Chapter 41: Chapter 41

ALPHA

“What do you mean, ‘Found you’?” Declan asked.

“~It’s the beauty of being a lycan who’s found his mate and luna.~

“~I can communicate with Myra through her vixen spirit, regardless of the distance between us~,” Alpha explained while typing in a number and waiting for the video call to the council chambers to connect.

“Alpha Sloan, we’re still—” Elder Reagan immediately started speaking when the call connected.

“~Stop looking~,” he commanded, and the elder’s eyes widened.

He immediately bared his throat to Sloan in submission, even though they weren’t in the same room.

This display indicated that Sloan’s newfound status as a lycan surpassed the council rankings and power.

“A lycanthrope? It’s an honor,” the elderly gentleman said.

Alpha ignored his respectful sentiments and got down to business.

“~We know where they’re hiding: Haleville Watermill. We’ll need the schematics and blueprint layout of the compound and thermal imagery of the buildings and the surroundings.~

“~We should be within the chamber in the next fifteen minutes, and I expect to have what I asked for available upon our arrival~,” Alpha ordered.

In the background, they could see people already moving around the room, fulfilling his request. “~Maintain radio silence on this development. I don’t want their spies catching wind of our progress~.”

“We’ll continue giving the perception that we’re still searching for the ome—the luna.” Elder Reagan smiled, and the call disconnected.

“Stacy isn’t here. I did a thorough background check on her, but nothing new showed up. However, she’s just a kitchen staff apprentice, so she wasn’t brought back to the pack house during this lockdown,” Tristan informed him.

Honestly, she was the least of his worries. Her betrayal had been noted, and her punishment would be just as severe as Richie’s and the others.

“~She’s of no consequence to me. Gather the team. We leave as soon as possible~,” Alpha ordered, and Declan walked out of the booth. “~Kenny, you’re coming with us. Pack whatever you may need~.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

***

While Declan and Tristan organized with the security team to leave the house, Alpha quickly retreated to their bedroom. He needed to tend to the wound on his face and change his clothes.

He completely ignored the bed once he entered the room, rushing past it on his way to the bathroom. He looked at his face in the mirror and grimaced.

~“That fucking cunt messed up my face,”~ Alpha heard Sloan’s voice snapping from the back of their mind.

~“You mean ~our~ face, and I should have killed the little bastard,”~ Alpha growled, washing the blood off. The injury made a pathway through his beard, and the only solution was to cut it off.

~“It’s been a while since I’ve had a clean-shaven face,”~ Sloan groaned as Alpha looked around for a razor. ~“I don’t think I own a razor, to be honest.”~

Alpha chuckled, because Sloan was just as annoyed as him. ~“There should be extras on Myra’s side, with her shaving gel.”~

Alpha nodded and rummaged through Myra’s cabinets, and he found a new razor and a can of vanilla-scented shaving cream.

~“We’re going to smell like our female,”~ Alpha chuckled, shaking the can before spraying out a good dollop of the gel into his hand.

~“Nothing new,”~ Sloan said, and the memory of her feminine secretions coating his beard flashed through their mind. The memory was bittersweet, as it reminded them of what had been taken and what they could soon be losing.

Then the thought of who was to blame made them angry all over again.

~“Brainy Brian Marshall? He was like a younger brother to us. We looked out for him. Especially when he never gained an animal spirit and was considered a dud.”~

Sloan’s last memory of the boy was from a couple of years ago, when Brian left for college. The Marshalls were so proud of his full-ride academic scholarship that they had a big going-away party for him.

Even then, he was a twig of a boy with thick glasses, embarrassing facial acne, and braces. He was terrified of his own shadow, bullied whenever they weren’t there to protect him, and had a massive crush on Elizabeth.

~“No wonder he risked it all to break her out,”~ Sloan said in disgust.

Alpha chuckled.~ “He risked it all because she’s his mate.”~

Sloan was flabbergasted and rendered speechless. Did Elizabeth know at the time and didn’t care? Or was this a long-ass con? However, the nagging thought that still bothered them was how Brian had orchestrated all of this.

Gazing into the mirror, he almost didn’t recognize himself. It had been years since he went clean-shaven, and he didn’t like the look. The wound was healing slowly, due to the deadly poisons that had coated the blade.

But their lycan blood helped to remove the toxins from his system. It had stopped bleeding and looked raw, red, and angry. The odds of the wound perfectly healing might be slim to none.

~“Fucking prick.”~ Alpha cursed Richie and his lucky shot.

He pulled off his blood-splattered tee and threw it directly into the trash can. Sloan glanced at his body in the mirror and noticed that his muscles looked even more defined and bulkier.

He finished cleaning his face from his quick shave and the dried blood from both his wound and Richie’s that had splattered on him. He threw the bloodied washcloth in the trash can.

~“Showering now will be pointless, because the next time we step into that stall, we’ll be with our female.”~

Sloan smirked, liking the direction of Alpha’s thoughts. Alpha quickly grabbed a jersey and left the room. As he descended the stairwell, he pulled his black tee down over his stomach.

He paused midway down the stairs, and all conversation stopped. Alpha gazed at the gathering in his foyer. More of his security team had been called in and were waiting patiently for his instructions.

In total, there were about forty-five of the senior well-trained and toughest shifters in his pack. Their species varied, but their skill levels were impeccable.

All were dressed in tactical black clothing that could shred easily upon shifting, and each held a motorcycle helmet.

Just to be sure there weren’t any other Richies in his rank, he made a spectacle of sniffing the air. He searched for any further hints of Myra or the unknown chemical that he’d picked up on the traitor.

Thankfully, he didn’t smell anything. Unfortunately, his trust was already broken. He was wary and suspicious of everyone.

His eyes fell on Myra’s father and brother-in-law, who also stood among the team’s numbers, dressed in a similar manner. While Alpha was happy about their presence, Sloan was hesitant about their decision to join in her rescue.

“Myra and Myrielle will kill me if either of you gets hurt or killed,” he noted, and both men nodded.

“She’s my little pup, one-half of the two precious things my wife left me. Those bastards are going to learn that they messed with the wrong fox,” Laurence growled, and Alpha saw parental rage flash in his eyes.

“You’re lucky I have a pup of my own,” Myrielle said from behind him. He sensed both her and Megan coming down the stairs behind him. The baby cooed, blissfully unaware of the brewing battle.

Glancing behind him, he also saw that Bryn and Pearl had been brought safely to the house as well. That saved them the trouble of tracking them down and dragging them back there.

His sister sniffled, and he noticed her red-rimmed eyes. All the girls had puffy red eyes. They’d all bonded over the past weeks, and their relationship was strong, like sisters.

“Listen, everyone. I cannot guarantee your safety or your lives,” he announced. “If you don’t wish to head somewhat blindly into danger, now is your chance to leave.”

“A life for a life!” The gathered group stated their vow loudly and without hesitation, standing at attention before him.

“Richie comes with us. He can rot in the council’s cells until they round up the others,” he stated, and two members nodded and disappeared down to the dungeons to get the boy.

“Mom, Dad, Myrielle, Megan, the baby, Bryn, and Pearl are all coming with us too. They’ll be protected in the chambers under your watch.”

For once, his sister and Pearl did as they were told. Even though they’d both received the same military combat training as the rest of the pack, he and Declan weren’t allowing the girls to see combat.

Call it hypocritical, but they were still their baby sisters.

A look of confusion crossed Megan’s face, and then her sudden words broke his train of thought and added to the tension in the room.

“Aren’t we forgetting the small detail that I’m human? Shifters may have adopted me, but I’m not welcome in that place.”

“As my mate’s best friend, you’re under my protection…for the time being.” He added the last piece glancing at Declan. However, his friend was staring at her with mixed emotions displayed on his face.

~“Pull your head out of your ass and claim your mate,”~ he linked with Declan, and his eyes snapped to Alpha.

But he looked away just as quickly, trying to mask his expression. Alpha smirked at his reaction while Sloan chuckled in the back of his mind.

“Tristan, take the SUV with Myrielle, Megan, and the baby. Dad, you take your vehicle with Mom, Bryn, and Pearl. I want a six-member team acting as a protective convoy to the chamber.”

Tristan pointed out twelve members to be their security detail, and they immediately left the room in the direction of the garage with his family in tow.

~“Keep her safe for me,”~ Declan linked with both Tristan and Alpha. He looked at her retreating body as she walked hand in hand with Myrielle.

Tristan, who followed behind them, turned around and made an inappropriate jerking motion with his hips, earning a growl from Declan. Tristan just winked and disappeared through the garage doors.

“Steven and Valentine, deliver Richie to the council dungeons.”

Both shifters had returned, dragging a still-wheezing Richie into the foyer. They nodded, and they too immediately left.

“The rest of you with me. We’ll start for the treatment plant and surround the area from a safe distance.

“We’ll also do an initial reconnaissance of the site while waiting for your arrival with reinforcements,” Declan concluded to the remaining team.

Alpha nodded and accepted a leather jacket and motorcycle helmet from Declan. After shrugging into his jacket, Alpha went straight to the garage.

He quickly zipped up the garment while approaching his custom-made matte-black supercycle.

He heard different vehicles starting up and driving out of the garage. He didn’t wait for anyone else. He powered up his motorcycle and sped out of the garage with a loud tire-burning squeal.