The words are against his ear, his voice still stern, but holding the nurturing touch of a Pack Alpha.
Tieran purrs a little more, the rumble distinctly different from the one he uses with Clove. This is a purr meant to soothe a pack member, which seems to be working wonders on the boy because he’s sagging now in defeat.
In the next moment, the child is crying. But they’re not tears of sadness, they’re tears of fury.
“H-he left us. Papa left us.”
My lips curl down. “Bryson?” Did he create another heir under our noses?
“His father is an enforcer,” one of the others explains. This one a male with shaggy hair who can’t be older than fifteen. “They all left us.”
“How long ago?” I ask.
“When the bells started,” he replies.
Tieran looks up at the male. “Can you show me which direction they headed?”
The teen nods. “Yeah. And I can get you some keys, too.”
“Jaxon,” one of the females hisses.
“What?” the teen counters, a fresh anger painting a wave of red on his features. “Alpha Bryson just left us to face that”—he points at us—“alone. And so far all they’ve done is let Jimmy hit their Alpha.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t do worse. They’re Carnage Wolves,” the female snaps.
“Yes, evil savage beasts who pillage and plunder,” I drawl. “Doing a hell of a lot of that right now, aren’t we?”
“Your Alpha has lied to you,” Tieran says, taking a different approach as he slowly stands again with the boy still standing before him. “I have proof of those lies.”
A few of them share looks.
Some of them don’t appear to be all that surprised.
Others are more disbelieving.
The indoctrination of this pack is intense.
“But first, I need to find him,” Tieran continues. “He’s going to pay for what he’s done to the Black Mountain Pack. After that, you’ll all be questioned. Those found innocent of his crimes will be given safe haven in our territory. Because when I’m done with your Alpha and his enforcer line, there won’t be much left of this pack.”
He looks down at the child again, turning him to face him.
“I want you to go back to your mum and not leave her side. She’s going to need your strength, little alpha,” he says, brushing his knuckles against his cheek in a gesture of favor from an Alpha to a pack member. “You did good, Jimmy. Now go protect your mum, yeah?”
The little boy stares up at him in wonder, then nods at the task he’s been given and runs back to his mother. She’s gaping at Tieran like he’s grown three heads.
These fucking wolves, I think, already done with this scene. “Show us where they went,” I tell the teen. Jaxon, I think, repeating his name.
Not that I need it.
But he immediately responds to my command, which earns him some points in my book.
A few of the wolves bristle, causing Tieran to tell two of our wolves to stay behind. “Keep them in line,” he orders.
They both nod silently, using the Carnage Wolf intimidation tactic to do exactly what Tieran said.
I suppose that’s one way to use our reputation to our advantage.
Are we deadly? Fuck yeah.
Savage? Maybe some of us.
But we’re not cruel. Unless the other party deserves it. Which Bryson absolutely does.
Jaxon leads us to the jeeps, telling us where to find a set of keys for the two left. I toss a pair to Caius, then take the other for myself.
“They went that way,” Jaxon says, pointing in the direction of a dirt trail. “It ends at a cabin used for training.”
“So he went to find more weapons,” I translate.
Jaxon nods.
I glance at Caius, the ultimate expert on this terrain. “True?”
“True,” he says. “I know the way.”
“Then you get to lead,” I tell him.
He grins. “Excellent.”
“How many enforcers does he have with him?” Tieran asks, his hand on the passenger door to my new Jeep.
“Eight,” Jaxon tells him.
Tieran and I share a look.
“He didn’t send enforcers to Richmond,” I say. “Not the main ones.”
“No,” he replies, concern tainting his features.
Shit. “He knew we were coming.”
“Seems that way,” he replies, his jaw clenching.
I’m about to slide into the driver’s seat, but I pause, my chest suddenly twisting. “We have another mole.” We already knew this because Alpha Kin said us. But who?
Tieran walks away from the jeep, his finger near his ear as he starts to re-activate the comms.
All the hairs along my arms stand on end as I wait for him to make that connection. Which is why I notice Jaxon’s flinch. His eyes start to widen and I’m moving before I even hear the crack of the bullet.
I dive in front of Tieran, taking the hit to my shoulder and growling at the direction of the gun.
It didn’t originate from Jaxon.
It came from the woods.
The little fucker led us into a trap.
Gunfire erupts around us, one of the bullets hitting him square in the head, killing him instantly.
Okay, so it may not have been an intentional trap.
“Looks like they found those weapons!” Caius shouts as he takes cover behind the four-by-four.
Tieran’s at my side in the next instant, his knife digging into my arm to catch the bullet. “Don’t waste your time on me,” I snap.
“I need your fucking aim,” he counters, cutting me deeper to yank out the metal.
It hurts like a son of a bitch, making me snarl in response.
He growls back, his animal in his eyes. “The comms are dead,” he tells me as he finishes the quick medic job.
Our wolves are surrounding us, taking fire and returning it with the assholes in the woods.
From the growls, it sounds like we’re winning. Not a surprise. We’ve trained under far worse conditions.
“Something’s wrong,” Tieran continues.
An explosion comes from the tree line, drawing my attention to Alpha Ion. He’s grinning like a loon, having just unleashed a handful of grenades. Normally, I would be smiling right along with him.
But my heart is hammering in my chest. Clove.
I can hear her screaming.