“Pretty sure this house has somehow gotten bigger.” Jacque panted. “And why are there so many hallways? Have there always been this many hallways?”
They turned left down another freaking hallway and finally stopped when they reached the last door.
It was the door that led to the archives. The door was unguarded, which meant Decebel must have gotten Costin and gone back upstairs. Jen could smell the scents of Costin, Decebel, and the woman they hunted all mingled together.
“Why didn’t you stay and guard the door, B?”Jen said as Alina barked and snarled at it.
“I caught Stephanie’s scent,”he said. For some reason it irked her that he used the female’s name. It just seemed too familiar.
“Well, we’ve got Stephanie’s scent here at the archive door.”Jen couldn’t help the way she sneered the woman’s name as her wolf rumbled her approval. Apparently, they were both feeling a bit possessive.
“It wasn’t there when I got Costin. She must have doubled back.”He paused and then cursed.
“What?”Jen asked.
“I just found her shirt.”
“And she’s not in it?”
“No,”Decebel said, his voice filled with irritation.“That must have been what I was smelling.”
“So, this psycho, Order-loving mongrel is running around topless?”
As she conversed with her mate, Jen watched Jacque open the door. The scent was so strong it struck Jen in the face. With the woman’s smell that strong, she had to be in there. Stephanie, the topless, psycho daughter-of-a-biscuit was somewhere near Thia and the other children.
“Bitch is going to die,”Jen thought as she followed Alina through the door with Jacque right behind her.
Costin was surprisingly calmwhen he turned onto the hallway where his alpha and Skender were fighting. Vasile could have wiped the floor with the other wolf, but he’d been stalling until Costin could get there. It had been nearly impossible for Costin to walk away from the door he’d guarded, but Decebel had assured him he wouldn’t let anything happen to his mate or son. Even as he stood there thinking about whether he was going to kill his former packmate, Costin’s mind was divided, part of it worrying about Sally and Titus.
Drake was the first one to notice Costin, so he could stall no longer. Fane turned next and then stepped to the side, making a way for Costin to get past them. Both males had been in their wolf form when he’d arrived but had now phased to their human shapes. Drake darted through a door and came out carrying gym shorts. He tossed one pair to Fane and slipped the other pair on. It wasn’t uncommon to have stacks of shorts or pants in various locations around the mansion or pack grounds considering how often they found themselves naked after a phase.
Costin walked slowly forward as if he were approaching death himself. And, for a moment, he wondered if he was. Not that Skender could kill him, but Costin wondered if a part of him would die if he took Skender’s life. Killing those wolves who’d held his Sally hadn’t left any guilt inside of him. The male, Jericho, deserved more than the easy death he got, however, Costin hadn’t been thinking too clearly at the time, or thinking at all. He’d been acting on instinct. So what was his instinct now?
He paused for a moment, not paying attention to Vasile, who’d noticed him and now had Skender on the ground with his powerful jaws clamped on the man’s throat. Costin focused on his wolf and what the beast was feeling.What are your instincts, wolf? What would you have us do?
Costin waited as the wolf in him considered the question. It seemed that the beast also had hesitation when it came to killing Skender. Although the kill would be justified, killing someone who had been a part of your pack, your family, wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Finally, the wolf answered him.He allowed harm to come to our mate. He came back to our pack with the intention of taking her from us again. He has lied to our alpha. He has no honor and cannot be trusted. He will be a continued threat to our mate, our pup, and the pack.
Costin couldn’t disagree. Skender was, without a doubt, a threat.What about any information he could give us about the Order?
I know nothing of that. That is for you to decide. My desire is for him to die so that the threat is removed,his wolf answered.
Costin stared at the man whom he’d once called a packmate. Skender’s eyes turned to him, and they glowed bright with his wolf. Costin almost didn’t recognize the man before him. The anger and betrayal burning in Skender’s gaze was confusing. What did he have to feel betrayed over? It wasn’t them who’d turned his mate over to an organization hell-bent on making slaves of the human race.
Costin stepped closer to the pair and finally he spoke. “Alpha, will you release him, please?” Costin had no plan. For all he knew, as soon as Skender stood up, Costin might break his neck, or maybe not. For the moment, he was just sort of winging it.
Vasile released the man’s neck and gave one last snarl, no doubt as a warning not to do anything stupid. Skender pushed away from his former alpha and slowly rose to his feet, his weary gaze on Costin the entire time.
“Are you really going to kill me, Costin?” Skender asked, his voice guttural with the sound of his wolf.
“You are going to die,” Costin said without hesitation. “Whether it is today, by my claws, is yet to be seen.”
“I didn’t want any harm to come to your mate. The Order is doing everything they can to set the supernatural races free from our bondage.”
“What bondage?” Costin asked. “How are we in any sort of bondage? We come and go as we please. We live our lives, and we help others live theirs.”
“We don’t live! We survive in secret.” Skender snarled. “We hide what we really are because humans are weak and afraid of what they don’t understand. We live in fear of being found out and being hunted like the animals they would call us or, worse, experimented on like lab rats. We are not living, not even close.”
Who was this man?Costin asked himself. How had they missed the signs this was how Skender felt? Was there anyone else in their pack that might think this way? Should they be looking for signs of betrayal in others?
