Pack Ties, Blood Lies

Chapter 29 - Death Wish

Nodding swiftly, Kyle and Callum dragged the still chuckling Luke out of the room, swiftly followed by the Alpha.

Only a few steps behind, Hazel was almost at the door when I spoke.

"I'm coming too." The words spilled out of my mouth almost involuntarily. A word vomit that I couldn't hold back.

I choked down a sliver of sympathy. Horrified at myself.

That man didn't deserve compassion.

Hazel glanced at me a moment, face hard with worry and anger.

She nodded.

Like a spell had been broken, we all jerked into action.

We spilled into the hall, following closely behind our Luna as she climbed the stairs. The only sound marring the silence was the fervent clomp of our feet.

The four men where already at the Alpha's office door. They entered just ahead of us, heading swiftly to another door on the left side of the room.

I glanced out of the giant windows as we passed by. A perfect freezeframe of the night outside, a momentary slice of peace in a tumultuous moment.

The door led to some steep wooden steps. Cobwebs strung across the space and I shivered as they stroked my face with their delicate touch.

Jack was following, almost on top of me in his haste to be by my side.

I could feel his anger, so thinly held in check I worried he might shift at any moment.

My wolf purred at the thought, sending images of bloodshed crashing through my mind.

Kyle and Callum passed by us, leaving the cells. Their teeth gritted with their own need to shift.

Pausing as he reached me, Kyle put a hand on my shoulder. "If I had known, I'd have ripped his throat out on sight."

Anna clucked her tongue behind us, descending the last step and joining us in the dark hallway. "Then it is fortunate you didn't know. We need information before we slowly end his life. One stolen body part at a time."

The gravel in her voice was even more pronounced than earlier and her canines shone in the light filtering from the room above.

Kyle bowed his head respectfully, murmuring "of course", before giving my arm one last light squeeze and disappearing up the stairs with Callum.

I began to shake lightly as we continued along the short space, the darkness pulling us ever deeper into its inky depths.

A light suddenly flooded the room at the end, illuminating the Alpha's large shape filling the doorway to the final cell.

I had never been down here, there had never been need to.

In fact, I was pretty sure Julian hadn't had anyone imprisoned down here the whole of his reign.

Curled in a bloody ball at his feet, Luke was whimpering already.

A sickness rose in my stomach as a crazy thought of trying to help him flickered through me.

Could I still be feeling the effects of Allegiance?

I heard the wet thud of the Alpha's foot connecting with soft tissue.

A howl of pain ricocheted through the narrow hall, echoing fiercely in my ears.

"How do you know my father?!" Julian's voice was ragged with emotion. His claws extending in his struggle to maintain his human form.

Luke coughed, blood spewing darkly onto the dusty concrete floor. "Kill me." He begged. Light blue eyes dull with indifference.

The Alpha roared, slamming his large fist into the side of his head.

Luke flew limply across the small room, his body hitting the wall with a sickening crunch.

Hazel stepped around her husband, again placing a hand on his chest. "Calm yourself. You cannot kill him yet."

She glanced over at the crumpled body on the floor.

Sighing, she lifted her dress slightly so that she could squat comfortably beside him. "You cannot honestly want to die for your disgusting excuse of an Alpha? Now tell us. Why would you know the name Byron?"

A weak chuckle found its way through Luke's swollen lips. "You don't know anything."

Heart racing, I finally managed to make my legs move.

The room was getting impossibly smaller with the many bodies crammed into the tiny space.

I felt my wolf shudder at the confined feeling of the airless cubicle but ignored her.

"I know some things." I stated. Glaring into the light blue eyes I saw sometimes in my dreams. "Why don't you tell me what I don't know."

Luke's watery gaze moved through the room, a smirk stretching the split skin of his mouth, causing blood to seep obscenely between his teeth.

"Ah... Charlie. Our little runaway." The grin stretched wider. "We missed you. The Alpha thought you would be a lovely replacement for Byron..."

His gaze then landed on Julian. "It was our mistake really. We assumed you would abandon the girl. After all, you never did look for your own father..."