ALICE
The night air is thick with tension as Henriette and I teleport to the borders of the Sky Pack territory. This is the moment I have been waiting for – a chance to get Alex back, no matter the cost.
Hen dark eyes narrow, nostrils flaring as she scents the air like a predator catching the scent of prey. “Stinking Dogs,” she snarls, lips curling back over her teeth in a feral sneer.
I stay close beside her, my heart pounding in my chest. Collins had learned of our plans that morning, but one withering glare from Hen silenced any protest due to him keeping Hannah’s identity secret.
Hen strides forward, her boots crunching on the gravel path leading to the packhouse. A young wolf spots us, and his eyes go wide with shock and fear. “Dark witch!” he yells in warning, his voice cracking with panic.
In an instant, wolves begin emerging from the shadows, surrounding us in a loose circle of bared fangs and growls. “Quickly, inform the alpha!” another shouts.
Hen throws back her head and laughs, a harsh, mocking sound that sends chills down my spine. Tears of cruel mirth stream down her cheeks as she wipes them away with a casual swipe. “Fools, they actually think they can touch a hair on my head,” she says in a low, menacing tone.
The wolves shift in unison, their human forms blurring and elongating into their lupine counterparts. As one, they charge at Hen, who doesn’t even flinch. With a lazy flick of her fingers, she sends the wolf flanking her right, crashing into the packhouse wall. I flinch at the sickening crunch of bones and the pitiful whimper that follows.
“I think I should do this more often,” Hen purrs, a wicked smile playing across her crimson lips. She gestures again, and two more wolves slam together with brutal force before crumpling to the ground.
My stomach churns as I watch her stroll amidst the carnage, carelessly crushing another wolf underfoot. This isn’t what I wanted – I had only sought Hannah’s death to reclaim Alex, not wholesale slaughter. But as Hen’s laughter rings out again, high and unhinged, I know there is no stopping her now.
I have to try. Swallowing hard against the bile rising in my throat, I run after Hen as she reaches for the packhouse door. “No more killing!” I plead, grabbing her arm. “We’re here for Hannah only.”
In a blur of movement, she whirls on me, slamming me back against the wall with one hand wrapped around my throat. I gasp for air as her long nails dig into my skin. “Don’t think for a second that because I haven’t killed you, you can speak to me that way,” she hisses, her face just inches from mine. “I am here for Hannah. But I shall kill every wolf I see in my path. Understood?”
Spots dance in my vision as I rasp out, “Yes…”
And just like that, the pressure is gone. I slump against the wall, massaging my bruised throat as Hen resumes her path of destruction through the packhouse. Body after body falls before her magic-this is the price for my desires, I tell myself. A few wolves dead is a small price to pay to get Alex back in my grasp. It’s their fault for not bringing out Hannah, as Hen asks them where she is. That’s another thing: Hannah and Alex appear to be nowhere to be seen.
Hen’s eyes glow with an eerie light as she dispatches another wolf, her movements fluid and precise. There’s a cold efficiency to her violence, a methodical destruction that chills me to the bone. The packhouse, once a place of warmth and community, now reeks of blood and fear.
“Where is she?” Hen demands, her voice echoing through the hallway. “Bring me Hannah, and this ends!”
The wolves cower, some too injured to move, others too frightened to speak. I look around, but no side of Alex or Hannah.
Hen grabs another wolf by the collar, lifting him effortlessly off the ground. “Tell me where she is,” she snarls, her patience wearing thin. The wolf trembles, eyes wide with terror, but remains silent.
In a flash of movement, Hen throws him aside, his body hitting the wall with a sickening thud. She turns to me, her expression a mix of frustration and determination. “We need to find them now.”
I nod, pushing myself off the wall, and as I move, a familiar voice cuts through the haze of violence. “Alice!”
I blink to see Lorenzo, my only mate left, staring at me in abject horror. “What are you doing here? We have to run – there’s a dark witch killing everyone!”
He grabs my hand, trying to pull me away. I stare at him, shocked he still cares about me. He knows what I did to his brothers, and yet he is still trying to get me to safety. Why couldn’t I be satisfied with him as just my mate? Why? The answer hits me with brutal clarity: because I don’t need to be. I can do anything I want to get Alex back, and if I like Cameron too, I want all three of them. And that’s what I shall have.
I plant my feet firmly. “I’m with the witch,” I say, holding his gaze steadily. “She won’t harm me.”
Lorenzo recoils as if I have struck him. “You brought her here?” He shakes his head slowly in disbelief.
“Yes, and don’t worry, she won’t harm you as long as you are with me,” I say, grabbing his hand, but Lorenzo pulls away as if I’ve burned him.
“You brought a dark witch to my pack,” Lorenzo says, shocked, taking a step back from me.
“Yes,” I confirm.
“Is that why she’s looking for Hannah? To kill her for you?” Lorenzo asks, piecing it together.
“Yes,” I admit, holding my head high despite the regret threatening to consume me. I can’t let it fester; I need to stay focused on my goals.
“Stop this, Alice! My brother isn’t worth the death of my pack members. Please, stop before you harm yourself in the process, too,” Lorenzo pleads, grabbing my arm and shaking me.
I lift my chin, ignoring the twist of guilt in my gut. “Yes. He isn’t worth the lives of your pack; you’re right. But he is worth that to me.”
“No, Hannah, he isn’t,” he exclaims, his voice filled with frustration and desperation.
“He is!” I say with conviction, my eyes burning with determination. “You don’t understand. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and I won’t let anyone take that away from me.”
Anguish flickers across his features as he searches my eyes for any trace of the woman he once knew. Finding none, he simply turns and flees into the night. I watch him go, my chest aching with a hollow pain I can’t name. Then I turn and follow the screams toward Hen and to find that bitch I came to kill.