Enemy of my Enemy

𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕺𝖓𝖊

Present Day

Within a day, every single pack in the state of North Carolina knew.

Within a week, all the wolves in Eastern America had heard the whispers.

Grayson Briare truly was as monstrous and insane as they all said. He'd redefined the word 'sadistic' by cutting open the daughter of an alpha with a thousand slashes. He'd then pieced her back together to perfect the image of what he believed brought life to the words, 'Broken beyond repair'.

Small packs that were scattered throughout North Carolina, the packs that existed for the sake of survival and nothing more, flooded into the region. The alphas offered him absolute control in return for safety. It was all Grayson could've ever dreamed of, and more.

Only, he ignored the invitations that made their way to his door. He stayed shut up in his room for days, trusting that Reyes wouldn't let the pack get too out of hand. He doubted he would care if this judgment turned out to be false.

Out in the world, the tides were turning. What he'd done to Bianca had been a tipping point for all the scales that he'd been stacking up for so long. Whispers spoke of how Grayson Briare was the new king of the state, how Lorenzo Blackburn was old news. He and his defeated daughter would be forgotten soon enough, and Briare's reign would begin.

As for the alpha of the Blackburn pack himself, he thought nothing of the rumors surrounding his daughter's welfare. They were, after all, rumors, were they not? Tales such as this one had been flooding his house ever since Bianca had been taken, tales that had been spread not only by Briare's wolves, but by the wolves of other packs, as well. Lorenzo had no small number of enemies, and because of this, he'd learned to completely shut out the stories after some time.

That was when a member of his inner circle reported the finding of a blood drenched cave in the western parts of the Crescent Woods. Lorenzo went to see it for himself, and was caught in a rare moment of surprise. The rabid claw marks, the signs of struggle, they were all there.

He laughed to himself, momentarily putting his daughter out of his mind, so that he could admire Grayson Briare's boldness. The boy had dared to come out on a Blood Moon's night, to put his own life on the line like that, to ensure certain victory to his pack. Lorenzo had to admit, Briare's plan had worked spectacularly. Over a quarter of the casualties from the battle could be blamed on the fatal bite of an alpha's fangs.

The blood on the walls and on the floor was real enough. He'd caught the stench of it from half a mile away. It was definitely a werewolf that had suffered the blood loss: Either a very powerful beta, or a weak alpha.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Without so much as another glance at the mess, Lorenzo exited the cave and took the call. "What is it?" he said.

"Lorenzo... Briare's sent you a delivery," Brookes replied.

"What is it?" Lorenzo repeated.

"I can't... You need to come see this for yourself."

Lorenzo summoned a bit of his wolf side. With the extra power in his legs, it only took him a few minutes to arrive at his house.

The sight that awaited him was... Well, he was just glad he'd chosen to buy the manor at the very edge of town all those years ago, instead of one smack in the middle of it. This particular surprise would've pulled forth the eyes of every nosy neighbor and media outlet in Crescent Cliffs.

"Bianca," Lorenzo said. He stared down at his daughter's unconscious body.

The rumors hadn't been mere rumors, after all.