Page 61 of Their Defiant Mate

“I wouldn’t hold my breath, but you’re welcome to try.”

Isaac led his team down to the detention level. Now that Babcock was dead, Elias was the sole occupant. Isaac nodded to the guards and one of them scanned open the door leading to the row of cells.

“Come to gloat?” Elias snarled. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Well, this is definitely not going to improve your mood,” Isaac predicted. He moved to stand in front of Elias. The wolf sat on the edge of his bunk, hands folded in his lap. “Juan is dead along with the others on duty in the cave. Riverside pack is now in control of the lupine village.”

Clearly shocked by the news, Elias pushed to his feet and approached the energy barrier. “Are you sure Juan is dead? He…” Elias closed his eyes and his features went blank. He was likely trying to contact his beta telepathically. “How many did I lose?”

“There were eight in the cave, including Juan,” Isaac told him. “We have no idea what took place once they reached your village.”

“I knew Riverside was dissatisfied, but this is unbelievable.” He began pacing his cell. It only took three small steps to cover the space, so it wasn’t much of a trek. “I didn’t think Alex had the balls.”

“Well, he clearly does,” Jon sneered. “He just slaughtered eight of your men and kidnapped twenty-some potential mates. Do you have anything to say about that?”

“He’ll take them to his mountain stronghold,” Elias said, staring off into space. “The village will be too volatile until Riverside pack establishes their dominance.”

Elias sounded emotionless, empty. If Isaac didn’t know all the atrocities this bastard had committed, he might feel sorry for him. “How long will that take?”

“Weeks, maybe months.”

“Are the women safe until then?”

He looked at Isaac and scoffed. “Hardly. Alex will bury his cock in one of them before nightfall and the rest will go to the most trusted members of his pack.” He turned his head again, staring into nothingness. “You think I’m a monster. I know that. But we’re all just trying to survive. Good luck with Alex. He’s much more ruthless than I’ve ever been.” Without warning, Elias transformed his fingers into claws and tore out his own throat. Blood gushed from the gaping wound, and he was dead before he hit the floor.

Determined not to scream at her mates the moment they walked through the door, Tara anxiously paced their living room. They were up at the lodge. The soul bond was nice that way. Never again would she wonder where they were. She could sense their locations. She could sense all sorts of other things too. She knew that the women hadn’t been in the cave. There had been some sort of uprising, and a bunch of wolves were dead. She wasn’t sure if this meant the captives were in more danger or less. All she knew was she wanted it to be over, and it wasn’t. Clairewas still a captive. Dawn had likely been claimed. And the other human females were still in danger.

The door opened a few minutes later and her mates strode in. She took a deep breath, meaning to unload on them. But all three looked stunned. “What happened? Why did you go to the lodge?”

Isaac walked right past her as if she wasn’t there and printed himself a double shot of whisky.

“Print a bottle,” Kyle suggested. “It’s going to take more than one drink to get that image out of my head.”

“What image?” she asked, her annoyance turning to concern. “What in the world just happened?”

Isaac tossed back the shot then printed a bottle before he spoke. “We went to question Elias about the other packs.”

“Riverside pack is trying to take control,” Kyle interjected. “The wolves are in the middle of a pack war.”

“Meaning the captives are in the middle of a pack war,” Tara said, her voice tremulous.

“Elias knew his days were numbered.” Isaac crossed the room and handed Jon the whisky bottle and a stack of tumblers. “He had nowhere left to turn.”

“He answered all Isaac’s questions, then ripped out his own throat,” Jon told her.

She gasped, then covered her mouth with her hand. What did you say to someone who’d just witnessed that? “I’m sorry,” she whispered helplessly.

Isaac looked at her and shook away his stupor. “We’ve seen far worse, love. It was just shocking to see someone do it to themselves.”

“We weren’t expecting him to react so… negatively.” Kyle shook his head and forced himself to smile, but his gaze was still deeply shadowed. “Give us a few minutes to process. We’ll be fine.”

Tara moved to the couch and sat down. She sat quietly and let her mates work through their emotions in their own way. Kyle grew talkative, but he refused to talk about work. Jon brooded. Isaac moved to the workstation and began researching the Riverside pack.

A couple of hours passed before they were ready for a meaningful conversation.

“Elias said Alex likely took them to his mountain stronghold,” Isaac began. “I think I’ve found it. I hate to delegate this to anyone, but it’s close to the raptor village. One of the birds could fly over there and check it out without the wolves thinking anything of it.”

“Zion has been trying to figure out how to give the raptors better access to potential mates ever since the alliance was finalized,” Jon mused. “If we pass on this rescue to the birds, it will accomplish two things. They will prove that they’re serious about the alliance, and they will have direct access to human females.”

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