward and shifted in the air. The speed he’d gained with his mating became his first advantage as he closed half the distance to the gate before one of the Hunters shouted a warning. But it was already too late.

The first guard at the gate only half turned towards him when his jaws snapped around his neck. The second guard only managed to point his weapon before he got him. As he suspected, the Hunters hiding along the wall left their posts and ran towards the open gate to defend their friends and territory.

He slipped past the first gate, and a wave of darkness washed over him—dark magic. There was no mistaking it. It rippled over his fur without slowing him down, but the other wolves would feel it.

“Shut the gat—”

The third guard never stood a chance. The fourth was fumbling with his weapon, pulling the pump back as if it was jammed. He didn’t doubt these four men were trained properly, even if they were not part of the hunting parties.

But they were not prepared.

He dispatched the fourth guard and shoved the gate hard off its hinges before the occupants of the truck that stopped in front of the main gates got out of their car and aimed. Cain took cover behind their wall with a shield of their armoured vehicles on his other side.

'Dylan, abort! There's a ward at the gate.'

No answer.

Shots fired, hitting the ruined gate in front of him and forcing him to retreat. There was no telling what the bullets were made of.

'Dylan!'

'He won't hear us. It's the magic,' Cain growled.

Of course. That had to be the reason everyone the Hunters took hadn't been able to link them.

Diedre was the only one he knew who could put wards up without potions and talismans. That meant there was something next to the gates or inside the walls, and the only way to get tothem was back through the Hunters who came back through the gates.

He stood and looked over the vehicles. The base was much larger than he saw going around the perimeter. And Layla was somewhere in there. Her scent was stronger. He took a deep breath and felt relief flood his body when their bond snapped back in place. He could sense exactly where she was. Exactly what she was feeling.

She was alive, but she was in pain.

The rage he'd sunk in took over as his mate beckoned him. Shots sounded again, forcing him to duck again. But the shots didn’t hit the gate. They aimed at the other side, at Dylan, Chase and the others. It wouldn’t be long until the other Hunters knew they had been played and turned back around. His wolves would be sandwiched.

He looked back at the vast building that looked like multiple warehouses on top of each other. There were more than half the Hunters left inside. Their plan hadn’t done much except give him a way in. Which meant all those fuckers knew he was there and would try to keep him from Layla. He needed his people. He needed Dylan. He needed to find the talismans.

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