Page 154 of Mates: Posy

That last statement was very telling. There should be no distinction between the two. I took it to mean this Ryker guy had been Halder's follower because he wanted to be, not because he was forced to be.

"Well, he's dead now," Jay smirked, Quartz glimmering in his eyes for a few seconds. "How many others in the pack willingly serve your alpha?"

"Maybe forty. No more than fifty, for sure, but the rest of the pack will do what he orders. He holds their families hostage in one way or another."

"Yours, too?" I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at him. "Is that true of the whole group you were with this morning?"

"Most of them. Before we left yesterday, he gathered our mates and pups in the dining hall." Julio pointed to one shifter standing in the corner. He looked to be about my age. "Elijah's mate could go into labor at any moment. It's their first pup."

Julio turned, scanned the group, and pointed to another guy, this one maybe in his late twenties, and I saw nothing by fear in this shifter's eyes.

We scaring him, Ashy?Sid asked.

I don't think it's us, buddy. Let's hear what Julio says.

"Two days ago, he had his men beat Adam's six-year-old pup to make him cooperate. She has a cracked skull, among other injuries. Last night, Alpha Halder himself went to the pack hospital, unhooked her from the machines, and carried her into the dining hall. They have no access to a doctor or pain medications, nothing."

A little she-wolf? Ashy, he do that to a little she-wolf?

Upset, Sid began to pace. He had a special place in his heart for pups.

I know, buddy. I know.

Ashy, a little she-wolf.

Hang on, okay? We need to find out more, then we'll take care of it.

Julio hung his head and turned to face us again.

"And my daughter. He took my daughter to the cells, along with a few other children and teens. I can't— I can't let myself think about what's happening to her. To all of them."

More pups? He hurtingmorepups? Ashy—

I know, Sid. Calm down. We can't do anything right this second, but I promise we will. We'll end it one way or another.

"Why now?" Mase folded his arms and stuck his hands in his armpits, his eyes cold and his face completely closed off as he stared at Julio. "Why is all of this happening now? You said you've been trying for a year to get word out that something was wrong. What happened a year ago?"

"Lilah MacGregor turned eighteen." Julio shrugged. "By shifter law, he could pursue her as a chosen mate if she didn't have a true one."

"Dude, that doesn't make any sense," Wyatt grumbled. "All this murder, torture, and coercion because he wanted to choose a mate? Why is he destroying his pack when he could just choose another female?"

"I told you, he's obsessed with her," Julio said. "My mate Elena thinks something snapped in the alpha when Lilah refused him."

"Well, he isn't going to be alive much longer to hurt anyone else," Ranger muttered, then looked at Julio. "Do you know when he'll make his next move?"

"He already has." Another shifter spoke up.

Our eyes cut to a man crouched on the concrete floor, the thick chains rattling as he stood. He was a tall one, almost as tall as me - and there weren't many wolves in the world just shy of seven feet. He had a heavy build similar to Mase's, but not as heavy as Cole's, and his brown eyes were flat and dead.

"Don't trust thatputa," Julio cautioned us. "Raph follows the alpha willingly."

"Threats are only one way to get people to do what you want." Raph smirked at Julio.

"What were you promised?" Jay, of course, got there before the rest of us.

"Anything." Raph's smirk turned into a grin. "The beta position, money, houses, cars, as many bitches as I cared to break."

The other prisoners stirred in their chains, their faces alternating between fury and disgust, and both Cole and Wyatt clenched their hands into white-knuckled fists at that last part.

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