CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE VILLAIN

Eamon could already hear them from where he sat, but he barely lifts his eyes from the flames roaring in the fireplace, the only source of light in the room.

They stumble in panting like dogs, bleeding like prey, dragging with them that sour scent of panic.

Idiots.

“You failed,” he takes a long drag of the cigarette. His voice is calm. That’s when it’s always worst.

“She—she fought back,” one of them mutters, the taller one. He doesn’t remember their names; he never cared to learn them.

“She’s just a girl,” he leans forward coldly, “a college girl. She hasn’t even shifted yet, no pack, no training.” He’s standing now, fury burning in his eyes. “Yet you let her slip through your fingers.”

“She had help,” the other one blurts. “A big wolf, he was fast.”

“Oh?” With a few slow steps, he approaches them. “So now you’re telling me two grown, trained betas sent on a simple mission to snatch a half-breed girl were overpowered by some wolf?”

They say nothing.

He takes another drag and nods his head with a thin smile. Cold and dangerous.

“You had one job,” he flicks the blunt toward the shorter one. “Tell me, was it your idea to corner her in an open alley, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear? Did you forget everything I taught you about discretion?”

“She was going home… there was no one around,” he trembles. “We didn’t know the Alpha would show up”

“What Alpha?” Eamon snaps, and in one motion, his foot connects with the beta’s ribs.

He hits the ground with a grunt. But Eamon doesn’t stop. He lets the anger rise like wildfire.

“You answer to me. I’m the Alpha!”

Kick.

“How hard is it—”

Kick.

“To kidnap—”

Kick.

“One fragile—”

Kick.

“Human?”

He stops screaming after the third kick. He must’ve passed out, but Eamon doesn’t care enough to check.

Instead, he takes a long final drag and throws the burnt out end at the limp body. He turns to the other one, the taller one, who’s now frozen in place like prey sensing the end.

“I found where she lives!” he falls to his knees immediately, cowering in fear as Eamon paces closer, eyes burning with suspicion, waiting for a reason not to silence him permanently. “Please, Alpha. I will bring her to you myself. I swear.”

Eamon snarls, grabbing the back of his neck and pushing his face roughly against the floor.

“What will you do, huh? Both of you couldn’t even take on only one wolf.”

“I didn’t think he…” he muffles some more words, but Eamon presses harder, his grip making breathing nearly impossible for the beta.

“Wolves don’t think. They hunt. That’s what you should have done.” He flings him across the room toward his partner.

He knows who the wolf was. Khylon. Eldoria’s golden son. Always pretending to be better than the rest of them, with his self righteous speeches and that stupid sense of honor. There was a time when they stood on equal footing. But Khylon got the title, the favor, the legacy. And now the moon chosen girl too?

No. He’s not going to win this. Not this time.

“Drag him out of my sight,” he mutters, brushing his hands off like the dust they are. “Before I turn you both into fertilizer.”

The man doesn’t move at first. He’s watching with eyes wide, the kind of wide that means he finally understands who he’s working for.

“Now,” Eamon roars, low and steady.

He flinches into action, gripping the unconscious body by the arm and dragging it out the door, boots scraping against the floor.

The fire crackles behind him. He walks to the desk and lights another cigarette.

Elowen Reed.

He underestimated her. Now, in the privacy of his thoughts, far away from the Eldorian Council and their assumptions, he can see she’s stronger than they thought—smarter too. She had refused to show up to the fake audition he initially planned.

One would have thought she was soft. That she’d be easy. Some half-blood with no training and no clue. But she surprised him.

Elvik Reed. The once loyal beta who vanished across the veil like a lovesick mutt. She’s his daughter, no doubt. That fire in her eyes, it’s not just human. But if only she’d stayed hidden. If only she weren’t the last threat to everything he’s built.

“Maybe she still has some wolf in her after all,” he wonders aloud. “Good. I’d hate to break something that was already weak.”

It is time for something bigger. Something she wouldn’t be able to walk away from.

Plan B.