Calvin’s POV
The tension in the central hall is thick enough to choke on. Fenrir is pacing restlessly inside me, his growls echoing in my mind, his rage mirroring my own. Whoever helped Kamrynn escape is out there, among these cowards, hiding in plain sight. I can feel it. I’m not leaving until I have their blood on my hands.
Suddenly, a man steps forward, his head bowed. His hands tremble slightly as he raises them in surrender.
“Alpha,” he begins, his voice quivering with fear. “I… I saw her. I saw Lysaa. She… she helped Kamrynn escape.”
The confession hits me like a spark to a powder keg. My rage ignites, flaring to life with a force I can barely contain. I feel Fenrir surge to the surface, his presence nearly overwhelming, his voice a guttural snarl in my head. “Let me out. I’ll tear her apart.”
My vision blurs with red as my eyes shift, Fenrir’s rage and mine blending into one. It takes everything in me to hold him back, to keep him from breaking free and ripping this entire hall apart.
“Tell me everything you saw,” I growl, my voice deepening with Fenrir’s influence. “Do not leave out a single detail.”
The man swallows hard, his gaze fixed on the floor. “I… I was trying to see how I could help out in the chaos when I saw Lysaa leading Kamrynn out. I tried to stop her, to ask where she was taking the prisoner, but Lysaa claimed she was following your orders. She… she was very convincing, Alpha. I… I didn’t think-”
“You didn’t think?” I snap, my voice rising. “You let them go because you didn’t think?”
He flinches at the harshness in my tone. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I… I should have-”
I silence him with a look, turning my gaze towards the girl standing near the edge of the hall. “Lysaa,” I call out, my voice cold and dripping with venom. “Step forward.”
The hall is deathly silent as Lysaa steps into the center, her face pale and her small frame trembling. But there’s a defiance in her eyes that makes my blood boil. Fenrir’s growls grow louder in my head, urging me to let him take over, to punish the girl who dared to defy us.
“Why?” I demand, my eyes narrowing as I stare her down. “Why would you commit such a treasonous act? Why would you help that whore escape?”
Lysaa’s voice trembles as she speaks, but to my fury, she doesn’t lower her gaze. “Because it was the right thing to do, Alpha,” she says, her voice surprisingly steady despite her fear. “The way you were treating her… it was getting out of hand. She didn’t deserve-”
My hand lashes out before she can finish, and the slap echoes through the hall like a gunshot. Lysaa crumples to the ground, clutching her cheek where a bright red mark is already blooming. The sight of her on the floor, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, does little to quell the rage surging through me.
“How dare you,” I snarl, taking a step toward her. “You, a lowly servant, think you know better than your Alpha?”
Lysaa struggles to push herself up, her breath shaky. But even now, there’s a flicker of defiance in her eyes, and it’s all I can do not to let Fenrir loose to tear her apart.
“You’ll pay for this,” I growl, my voice steady with the coldness of my decision. “From this moment on, you are no longer considered a member of this Pack. You will be blinded, stripped of your sight, and thrown into the dungeon where you can rot for the rest of your miserable life.”
Gasps echo through the hall, but I don’t stop there. “And your family,” I continue, my tone as unyielding as iron, “will be banished from this Pack with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Let this serve as a warning to anyone who dares defy me.”
The hall is filled with stunned silence as my words sink in. Lysaa’s eyes widen, and she finally breaks, her voice coming out as a desperate plea. “Please, Alpha, have mercy. I beg you-”
“Take her away,” I interrupt coldly, not even bothering to look at her as she’s dragged out of the hall by two guards. Her cries echo off the walls, but they fall on deaf ears. She made her choice, and now she will suffer the consequences.
I’m about to dismiss the meeting, ready to send everyone away to continue the search for Kamrynn, when another voice cuts through the silence.
“Alpha, wait!”
I turn sharply to see the Pack doctor stepping forward, her face pale, her hands trembling as she wrings them together. There’s a flicker of fear in her eyes as she meets my gaze.
“What is it, Doctor?” I growl, my patience wearing thin. “Speak.”
She takes a hesitant step forward, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s… it’s about Kamrynn, Alpha. She… she was pregnant.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, and for a moment, all I can hear is the roaring in my ears. Fenrir’s rage flares up like a wildfire. She’s carrying our heir.
The doctor stumbles over her words, clearly panicking under my gaze. “I… I confirmed it when I saw her two days ago. She… she was having some complications, but the child… the child was still alive.”
My hands clench into fists, my entire body trembling with the fury I can no longer contain. “You’re telling me,” I say slowly, my voice dangerously low, “that Kamrynn ran away with my heir?”
“Yes, Alpha,” the doctor whispers, her head bowing. “That… that’s what it means.”
The realization claws at my insides, sending Fenrir into a frenzy within me. Kamrynn didn’t just escape-she took my child with her. She robbed me of my future. And for that, she would pay more dearly than I’d ever planned.
I turn to some of the warriors still gathered in the hall, my eyes blazing. “I want every available man out there searching for her,” I order, my voice a vicious snarl. “I don’t care what it takes, or how far she’s gone. Bring her back to me. And bring her back alive. She won’t get away with this.”
The warriors nod and disperse quickly, knowing better than to waste time when I’m in this state. As they leave, I feel the familiar pulse of Fenrir’s anger, and I let his rage fuel mine.
Kamrynn may have slipped away, but she hasn’t escaped justice. She’ll come crawling back, and when she does, I’ll be waiting.