Chapter 65 Chapter 65 Brothers’ Skirmishes
~Liam~
A silent groan escaped me as I blinked my eyes open. Moving my arms, I felt a sting around my wrists.
“About time,” said Gale.
Gale?
I raised my aching head to see that my wrists were bound in silver chains. Gale was to the wall on my left in the same position. He tipped his jaw forward.
To my right was Rigel, in the same position as us.
“You stink,” I commented.
The stale air was filled with his repulsive scent. It didn’t help that my nose was sensitive.
“Fuck you, Liam,” he spat, his head down.
“Hey, Alpha,” said another voice.
I looked down and saw the prisoner on the concrete floor, on his knees. Chains bound his arms to his back and his ankles were cuffed, connected to chains that were held securely to the same wall as I, just below me.
“Now that you’re awake, how about figuring out a way to get us out of here?”
I knew I smelt something familiar and equally repulsive!
“Shut up, inmate,” I replied, shaking my head to rid of the throbbing ache but only making it worse.
He chuckled. “Not the smartest, are you? I have to say I’m disappointed.”
Gale growled at him. “Shut up. I can’t think right.”
“Oh?” he asked, sounding amused. “What are you thinking of? Something… not right? I hope I’m the only one there, mate.”
“Mate?” shouted Rigel, raising his head.
I was in disbelief too. I turned to face Gale and he had a slight blush on his cheeks like a high school girl who just heard a confession.
“What the fuck, Gale!” I blurted out.
That guy had been in the Fun House for months and he didn’t bother to let us know he was his mate?
Gale had a side unknown to many, but to his mate – I didn’t take it he was that cruel.
“It was for the pack,” said Gale, his eyes looking everywhere but to any of us. “He attacked Anna. He’s not my mate, he’s the enemy.”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night, mate,” said the prisoner.
Gale scoffed.
“Where’s the kid?” I asked, diverting the subject back to how we were going to escape.
“Fucking Rigel’s cousin,” replied Gale, glaring at him. “Or about to have his balls cut. Who knows?”
Alright. This wasn’t going to work. Gale was pissed off, Rigel stank, and the pack’s prisoner who happened to be my Beta’s mate was amused by the whole thing.
Great. Just what I needed to plan.
My head was now feeling better, I closed my eyes to try to mind-link Lexy, but there was interference.
“Won’t work,” said Gale.
There was wolfsbane somewhere.
A minute of silence passed us by before Gale spoke again.
“Is Anna alright?”
“She’s with the Delta Unit,” I replied. “They’ll keep her safe.”
The prisoner laughed aloud again.
“Shut it, Andrix!” shouted Rigel, but he just laughed louder.
“Fuck. Your Alpha here thinks he’s keeping her safe!” he mocked.
“You underestimate my pack?” Gale challenged.
“No,” Andrix replied, then his voice became deadly serious. “Pray to the Goddess my niece is safe, Alpha Liam, or I swear in Her name, I will make your life a living hell.”
“Line up,” I replied.
“You’re her what?” shouted Rigel before I could ask.
My hands balled into fists as I reigned my anger in.
What do you care?
I bit my tongue to prevent myself from shouting at him. It’d only worsen the situation than it already is and right now, I needed all of us to work together.
“Andrix,” I called, and he responded with a grunt, the chains rattling. “What does her father want with my mate?”
“What every Alpha wants -,” he replied in an “Are you a fucking idiot?” kind of tone, then added, “-an heir to take over when he’s gone.”
He grunted as he shifted his weight between his knees. “Anna is the only heir to the Alphaship of the Black Mist Pack. Our Alpha… has just passed away. Whatever happened after you were captured placed Anna in danger. Your so-called Delta Unit better does their job.”
My heart fell to the pit of my stomach. Myron… it had to be him. Everything had to do with him.
“We have to get out of here.”
I’d held back for years, two long years. I understand Rigel was frustrated. I fucked up. I should’ve done this then.
I’m going to kill him.
I let out a low growl.
“Rigel… you don’t have a fucking choice.”
“I’m not going back to the pack,” he replied with a growl. “You can’t use the Order on me.”
I was going to keep this to myself, but he forced me to. “Sabri’s pregnant, bro. You didn’t know, did you?”
His eyes widened and his jaw fell.
“I’m the Alpha. Nothing in the pack gets past me. You should know this by now. You two were keeping it a secret, and I waited for you to come around, but… I’m sorry, bro. I shouldn’t have ignored you.”
“Where is she?” he asked, voice dripping venom.
I didn’t answer.
“Where the fuck is she, Liam!” he shouted, shaking his chains.
“She insisted,” I replied. “She’s Delta, Rigel. You should know. You trained her.”
He let out a frustrated groan. “We have to get out of here.”
“What about him?” asked Gale, looking at Andrix.
“Aw… I’m touched, mate,” he said mockingly. “A word of warning, mangoes. When I’m free, I’m fucking the daylights out of you.”
“Save it for when we’re actually free,” I interjected before things become graphic. My head had cleared up by now. Luca growled, anxious about our mate. Besides the choking scent, there was rot, pine, and… freshwater.
I know where we are.
“Gale, if I remember correctly, the river’s on the northern side of the Blue Moon Pack, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Why?”
“We’re far north. No one’s around for at least half a kilometer, and no guard has come knocking… yet. We’re not sedated. It could be a trap.”
“From how I see it, we have two options: follow the river and escape from there or launch a suicide attack on this son of a bitch Myron,” said Rigel.
I glanced at Gale, then at Rigel, then at Andrix. None of them said a word.
It’s settled.
Stretching my neck to the sides, I concentrated on channeling Luca’s energy. I’d been training to increase my tolerance against wolfsbane so it wouldn’t sting as much, and after Anna’s donation, Lexy ran some tests and found that I could tolerate a small amount of it on my system. Might come in handy someday.
I tugged on the chains, the wall behind me shaking. Gritting my teeth as the wolfsbane burned my skin, I kept tugging at the cuffs. Sweat beaded my forehead, Luca howled, then finally, the chains broke. I fell to the ground, on my stomach.
“You good, Alpha?” asked Andrix.
That reminds me.
“Where’s Jaymer?”
The door flew off its hinges and went flying into the room. A cloud of dust and smoke obscured whoever stood in front of us. I got up to my feet, on full alert. Then, a hooded man entered, coughing as he did. I lowered my arms.
“About time you woke up.”
“Hey, Alpha,” he said between coughs. “Remind me why I’m on your pack again?”
“Bait, ace, liability…”
“Took you long enough,” said Gale, chuckling.
Jaymer grinned as he lowered his hood.
“I had fun,” he said, then frowned. “But… not long enough. It got boring fast.”
“Get them out,” I ordered before he went into detail.
He snapped his fingers. Gale and Rigel fell on the ground with a loud thud and the chains binding Andrix dropped on the ground. The cuffs from my hands fell.
“Done.”
The three of them groaned as they got to their feet. Then, Rigel screamed as he charged at me, tackling me to the ground. He got two punches in before I turned us over and gave him a taste. Kicking me off him, I staggered backward as he got to his feet.
“Bro, I’m sorry, alright?” I said, trying to calm him down.
We were wasting time and the last thing we needed right now was…
He came at me using a supernatural speed. I caught his right fist, but his left hook hit me square in the jaw.
“For my mate,” he said, growling.
My eyes watered, then in a split second, he was staggering backward, a hand on his broken nose. Blood trickled down to his lips.
“That’s for being stupid,” I said coolly.
The bones crunched as he fixed his nose, and he groaned as he wiped the blood off. I tossed him the ring and he caught it.
“I-“
“You did it for the pack,” I said, cutting him off.
He looked away.
We suddenly heard a moan. To our right, Andrix had Gale backed up against the wall as they made out. I cleared my throat to get their attention though I’d rather forget about the scent.
“Alpha,” said Jaymer weakly.
He swayed forward and I caught him before he fell.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yeah… sorry,” he said sleepily, his eyes struggling to stay open.
“It’s alright. We’ll take it from here.”
“Soft… pillows…” he whispered then his body went limp.
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Andrix.
“Nothing,” Gale replied. “He’s asleep.”
“We can’t leave him here,” said Rigel. “Someone has to look after him.”
Jaymer was a member of my pack, and everyone’s high maintenance little brother. I chuckled at the thought of the pack missing him.
“You,” I said, looking at Andrix. “Take him past the borders. Follow the river. It shouldn’t be guarded, and the trees will provide cover.”
He raised a brow at me. “How do you know their terrain so well?”
I smirked.
I’ve been studying it for years.
“The river’s their blind spot. Stay low. Once you’re out, head to the east. My men should be camping there.”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?” he asked, looking at Gale.
I had the honor of watching Gale throw himself into his arms like a lovesick teenager before I could look away.
Luca growled. He was getting more and more restless.
“How do I know your men won’t attack me? I’m an ‘inmate’.”
“You fucked up my Beta,” I replied. “Figure something out.”
Andrix chuckled while Gale blushed.
Goddess!
“We can’t trust him,” said Rigel firmly, planting his feet. “He’s with Salina.”
“She wants Myron dead. This was necessary,” said Andrix calmly.
I glanced at the two of them, my weight shifting from one side to the other.
“She proposed the plan to our pack. And since you badly wanted the same thing, my Alpha let you in. A Head Gamma who shared our goal – what better ally could we ask for?”
Rigel suddenly had him pinned against the wall. “You used me,” he said slowly.
“Hardly,” replied Andrix. “You volunteered, my friend.”
“Why should she want to kill her own father?”
Andrix smirked. “Why wouldn’t she?”
While it was a twisted reason, it was possible. The Alphas was well-desired, and being female, Myron wouldn’t pass the position to her.
Fuck! I didn’t realize she was this shallow.
Rigel growled.
“Let him go,” I said.
“If I find out you’re lying, I’ll fucking kill you in front of your mate, friend,” he threatened before stepping back.
Minutes later, we parted with Andrix and Jaymer.
“Those darts,” said Rigel.
“I noticed.”
“They’re alive?” asked Gale.
“We don’t kill innocents.”
“They kept their eyes closed and their ears shut, Liam,” said Rigel, growling.
I sighed. “Clearly, they didn’t learn their lesson.”
The woods before us was eerily silent as the morning sun pushed back the night.
Rescue Flynn, kill Myron, get the fuck out.
“I’ll let you two know: I don’t plan on dying today.”
I closed my eyes as I tried to link with Lexy. She immediately let me in.
“Busy… what do you need?” she asked.
“Is she with you?”
“She’s heading to you with Carson.”
I cut off the link. Why would she let my mate come here! Luca growled again, baring his teeth.
“Alpha, there’s something wrong with the Delta Unit,” Gale reported.
I searched for their links. There were… three.
“What happened?” asked Rigel nervously.
Gale and I looked at each other.
“She’s alive -,” said Gale, breaking the news, then added, “- but your team... I’m sorry.”
Rigel stared at him like he was stupid. He had trained the Delta Unit himself, groomed them through rain and shine to be the best fighters within the pack – a personally handpicked team of highly skilled individuals.
His hands formed into fists, then he turned his back on us.
“What’s the plan?” he asked through gritted teeth.
That was at least a good sign.
“We-“
I was cut off by the sound of explosions that came from the pack’s direction followed by howling. Alarms sounded and within seconds, wolves were coming down in every direction.
Red flares went up in the skies.
Fuck!
“Who’s leading them?” I shouted at Gale.
There were no orders issued. Why the hell was my pack advancing!
“Who gave the order, Gale?”
He looked just as shocked as I was.
“I warned them ‘Red’, Liam,” he said.
They should’ve lied low and waited for forty-eight hours. My men wouldn’t make a move on their own accord until I gave the signal, unless…
“Anna.”
