Chapter 237

Ethan POV

Shoving my father to the ground in front of the pack house, I growl at him. He thrashes, still thinking he can get away even as I grab him by the back of his neck.

“If you don’t answer me, then you are no longer welcome in this pack.”

My mother gasps from behind me, “Ethan, you can’t banish your father!”

“If he puts my mate and my pack in danger, I can. Now, answer me. Did you have anything to do with Fiona’s disappearance?” I demand, yanking him up and forcing him to face me.

“I had nothing to do with your mate leaving, and if you want to threaten to banish me, then I challenge you for the position of Silverclaw Pack’s Alpha!” He shouts, finally pulling away from me when I loosen my hold.

The gathered crowd gasps, and some of my warriors growl in protest. He has every right to challenge me, but that doesn’t mean he should, especially when I don’t believe he is telling the truth about having nothing to do with Fiona disappearing.

“Put him in his place,” Zev snarls inside me, trying to come forward. “Make him submit until he tells us where Fiona is!”

I want to, ache to beat him into the ground, and with every growl and swipe of his claws, I grow more and more angry.

It’s said you shouldn’t react out of anger, but my father’s betrayal is too much, so I shift. I let Zev come forward, our combined fury forming into one large bundle rage.

“You will not hurt anyone else in our pack, father,” I tell him, my wolf circling his and dodging the claws he throws at me.

He merely growls and jumps, lunging for my neck, but I drop and roll out of his reach. Swiping my own paw across his side, I drag my claws down his flank. He yelps and darts away.

“Form a circle!” I order everyone around us, and in seconds, my father is blocked in by my gammas.

“You never should have put your own greed before the pack or before your family.”

“I never should have let you grow so arrogant,” he snaps at me. I dodge his teeth, twist, and sink my own teeth into the back of his neck, easily grappling him down to the ground. He thrashes, kicking his paws up and trying to buck me off of him, but I shove him further into the ground by putting my front paws on his back.

Roaring, I let all of my authority and power fill my roar, forcing him to shift back to his human form. His wolf body shrinks away and is soon replaced by his human form, blood from his shredded side dripping onto the ground as he groans.

When I know he won’t try to run, I change back to my human form, keeping my foot planted solidly on his chest.

“Tell me who he is,” I snarl, leaning in.

My father groans when my full weight settles on his chest. He knows he can’t get away. Even if he got out from under my hold, my gammas would never let him slip past. Not after my order earlier.

Green, pain-filled eyes glare up at me, and I wonder how he could betray me like this. He used to be a good, dependable Alpha, but now? He’s a pathetic man filled with greed.

“I don’t know,” he lies, coughing. Blood dribbles from the corner of his mouth, and I sigh.

“I don’t believe you. You have never liked Fiona, and on numerous occasions, you have hurt her. The arranged marriage, the whole ordeal with Angela hurting Fiona,” I rumble, and his eyes widen. I nod, “Yeah. I know you’re the one who told her it would be okay to get rid of my mate. That’s not all though. I believe you were the messenger for whoever kidnapped Fiona, which means you know who they are.”

He stares up at me.

From somewhere behind us, my mother shouts for me to stop, but I don’t pay her any attention. My father won’t get away with this.

“You have thirty seconds to come clean, father, before you have to answer to my wolf. He won’t be so lenient.”

“I’m more afraid of him than I am of you, son,” my father huffs, coughing up more blood.

“Wrong answer,” Zev growls. The tingle in my fingertips as my claws grow through my human skin has me snarling louder as Zev takes over. “You no longer get to call us son, and you should fear me more because right now, your life is in my hands.”

The fear in my father’s eyes shines bright as Zev leans in and wraps claw-tipped fingers around his neck. They pierce his skin, little rivers of blood dripping from each of the holes as my father gasps.

I can’t find it in myself to be sorry, not after what he’s done.

“A-All I know is that he’s an Alpha from the North,” my father stutters. Zev hesitates, not letting his claws pierce any further. “H-He has a-a lot of power, and he plans to k-kill her to become King.”

Another growl rips from my body, and I throw him to the ground. I have to find Fiona before she’s killed. I turn back to my father, who is crawling pathetically toward freedom, and sneer in disgust.

“If she dies, your life is forfeit. Get out of my sight.”

“Where are you, Fiona?” I murmur, feeling for our bond. It’s still silent and heavy, blocked by whatever is keeping me from feeling her.

I knew the Alphas of the North weren’t happy, but I didn’t think they would stoop so low to kidnap a woman. Also, the fact that this captor wants to be King has me realizing this is something he’d planned for a long time. If I hadn’t taken over as King, more than likely he would have done something to the former King.

Had he been in the Selection?

Is he after me because he didn’t win?

A pulse of warmth tainted and followed quickly by a sense of cold hits me just before it quickly disappears.

“Fiona?”

There’s no response, and I curse, rubbing at my aching chest. She’s out there somewhere, probably scared and alone, maybe even hurt. Images of her locked up and afraid flash in my mind, and I have to shake my head to clear it.

Zev howls in agony from inside, letting out his anger and fear in a way I want to do so badly, but I can’t. I don’t have time to fall apart right now. The scouts in the North haven’t seen any unusual movement in the last few days, each of them having reported that they hadn’t seen Fiona, either.

I ordered them to get closer, see if there’s anything strange going on, but again, they said there was nothing. The Alphas had been quiet since they each agreed to come to the meeting.

Dropping my head into my hands, I rake my fingers through my hair and take several deep breaths.

They don’t do anything to calm me down, but it does give me a second to think of my next steps.

Picking up my phone, I dial Alpha Mandra’s number. The call rings a few times before the line clicks and his deep voice filters through the speakers.

“Alpha Mandra speaking.”

“Alpha Mandra, I need your help.”