deadly secrets

Dante Milburn

Useless! 

Everyone in this goddamned fortress was useless to the fucking bone!

Amara Eldwood. That damned woman. 

Either she was innocent and I was the asshole for accusing her of a crime she didn't commit. Or she was one hell of an actress who’d yet again made a fool out of me. 

Like Leila.

“Fuck!” I bellowed, throwing my fist into the off-white pillar at the entrance to the long stretch of hallway.

Relief and pain singed through my body as I watched a fork appear in the concrete until it traveled all the way to the top.

I couldn't get her out of my head no matter how hard I tried.

Not when it had taken every morsel of restraint I could manage not to stare at her bareback reflection in the mirror when I had crashed in on her.

The soft swell of her hips and the tight, plump ass I’d seen for a second before she backed away, holding the dress against her body like she was scared I would tear it off.

What sort of beast did she take me for?

“This is madness,” I growled, ignoring the string of maids that gasped and whimpered as I stormed past.

“Dante! Come on man! Wait up!”  Ronan’s sharp hazel eyes met mine when I glanced back over my shoulder.

His lanky frame seemed battleworn considering the deep-red circles around his upturned hazel eyes and the way his bright white brows and short buzz of silver hair contrasted with the low light.

“What the hell is wrong with you man? You frightened her—” he started, jogging to keep up with my brisk pace as I marched out into the open square.

What time was it? 

The scent of wet earth mingled with the tang of dried blood and death in the back of my throat.

“Clear the bodies! Take the elite soldiers to the crypt! Move! Move!” one of the commanders screeched, the large green veins in his forehead throbbing dramatically.

The floor was covered with half-eaten soldiers, their hips connected to their chests only by what was left of their intestines.

“Hello? Earth to Dante—” Ronan started before my feet ground to a stop and I turned to narrow my eyes at him.

“You’re worried about me frightening that woman, Ronan, i’m worried about what the fuck i’m going to tell the families of our dead soldiers. Priorities, Ro. That's why I'm the fucking Alpha and you're not.” I gritted through clenched teeth, regrettingmt words the minute his gaunt face hardened.

Something raw flashed across his eyes before his throat bobbed and he tightened his jaw, wisely keeping shut.

It was a jerk move to rub my power in his face, but at least I never pretended to be some damsel-rescuing saint.

“Fine. You don't want her here, then she’ll be gone as soon as her wounds have healed.” Ronan’s defeated murmur made something raw open up in my chest but I nodded stiffly instead, keeping my mouth shut.

His navy blue leather jacket still had blood spattered along its glossy frame, staining through the thin yellow shirt he had on his mocha skin.

There was no doubt in my mind he had no problem getting women at infinity castle. Not with his broad open face and intense eyes. 

It was a wonder he wasn't drunk and sulking today.

“Good.” I said, realizing he was expecting something from me before I turned my back to him, freezing when his voice stopped me in my tracks.

“You’ve changed, Milburn…I don't know if I know you anymore,” 

The soft lilt of his baritone was almost too low for me to hear, but the words bounced off my skull painfully.

There was a haunted look in his upturned eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago, but I forced the longing in my chest to die out.

Of the three of my brothers, he was the last one I’d met. 

Years ago, at a local tavern, his wild white locs were the first thing I’d noticed as he sat hunched over at the crowded bar.

A rogue. A runaway. 

The stench of the wilderness clung to him like a skin-deep disease, but he remained oblivious to the disgruntled murmurs of the bar-hoppers around him.

Was that why he felt inclined to help the reject? Or did he really believe her charade about being out mate?

My lips tore into a wan smile as I closed the distance between us, watching the wariness on his face when I stepped so close I was sure I would kiss him.

Our ragged breaths tainted the air before he inhaled sharply, big hazel eyes flashing.

“Listen to me carefully, I brought you back to this pack all those years ago because I saw something in you. Don't make me regret it.” I hissed, stabbing one finger into his chest and wishing I’d used my claws instead when his jaw tightened and he glanced away.

“Asshole.” He muttered when I turned away, and I almost rolled my eyes at his pettiness.

When the fuck had my band of warriors all turned to sassy little chickens?

“Trust me, Ronan. You don't know how far I’d go to protect my pack.” I deadpanned, voice devoid of emotion before letting the wind wrap around my body as I stepped out into the night.

“You there.” 

My crass tone made the guards milling around the base of the front watch towers straighten.

“Where’s the General?” 

The pale ginger guard looked stricken that I had chosen to speak to him out of the sea of uniforms watching us.

My boots danced impatiently on the cobblestone path as the waif scrambled to attention.

“N-No word on the general yet, the rangers reported losing him in the mist— right now...” He heaved, but I turned on my heel and left, already hearing enough when my gaze caught on the glossy black walls of his suite in the distance.

It was shaped like a tower, standing out against the row of Caius and Ronan’s chambers.

It wouldn't hurt to check.

#

None of the lights here were working.

“Curses.”

My frustrated swear echoed back to me ominously just as one of the overhead bulbs in the long dark hallway flickered.

My night vision worked just fine, but there was something unsettling about being in Laziel’s quarters.

It wasn't the usual shadows I was used to…no.

It felt as if the war general brought a part of The Darkness back with him everytime, and now the whole place reeked of it.

“Laz? Come on, I can smell you! I know you're hiding here—” I called loudly, huffing through a sigh and taking a reluctant step forward when only windy silence filled my ears.

Fine. I would drag him out for his reports if I had to.

My hands brushed against the walls of the many passages and for a minute, I wondered why a single wolf needed all this room.

Until a flash of movement at the end of the hall caught my eye.

I paused, my eyes flickering back to the lithe shadow that looked half-human and half-wolf.

“Laz?”

If he had heard me, his rigid shoulders remained the same.

I kept my feet light instinctively, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up straight as my heartbeat echoed in my ears.

“What the hell are you doing?” I grumbled, watching as he struggled with the lock to his black iron door before throwing himself in.

His guttural groans sounded slick in my ear. Like tar.

Something was wrong, I could feel it.

Surprise made my eyes widen and I stifled the urge to charge in and examine him when I noticed the deep purple and red welts cross-crossing his back.

It looked like he had gone to fight a stone dragon and lost. 

“What the fuck, Laz?” I hissed, but my voice must have startled him because the brown-haired man jumped, whipping around to face me with his fangs bared.

Just how long had he been in The Darkness? How in the world had he made it through our quarantine chambers?

“What is all this?” I seethed, my hands balling to fists before I charged into the dark room, ignoring the threatening whoosh of flames from the stone-mantled fireplace.

His harsh bronze eyes were siren-shaped, but the fire inside them flared even hotter when I stepped into the halo of the fireplace.

“Get out!” He spat, voice more animal than human as he charged at me, stopping only a few feet short as if thinking better of it.

If there was any wolf more deranged than his was, it was mine. Even he didn't like the odds of a confrontation knowing that.

The dark line of his veins warped around his chest, so black that they almost looked like they were pulsing.

The Darkness had gone bone-deep. Fuck!

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Laz? You need help! Nurses!” I growled, taking my eyes off his crouched frame to yell over my shoulder just as my body went flying across the room.

Shock and pain hit my chest like a gut punch before I dug my feet into the floor.

“What the fuck—” I snarled, hooking one hand against his neck as he slammed me against the wall, the cracking of concrete fading against the blood now roaring in my ears.

“Stay out of my business Dante. Please.” He wheezed, hashing out his pleading like it was a death wish as his long yellow fangs hovered dangerously close to my face.

The whites of his eyes had turned a sickly yellow color, with threads of red swimming in them.

“Unhand me, right now, Laziel. Or you will be sorry,” I hissed harshly, watching a look of surprise flicker across his strained face before he tore his body away, crossing back into the shadows with lightning speed.

I knew even without thinking that the harsh silver baths in quarantine would almost certainly kill him, and yet, I knew even more how dangerous it would be letting him roam our pack in this condition.

“Laziel, for fucks sake, please…let me help you—” I breathed, my hands tightening to fists at my side as I resisted the urge to close the distance between us.

We had become something like brothers over the last year. Whether he fucking fancied it or not, the bond between us was more than just master and servant.

We were friends, weren't we? 

And yet, the shadows presence in our pack had started to show me that maybe I didn't know the three as much as I thought I did.

“Will you turn me in?” he coughed, just as his shadow keeled over and another uncontrollable growl shook the room.

How long had this been happening? 

Surely his maids had to be aware. Were they covering for him too?

“I’ve sent them all away, Alpha. Fucks sake, I'm not that kind of beast—” he hissed as if reading my thoughts, and I glanced up to see that he’d half-turned to face me, one bronzed-yellow eye staring over his shoulder at me.

Yet. He hadn’t hurt anyone…yet.

The old me would have put him to death immediately, and yet, my wrist felt stiff when I raised it to the sword still holstered on my hip.

Maybe I didn't know myself at all.

“Then get out, Milburn…there’s nothing you can do.” Laziel’s raspy voice was more human when he spoke, but a cold shudder whittled through my shoulders still.

I swallowed the battery acid rushing up my throat, barging into the airy hallway just as the door banged shut behind me.

Any sooner and he'd have taken my ankles clean off!

“Y-Your Highness! I-I’ve been looking everywhere for you—” A man’s throaty stammer echoed in the dim light behind me and my body went still.

Had I been so distracted that I hadn't heard him walk up?

Fucks sake, between the Shadow, the attack and Laziel’s damning secret, I wasn't sure which would drive me insane first.

“What is it?” My tone was harsher then I had intended, but the night had already worn thin what little patience I had left.

“It's the elder council, Your Highness. They have news on the attack—” he breathed, and the world around me faded to silence as my wolf’s unforgiving rage took over.