Chapter 241
Ethan POV
“Is everyone ready?”
Tension and adrenaline pump through my veins, making it nearly impossible to stop pacing since I got word from the scouts that they may have found my mate. If they’re right, then she’s with Alpha Thrange of the Whiteclaw Pack.
“We’re almost ready,” Alpha Mandra says, glancing back at me. I dig my claws into my palms at his response. What is taking so long? It’s been nearly an entire day since we got word, but rushing into he Whiteclaw Pack with no backup is not wise.
Alpha Thrange is the strongest of the Northern Alphas, which is something that the Redwater Pack Alpha must have forgotten. He may be a quiet man, but his strength and greed for power is higher than any of the other Northern Alphas.
I should have thought of him sooner, especially since he was one of the Alphas that was in the Selected group of invited Alphas. I was so caught up in the preparations for the meeting and sending the scouts to every group that he didn’t cross my mind. He’d been so quiet lately that I thought he had bowed out gracefully.
Clearly not. He would rather use underhanded methods such as kidnapping my mate. Not only that, but I bet if we searched his office or his house, we’d find the toxic mixture that I was poisoned with.
“Everyone is here,” Aaron announces, moving to my side. “The Kingdom guards and your men are ready. Alpha Mandra is on standby if we need extra backup.”
Nodding, I step up in front of the group gathered before me and raise a hand, silencing them.
“Alpha Thrange is a dangerous man, but he’s most likely been fighting for a while with the Redwater Pack who we know has attacked his land,” I say, once they’ve stared listening. “We are going to split into two groups. One group will distract and detain the Whiteclaw members, including their Alpha. The second group will infiltrate and rescue my mate. I plan to be with the second group, rescuing Fiona. If backup is needed, group one will be assisted by Alpha Mandra and his men. Maximus, and my lead Gammas, Michael and Robert, will be leading group one while Aaron and I will lead group two.”
“Yes, Alpha King!” The group shouts in understanding as they split up into our groups, shift, and head out.
“I’m coming, Fiona.”
They were practically annihilated. The Redwater Pack members are laid out across the front lawn of the Whiteclaw pack in various states of injury and even death. Some of Alpha Thrange’s men are milling about, checking pulses, but I hear very few heartbeats from the survivors.
Disgust rolls through me at the sight of blood smeared bodies and torn limbs strewn across the grass. Laughter from the Whiteclaw members sounds, making me even more repulsed as I watch with shock and horror as one of Alpha Thrange’s men kicks one of the Redwater pack members.
He laughs and kicks the man again.
The lack of respect for the dead is just another reason this pack is repulsive. I don’t know how they haven’t been disbanded for violence before, because this is clearly not the first time they’ve done something like this. People don’t become this ruthless overnight. Though, I guess they could have stayed right under the radar to keep from being found out.
I scan the yard again before spotting Alpha Thrange himself. He saunters out of the door
Alpha Thrange himself is lounging against the front steps to the pack house and sits in a chair on the porch. He lounges like he doesn’t have a care in the world, sipping on a drink like there aren’t thirty bodies strewn across his lawn.
“Alpha King Ethan, we are ready,” Scout James, the scout who was in charge of this pack’s reconnaissance, says. He crouches beside me, looking out from under the brush we’re hiding behind.
Nodding, I motion for the two groups to split. Maximus takes the lead of group one, darting toward the unsuspecting Whiteclaw Pack. Shouts and sounds of surprise rise from the men who were roaming the front lawn, and my small group makes the best of the distraction.
“We can go around back. I think there’s a barn that would be a good starting place to search,” Scout James says. Aaron, Scout Ian, and I follow Scout James around the side of the building to the small barn-like building behind the main pack house. I keep my eyes peeled for any possible dangers, and just before we get to the barn, I spot a small window at the bottom of the pack house’s back wall.
“What is that?” I ask, looking at the scouts. They follow my line of sight and the unsure expressions on their faces tell me they don’t know either.
Something inside me urges me to check it out. No stone left unturned, or no window left unchecked. Something underground like this would be more of a match for a small, dark room than something in a barn.
I run to the small window and crouch, looking in. The darkness inside doesn’t show much, and even when I switch to my wolf eyes, I can’t see anything. It’s pitch black even in the middle of the afternoon with sunlight and no clouds.
Is there something blocking the inside?
Lowering myself to my stomach, I stick my arm through the bars. My entire arm, up to my shoulder, disappears into the darkness as I stretch as far as possible. When I still don’t feel anything blocking the way, I pull back.
“Is anyone down there?”
“Please help me!”
“Fiona!” Zev forces his way past my internal defenses. “Little Mate, we’re here!”
“Ethan! Zev! Get me out of here! P-Please!” Her voice cracks as she pleads for help.
Without a second thought, I get to my knees and wrap my hands around the bars. Aaron and Scout James come to my sides, grabbing the bars beside me as well.
“On three,” I growl. “One. Two. Three. PULL!” We all heave, using our strength to tug on the bars. They creak and bend, the cement around them cracking. “Again!” I feel my muscles contract as I pull, my breathing grows heavy, and I yell from the exertion of dragging the bars out of the cement wall.
With the combined strength of three Lycans, the bars finally burst from the wall. We fall back, but I’m on my hands and knees again before I can even blink, crawling back to the window. It’s barely big enough for me to squeeze through, but somehow, with he jagged cement tearing at my shoulders, I force my way through.
I drop several feet to the floor, catching myself and standing just in time for a smaller, trembling body to slam into me. Fiona’s soft scent surrounds me, and I snake my arms around her, sinking to my knees at the overwhelming feeling of having her back in my arms.
“I found you. I’ve got you,” I whisper, burying my face in her hair as I cradle her to my chest while she sobs.
