LYRA
My breath catches in my throat. Of all the triplets, it had to be him, the most volatile, the most unpredictable, and the one who hates me most.
"Come out," he commands, not bothering to look in my direction.
I step out from behind the tree, my legs shaking so badly I wonder if they will hold me. Alpha Knox stands with his back to me, his naked form silhouetted against the moonlight, muscles tensed as if ready to attack again.
"Thank you," I whisper, the words catching in my throat. "You saved my life."
He turns so fast I barely see him move. In a heartbeat, he is in front of me, his hand at my throat, pushing me back against the tree trunk. The bark scrapes painfully against my spine as he pins me there, his naked body inches from mine, radiating heat and fury.
"Don't flatter yourself," he snarls, his face so close I can feel his breath on my cheek. "I would watch you die a hundred times if I must."
His eyes are wild, pupils dilated with the lingering rage of his wolf. Blood drips from his lips onto my collar, staining the already dirty fabric.
"I was merely averting a potential danger to my pack," he growls. Then, his eyes bore into mine with accusation. "What were you doing out here? Luring them into pack territory? What's your plan, little Thorne?"
His accusation hits me like a slap. "What? No, I—"
"Spare me your lies," Knox hisses, his face inches from mine. "Three rogues this deep in our territory? And you just happen to be wandering alone at night?" His eyes narrow to slits. "What the fuck is your plan? Finish what your brother started?"
"I didn't lure anyone," I gasp, struggling to breathe under the pressure of his grip. "I swear it! I was working in the vineyard—Alpha Kade's orders. I was just heading back."
"At this hour?" Knox's voice drops dangerously low. "You expect me to believe—"
"The security guards—" I start, desperate to explain.
"Shut up." He cuts me off with a snarl, the hand at my throat tightening enough to make my vision go white for a second. "I don't care for your excuses. You are a blight, Lyra. And now you've brought chaos to my borders. You're coming with me. Now."
He releases me so suddenly that I nearly collapse. Then, he grabs my arm in a bruising grip and drags me through the trees, setting a brutal pace. I stumble, half-strangling on fear and humiliation, but he does not slow, not even when I catch my foot and go sprawling once. He just yanks me to my feet again, his fingers digging into the meat of my biceps.
We reach the eastern gate, and Marcus Reid comes running towards us with a long, burgundy robe, handing it to Knox. Knox throws the robe over his shoulders.
"Follow me," he growls at Marcus.
He hauls me through the gates and into the courtyard, where the lamps burn all night and the dirt is raked clean each morning. The moment we get to the center of the courtyard, Knox shoves me forward so hard I hit the ground hard, scraping my palms. Marcus stands off to the side, head bowed, hands clenched behind his back. I realize he is careful not to look at me.
Above us, windows flicker with lamplight. In seconds, the yard is filling with bodies of pack deltas, omega girls in sleepy tangles of linen, even a few high-ranking gamma warriors with their hair still wet from the washroom. They circle in, forming a ring. I keep my eyes down, but the whispers crawl over my skin.
She is covered in blood. What did she do? Is that Thorne's sister?
The crowd parts as Alpha Kade emerges from the main house, trailed by Beta Gareth and half the council. He is dressed in nothing but a white shirt, and his hair is still perfect; every inch of him is still neat. He surveys the scene with the same dead-eyed calm he uses to check a ledger.
He comes to a stop in front of me, his gaze passes over Knox, then Marcus, and finally lands on me.
"Report," Kade says.
"Three rogues at the eastern boundary," he says. "I neutralized all three." He jerks his chin at me. "Found her standing at the center of it. Alone."
The hum of the crowd sharpens. Kade considers me, then turns to Marcus. "How did they get through?"
Marcus steps forward and speaks in a shaking voice. "We left the north checkpoint manned, Alpha. Only the eastern perimeter was on patrol rotation. Vaughn, Beck, and Pieter were on duty."
I know them, they are the guards from the security post, the ones who tried to drag me into the room back at the vineyard, gnashing and rutting like animals.
Kade nods. His face is unreadable, but I see the cold, dangerous glint in his eyes. "Summon them."
Someone sprints off. In less than a minute, Vaughn and the other two guards are dragged into the courtyard. Their faces are flushed and their shirts misbuttoned. Vaughn is bare-chested. There are lipstick smears on his neck. All three reek of sweat, sex, and cheap alcohol.
Kade's jaw ticks. "Vaughn, Beck, Pieter. Explain."
The men glance at each other, realizing there is no escape. Beck tries to speak, but his voice is papery. "We…we saw nothing, Alpha. The perimeter was clear. The girl...she is lying—"
With no warning, Knox moves. That's the only word for it. One second, he is standing next to me, the next he is across the yard, his hand buried in the soft flesh of Beck's throat. Beck doesn't even cry out; he just gurgles once as blood fans across his shirt. Knox lets him drop, then rips into the next guard, Pieter, with his bare hands; claws out, teeth bared, jaws snapping once, twice, until the man's head slumps forward and half his body is split open at the chest.
Vaughn tries to run. He makes it two steps before Knox hurls him to the flagstones, pins him, and in one blur of motion, rips his throat out with his teeth. A spray of blood arcs through the air, splattering down my face and arms. I'm frozen. The courtyard is silent, except for the wet sucking sounds and the thud of bodies hitting stone. The other wolves don't move. No one breathes.
Knox stands, slick and crimson, his chest heaving. He wipes his mouth with a backhand, then glares at the crowd. His focus lands on Kade, who merely studies the carnage with the indifference of an aristocrat considering the state of his lawn.
"I can't afford another Elias Thorne in my pack," Knox says, his voice raw and cold. "I will not have weakness at the gate. This pack is all that matters."
He doesn't look at anyone again; he just stalks away, the robe swirling blood onto the earth behind him.
Kade stands there a moment, face unreadable. Then he signals a pair of deltas. "Clean this up," he says, then looks at Maggie. "Take her to the healer."
Then he walks away, leaving me on my knees, covered in blood that isn't mine, as the pack watches in stunned silence.