Page 86 of Hayden's Haven
“Callen, focus,” Hayden said as he took the lead down the path. Even after eight years away, he knew these woods like he had just finished a game of tag with Drake. This had been their playground as children, their hunting ground as teens, though not together, and a few areas he could still recall were ideal make-out spots as young men. All pleasant memories for the most part.
His entire body, even his wolf, felt almost whole here. This was home, always had been, always would be. One thing would make it complete. Mila.
Instead, Hayden had Chitman and two of his goons following him and Callen. They were from a branch of the Novak pack that Hayden had never associated with, for good reason. Lazy shifters who would do anything to get what they wanted except hard work.
“Callen, just enjoy the scenery and ignore him like everyone else in this pack does. Chitman’s not worth the time of day.”
Hayden blocked the branch before it could hit him in the back of the head. He yanked it out of Chitman’s hand. “My brother seriously made you his second? What was he smoking at the time? Drake’s done a lot of stupid shit in his time, but nothing as stupid as that. He must have been desperate.”
“I was,” Drake said from off to their left. The group stopped as Drake approached. “The shifter virus had just wiped out several of my best shifters, including Riggs. An alpha has to make do with what is available to him.”
Hayden didn’t tense, which surprised him, but nothing surprised him more than Drake’s calm demeanor. The few times he and Drake had crossed paths over the past few years, Drake had slung one slur after the next at him. Drake was planning something, Hayden was sure of it.
He stared at his brother for a minute. Most thought he and Drake looked alike, with their square jaws, dark hair, and dark eyes, but Drake was slightly shorter and broader than him. There was something about Drake’s low cheekbones, however, that reminded Hayden of their mother. God, he hadn’t pictured her in years. He’d been gone from his pack, from his home, too long.
“I’m not here to fight you, Drake.”
Callen’s head snapped toward him. “Hayden.”
Hayden held up a hand to silence him. “I know you better than anyone. You’ve fought your whole life to be respected. First in my shadow, when you tried to prove yourself to our grandfather who didn’t give you the time of day since you were second born, and then to Logan, who cherry-picked you from the entire camp to succeed him. But he never thought anything you did was good enough, which is why he pushed you so hard and you soaked up everything he said and did. You idolized him.”
“And you slaughtered him, took him from me, just like you did Reina.”
“I never touched Reina. Logan did. That’s why I killed him, but you’ll never believe me, because you can’t and won’t ever see him as anything but perfect. You would have to see him for the monster he was before you can see the truth. I’m sorry I let him steal you from me and mom. I was too weak to save you, Drake, and you paid the price.”
“The only one who will be paying for crimes around here is you,brother. I warned you that if you ever stepped back in my territory, you would be executed.”
“You can’t execute me,” Hayden said, imitating Drake by crossing his arms over his chest. He hadn’t wanted it to come to this, but it was clear his brother wasn’t going to listen to anything he had to say.
“I’m challenging you, Drake, for the position as alpha. This is my pack, and I have the right to lead. I challenged and killed our alpha before I was forced to flee for my life. You had your chance to rule, and you’ve started a war with the humans by creating a virus so lethal and dangerous that the Department of Homeland Security created an entire division dedicated to our extinction if I don’t hand you over. They’re going to kill us all, not just this pack or Damien’s and Liam’s. All shifters, everywhere, because of what you’ve done. No one here will stop me from challenging you.”
“I created the virus for leverage.”
“You slaughtered thousands of innocent humans!”
“Lies. You’re spreading lies to justify your actions as usual! You’ve always been jealous of me and everything I had. You were jealous when Logan took me and later when he started training me to succeed him as alpha. And then when Reina agreed to blood-bond me, you couldn’t stand it. You had to steal her from me, except she fought you. You’re sick, Hayden. You couldn’t have what I had so you killed her instead. And then you killed our alpha. You’re nothing more than a traitor, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”
“The DSA is holding Liam’s pack hostage. He’ll kill them and then order the military to kill the rest of us. All shifters, Drake! You want to deny me my right to challenge, fine, but be the alpha you claim to be and protect this pack. The humans will call off the operation if you hand over the HEV and the shifter responsible. Give them Ravirez if you’re too cowardly to face the consequences of your actions, but protect this pack!”
“Ravirez is dead.”
“Dead?” That was one problem solved. None of Drake’s people would have the knowledge or skills to produce more of the HEV. Drake wouldn’t have an easy time replacing Ravirez, especially if the military began tracking any movement out of the area. The only ones capable of following Ravierz’s notes in a two hundred square mile radius were Mila and Anna, but they weren’t here. And Alex was dead. This was good news. He could work with this. Whatever Drake had stockpiled was finite, and could be turned over to the Department of Shifter Affairs to destroy safely.
“He decided to think for himself,” Drake said. “I don’t like shifters who think for themselves. It causes problems.”
The desire to laugh along with his brother, to try and create a bond was strong within him, except he couldn’t. This wasn’t who he was. A part of him would always love Drake, and see the boy he once was, but this man before him, this shifter who used others, who killed those who didn’t agree with him, was not his brother. Hadn’t been for a long time.
“You have two choices, Drake. Either turn yourself over with your supply of HEV or accept my challenge.”
“I have a third choice,brother,” Drake said with a smirk. He whistled, signaling to someone behind him. Two shifters stepped forward, one with a body-bag over his shoulder. The shifter dumped it on the snow with a noticeable thump.
“Go ahead. Open it,” Drake ordered Hayden.
Hayden’s gut clenched. He didn’t want to admit what he was smelling. This wasn’t happening. Lilac, blood, and the scent of decay, rot—death. Drake had been behind Mila’s kidnapping and he’d killed her, the beautiful shifter with the quick wit, sweet disposition, and compassionate heart.
“Hayden?” Callen asked, worry in his voice. He didn’t understand. He wasn’t downwind from the body bag to know Drake had murdered the one shifter who had given life meaning. Callen hadn’t conceived of the possibility, of this nightmare, any more than Hayden had.
After Hayden opened that body bag and said one final goodbye to his sweet Mila, he would end Drake, and then he’d end himself.
