Decebel’s eyes glowed as he looked behind him at the mess on the floor and then back at Nick. “I’ve been where you are,” he said, his thick accent making his words sound menacing. “In fact, all the men in this room who have true mates have been in this situation. We understand your control is slipping. But we must wait until we have more information. Running off without a plan is not the answer.” Decebel took a step toward Nick while rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles.
“And standing here doing nothing is?” Nick shot back. “What good are any of you if you’re just going to sit here and talk? If you aren’t willing to take action to find my mate, why the hell are you here?” In the back of his mind, a tiny voice told him he was being unreasonable, but the wolf crushed the tiny voice, and Nick continued his tirade. “My mate is alive, in the hands of a sadistic elf king, and you expect me to just sit here twiddling my thumbs?”
“I expect you to be smart.” Decebel snarled. “But your wolf is feral, and that means you’re going to make someverydumb decisions. We will not let you do that. In order to leave this compound, you will have to fight and defeat all of us.”
“Wait, what?” Adam said, but Nick paid the fae no attention.
“You think you can take me?” Nick’s wolf chuckled. Decebel wasn’t wrong. Nick’s wolfwasferal. If he didn’t get himself under control, Drayden might be forced to put him down. But that wasn’t going to happen because if Nick was dead, then he couldn’t help Kara. “When has a feral wolf ever been bested without being killed?”
“You’re looking at one.” Decebel pointed to himself, then he pointed to Fane. “And that one. And Costin. And I could name more. Something we’ve learned over the years about feral wolves whose mates are still alive is that there is always hope. We will beat you to within an inch of your life if that’s what it takes. But we will keep you alive until we can get your mate back.”
“I’m pretty sure I did not volunteer for this. So why exactly are you tossing me in with the wolves, literally?” Adam asked.
“Because that’s what pack does,” Decebel rumbled. “We do whatever is necessary to meet the needs of those who can’t help themselves. Punches or hugs, whatever it takes. We were there for you when you needed us. Now our brother Nick needs us.”
Fane pushed off from the wall, his casual stance nowhere to be found. Nick glanced at the alpha and saw that his bright blue eyes glowed with his wolf. “Let’s take this outside. There’s no reason to destroy any more of Drayden’s home.”
Fane headed for the door, and Decebel followed, calling out over his shoulder, “We’ll understand if you decide to stay inside. No one will think less of you if you’re afraid to face us.”
“Bloody hell.” Adam groaned and stood up before following the other two males. “Crina, I want you to know I love you. And I love our pack. But our beta has finally been driven mad by his psycho mate.”
Crina laughed. “Probably. Quit whining and go impress me with your fighting prowess.”
He waved a hand at her and exited out the open door.
Nick looked around the room and watched as Dillon, Ciro, Gustavo, Thalion, and Sorin followed the others out the door. Then Cyn and Crina went as well, though he was pretty sure the females wouldn’t join in the fight.Would they?Elle, Sorin’s mate, had not yet returned from checking on the other group that was dealing with the Peri business, which might be a good thing. She seemed a little more blood hungry than Adam. He’d hate to have to kill her. Maybe the thought that he’d even consider that should have concerned him. It didn’t. All he was concerned with was his mate.
When he turned to his alpha, Drayden raised a brow at him. “Is your wolf under control?”
Nick shook his head. There was no point in lying. He wouldn’t be able to keep his wolf from destroying the rest of the house and then anything else in his path.
Drayden let out a sigh. Then, without so much as a twitch to betray his thoughts, the alpha ran straight at Nick. His shoulder plunged into Nick’s solar plexus, knocking the breath out of the beta. The attack was so fast Nick didn’t even have time to plant his feet. Drayden pushed him back, propelling him through the open front door and out of the mansion. Nick stumbled but he managed to gain his feet and jump backward into the air, turning before he tripped down the stairs. Instead, he flipped in the air like a cat, rotated, and landed on his feet in a crouch. His wolf took over, shoving the man aside. Nick phased, shedding the human skin and giving himself over to the feral beast that could think of only one thing: kill anything between him and his mate. At that moment, he considered every male in the surrounding circle his enemy. If they would not help him search for her, then they were in the way.“They will all die,”his beast said with a cold, detached voice that should have worried Nick. As his sanity slipped away, he gave over his humanity to the wolf and let his instincts dictate his actions.
Fane was the first of his foe to phase. The alpha shook out his fur and then turned those glowing eyes on Nick. His wolf was massive. Fane pulled his lips back in a menacing snarl and took a step toward Nick. The beta was acutely aware of the fact that Fane, of all the wolves, fae, and elves present, could kill him the easiest. And maybe that’s what needed to happen. But Nick would make sure the alpha of alphas had to work for his pelt.
Nick lunged, but at the last second, he dropped his head and chest to the ground and snapped his jaws out toward the alpha. Nick’s teeth latched onto Fane’s front leg. He bit down with all of his might and felt the bone snap beneath his jaw. The alpha didn’t so much as whimper. Nick released him and rolled back onto his feet, keeping the others in view out of the corner of his eyes. When another wolf started toward him, Fane snapped his jaws at the wolf, a clear order to back off.
Fane and Nick circled one another. Nick dodged forward, but Fane was fast. He darted to the side before Nick could get his teeth on him again. He noticed Fane didn’t limp, although Nick had felt the alpha’s bone snap. The Great Luna’s blessing must have included some incredibly quick healing. It didn’t worry Nick. Just hearing the bone crunch between his teeth had satisfied his wolf’s bloodlust, at least temporarily.
He took a step to the right and settled back on his haunches, ready to launch himself forward again, but Fane beat him to it. The massive black wolf pushed off the ground without even getting a head start. He flew through the air and landed right on Nick’s back, flattening him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Fane’s teeth sank into the scruff of Nick’s neck. He snapped his head back and forth, shaking Nick as easily as if he’d been a pup. Nick immediately stopped fighting and let his body go limp. Deadweight was much harder to manipulate. But Fane didn’t seem bothered by the load.
Just as quickly as the alpha had attacked, he jumped off Nick and once again stood across from him, his head lowered and ears pressed back against his head. Saliva dripped from his snarling lips. Fane’s teeth were coated red with Nick’s blood.
Nick pushed up from the ground. Then he heard his alpha’s voice in his mind.“Stay down, dammit.”Nick shook his head. He could not submit, not while his mate needed him. They would have to kill him if they didn’t want him to search for her. He would torture every supernatural he came across until he found someone who knew something about her whereabouts. Someone somewhere was left alive after Peri’s attack. They had to know something.
He shook himself and saw flecks of blood hit the ground. He didn’t know how bad his wound was, but he still felt strong enough to fight. He threw his head back and howled. Then he ran at Fane, barreling his head into the alpha’s ribs. Again, Nick heard the snapping of bones. He kept moving, forcing Fane over onto his side. Fane continued to roll, coming full circle and springing back up to his feet. The alpha whipped around, at the same time slinging his head, smashing his skull into Nick’s.
Nick stumbled but didn’t go down. He backed up and forced himself to push away the stars that danced across his vision. When he could again see clearly, Nick saw Fane had stepped back into the circle, and another wolf had stepped forward in the alpha’s place. Nick recognized the wolf as Ciro, the Italian alpha. Nick could feel the old wolf’s power. It wasn’t as strong as Fane’s, but he was definitely a formidable fighter. Nick felt his wolf smile as more of his sanity slipped away.
“Wow,” Adam said from beside Fane. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of you lose it like this.”
Nick turned his head to the fae and snarled.
Adam held up his hands. “Just making an observation. By all means, carry on with your suicide plan.”
Before Nick could turn back to his opponent, teeth latched onto his back leg. His front legs collapsed to the ground as he was dragged backward and then whipped around like a rag doll. Ciro released him, and Nick crashed into a tree, hitting the ground with a bone-rattling thud. He struggled to his feet, stumbling.
“Bloody hell, Nick,” Drayden practically yelled. “Submit.” He didn’t give an alpha command, either because he wanted Nick to get his ass kicked, hoping it would snap him out of the feral state, or because Nick was too far gone to be affected by the order.
