As we descended into the lower levels, my stomach churned, and I had to clasp my hands together to keep from picking the edges of my nails off. If I made myself bleed, the alphas would lose their shit and now was not the time.
Talon was first into the creepy basement, with Slade right behind him. I ended up in the center of the group, with Constantine in front of me. Weirdly, his scent was soothing for the first time. There was a note of comfort and familiarity in the citrus tones, as if he was finally a shifter I trusted.
When we exited the stairs, it was nothing like the creepy, dank interior I expected. We stepped into what looked like a laboratory or research facility, all white and sterile. But whatever comforting scents were around me faded under the stench of this area. I barely managed to hold in a gasp, and covering my nose did little to dull what had to be a dead body or five.
On silent feet, we pushed farther inside, the whole scene eerie as the fluorescent lights above flickered on and off. We moved past rows of stainless-steel tables, some of which were covered in scientific equipment, before reaching a series of cages lining the far wall.
Cages that weren’t empty, though there was nothing alive in any of them.
Which explained the smell.
Hunter blocked me so I couldn’t stare upon the death, but the scents suggested there were varying levels of decomposition here. Many of these prisoners had died while Fletcher was very much still alive. That sick fuck had left them in with the other prisoners, decaying right in front of them.
“Evil piece of shit,” Hunter growled, and even with my wolf blocking it, waves of his rage simmered in the bond. He prowled along the cages, double-checking there was no one alive.
When he paused halfway along, his stare unnatural and pointed, I called out. “Is there someone alive?”
His throat moved as he swallowed, before he shook his head. “No, but when this shifter was… I called her Mom.”
The sense of horror and dread flooded me so suddenly that I almost threw up. My stomach was already weak from the death-scents, and just hearing him utter those words…
“Hunter,” I choked out, attempting to get to him, only to find Slade blocking my path.
“Give him a moment,” he murmured, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat.
Hunter didn’t linger, already returning to us, his expression neutral. “She was a shit mother,” he said, hard features softening as he met my stricken gaze. “Fletcher clearly thought she was a shit wife too, since she ended up in there. Either way, they both got what they deserved.”
Toneless or not, his wolf flashed in his gaze, but before I could offer comfort, there was a shuffling on the tiles behind us. My pack spun and fell into protective stances around me, obstructing me from even seeing who was out there.
Popping up on my toes, I caught sight of an emaciated shifter as she stumbled around the corner. One I recognized immediately. “Chelsea,” I gasped, taking in the changes. There was no weight on her skeletal structure, and she’d aged twenty years since I saw her last.
When Slade’s dragon rage filled the room in a roar, the air crackling with heat and intensity, she glanced briefly between us before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.
CHAPTER 28
EMME
Talon moved first, striding toward the frail bundle of omega. He leaned close but didn’t touch her, which had my wolf howling in appreciation.
Kellan lifted one eyebrow as he smirked. “We like jealous Emme,” he said in a side-whisper, like it was a secret.
I scoffed. “Chelsea is half dead, and a traitorous, lying bitch. I’m not concerned.”
My possessiveness wasn’t because I didn’t trust my alphas. Not only did their actions demonstrate I was everything to them, but I could literallyfeelit through the bond. Nope, my possessiveness was because I loved them and claimed them as mine.
Any shifter with half a brain knew the rules… you don’t touch other shifter’s mates.
“She’s definitely half dead,” Talon confirmed, straightening and scowling as if her unconscious presence annoyed him. I wondered if he was remembering her forcing me to bite him during our first meeting. He held blame for himself as well, but there was plenty to go around.
It was not your fault, mate.I kept that just between us in the bond.You were a victim too.
Slade’s hug was tight and unexpected, as he clearly heard my words through Talon. “I will kill her for you,” he bit out in a rasp of dragon. “Burn her until she’s ash, and you will never have to see her face again.”
In his powerful embrace, I felt a touch less brittle. These alphas were healing traumas one at a time, and facing this shit with them by my side made it almost easy.
When Slade released me to head for Chelsea, Hunter stopped him with a hand on his chest. There wasn’t even a flicker of unease from Slade at his brother’s touch. “We need to extract information from her first,” Hunter said, eyeing the omega with distaste too. “Then she can die.”
There was not a chance in purgatory that any of these alphas would suggest a trial by Alpha Council for Chelsea. We were done with them completely, choosing to play by our own rules now. In our rules, she’d screwed up so badly that there was no saving her. Her actions could have cost me my life, and if what I picked up at the time was accurate, she’d had no idea what Fletcher had planned for me. She hadn’t even cared to ask.
