Chapter five: The Alpha's Aunt

Sera's weapon clatters to the concrete floor.

"Connor," she breathes. "But you're dead. We saw—"

"You saw what I wanted you to see." Connor descends the stairs slowly, confidently. He looks different—harder, older, with scars crisscrossing his face. "You saw a body in the clearing that night. My body, you assumed. But you never checked, did you? You were too busy running for your life."

Behind Sera, she hears Dante swear. The bomb timer reads 00:27:18.

"Who did we bury?" Dante asks, his voice deadly calm.

"A rogue wolf from Wyoming. Wrong place, wrong time. Same build as me, similar coloring." Connor's smile is cold. "I shifted him into human form after I killed him. Carved up so he was unrecognizable. Then I let the council believe they'd killed me."

"Why?" Sera's mind is reeling. "Connor, why would you fake your own death?"

"Because dead men can't be held accountable." He reaches the bottom of the stairs, standing in the moonlight streaming through the broken roof. "And I needed to disappear long enough to build my case against the council."

"The murders," Sera says. "Jessica, Thomas, Rebecca, Celeste—you killed them all."

"They were loose ends. Witnesses who could expose what really happened that night." Connor's eyes are flat, emotionless. "Thomas was getting too curious, Jessica knew too much, Rebecca was asking the wrong questions, and Celeste—well, Celeste tried to blackmail me."

"You killed your own cousin," Dante growls. "Rebecca was family."

"Rebecca was collateral damage. She shouldn't have come looking for a brother who never wanted to be found." Connor pulls out a gun loaded with silver bullets, and Sera realizes with horror. "But you know what the real problem is? You two. You're the biggest loose ends of all."

"We didn't do anything," Sera says, trying to keep her voice steady. "We thought you were dead. We believed."

"You believed the council murdered me. You've spent five years carrying that guilt, that secret." Connor's finger moves to the trigger. "But here's the thing, I need that guilt. I need that secret. Because when the council falls, when their corruption is finally exposed, I need someone to blame for my 'death.' Someone they already exiled. Someone they already hate."

"Me," Sera whispers.

"You're perfect. The vengeful ex-mate, back for revenge. You killed me five years ago, and now you've returned to finish what you started. To destroy the pack from the inside." Connor's smile widens. "My family has already bought the story. David thought he was helping by telling you about the journal. But he was really just building my case."

"You tried to kill your own brother," Dante says, still working on the bomb. The timer reads 00:24:33.

"David will survive. He always does." Connor shrugs. "And when he wakes up, he'll believe exactly what I've told him—that you two killed me and are now covering your tracks."

"No one will believe that," Sera says.

"Won't they? You're the exiled wolf who mysteriously returned right when pack members started dying. Dante's the alpha who's been hiding evidence, protecting his former mate." Connor gestures around them. "And when this building explodes with both of you inside, along with all your 'evidence'—well. The narrative writes itself."

"The council will figure it out," Dante says.

"The council will be too busy dealing with the merger. Which, thanks to you two, is moving ahead of schedule." Connor checks his watch. "They're meeting right now, actually. Voting to remove you as alpha, Dante. Elder Victoria is very persuasive."

"You're working with my aunt?"

"Victoria? God, no. That woman is a true believer. She actually thinks the merger is about strengthening the pack." Connor laughs. "But her ambition makes her useful. She wants power, I want revenge. Our goals align."

"Revenge for what?" Sera demands. "What did the council do to you?"

"They killed my parents!" The shout echoes through the mill. Connor's calm facade cracks, revealing the rage beneath. "Ten years ago, my mother and father questioned the council's authority. They wanted democratic reforms, wanted pack members to have a voice. So the council made them disappear. Called it a rogue attack, but I knew the truth."

"Connor."

"I spent years gathering evidence, building my case. I was going to expose everything, bring down the entire council." His hands shake with fury. "But then they found out. They came for me in that clearing. They were going to kill me to protect their secrets."

"So you let them think they succeeded," Sera says quietly.

"I had no choice. I couldn't fight them—not then, not alone. So I played dead. I watched you get exiled, watched Dante break. I waited five years, building my resources, finding allies." Connor's eyes glitter in the darkness. "And now it's time for the council to pay."

"By framing Sera? By murdering innocent pack members?" Dante's voice is disgusted. "That's not justice, Connor. That's insanity."

"That's survival." Connor raises the gun. "Something you two are about to run out of."

The bomb timer reads 00:21:47.

Sera's mind races. They need more time. Dante needs more time.

"Wait," she says. "If you kill us now, how will you explain our bodies? If the bomb destroys the building—"

"Who said the bomb is going to explode?" Connor's smile returns. "The bomb is insurance. If you somehow disarm it, it doesn't matter—I still have this gun. But if you try to run, try to fight, then boom. Everyone dies."

"Except you," Dante says.

"Except me. I'll be blocks away when this place goes up. Another grieving pack member, shocked by the tragedy." Connor moves closer. "Now, Alpha, step away from the bomb."

"No."

"I'll shoot Sera. Right here, right now."

Dante's hands are still on the wires. Sera can see the calculation in his eyes. Can he disarm the bomb before Connor pulls the trigger? Can they both survive this?

"Do it," Sera says. "Shoot me. But Dante finishes disarming that bomb, and your whole plan falls apart."

Connor's eyes narrow. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Sera takes a step toward him, toward the gun. "You need me alive to frame for your murder. If I'm dead, if I die before the explosion, the timeline doesn't work. The evidence doesn't work."

"I can make it work."

"Can you? The pack will investigate. They'll find my body with a bullet wound, your bullet wound. They'll know someone shot me before the explosion." Sera takes another step. "Your perfect revenge plot falls apart."

Connor's finger tightens on the trigger. "You're assuming I care about the plan anymore."

"You care. You've spent five years building this. You won't throw it away now."

They're three feet apart now. Sera can see the madness in Connor's eyes, the rage and pain that's driven him to this point.

Behind her, Dante mutters, "Got it. Blue wire first, then."

"Don't move!" Connor swings the gun toward Dante. "I swear to God, Alpha, if you cut that wire—"

Sera lunges.

She hits Connor at chest height, driving him backward. The gun goes off, the bullet ricocheting off concrete. They hit the ground hard, struggling for control of the weapon.

Connor is stronger, but Sera is desperate. She gets her hand on the gun, trying to wrench it away. Her wolf surges forward, lending her strength.

"Dante, the bomb!" she screams.

Another gunshot. Pain explodes in Sera's side. She gasps, her grip loosening.

Connor shoves her off him, raising the gun for a kill shot.

A gray blur slams into him from the side.

Dante shifted into his massive alpha wolf and had Connor by the throat. The gun skitters across the floor. Connor shifts too, transforming into a brown wolf with those same rage-filled eyes.

They fight with the brutal efficiency of trained warriors. Teeth and claws, each looking for the killing blow.

Sera presses a hand to her side. The bullet went through—painful but not fatal. She can heal.

The bomb timer reads 00:18:25.

She stumbles toward it, trying to make sense of Dante's work. He'd isolated two wires—blue and red. But which one had he been about to cut?

The wolves are still fighting. Dante has Connor pinned, but Connor manages to twist free, snapping at Dante's exposed flank.

00:17:54.

Sera's hands shake as she examines the wires. If she chooses wrong, they all die.

Behind her, Connor howls, pain, not victory. Dante has him again, this time his jaws clamped around Connor's throat.

"Dante!" Sera shouts. "Which wire? Blue or red?"

Dante can't answer in wolf form. But his eyes flick to the bomb, then back to her. Once for red, twice for blue.

His eyes flick twice.

00:17:12.

Sera cuts the blue wire.

The timer stops.

For one horrible second, nothing happens. Then the device goes dark, the digital display fading to black.

"It's disarmed!" she cries.

Dante releases Connor, who collapses to the ground, gasping. Blood pours from wounds on his throat and sides.

Dante shifts back to human. "Sera, are you?"

"I'm fine." She staggers toward him. "We need to call the pack. We need to stop the council meeting."

Connor laughs—a wet, painful sound. "Too late. Victoria's already made her move. By now, the vote's been taken. Dante's no longer alpha."

"We have proof," Dante says coldly. "Your journal. Your confession. The bomb. That's enough to—"

"To what? Expose me? Go ahead." Connor's smile is bloody. "But you still can't prove Victoria's involved. And without proof, the merger goes forward. The council wins."

Sera's phone buzzes. She pulls it out with shaking hands.

A text from Natasha: Get out now. Pack enforcers are coming to arrest you both. Victoria's orders.

"They're going to arrest us," Sera says numbly.

"Of course they are." Connor coughs up blood. "Victoria needs you contained while she consolidates power. Can't have the old alpha running around causing problems."

Dante pulls out his phone. No signal—they're too deep in the mill.

"We have to run," he says. "Right now."

"Where? The whole pack will be hunting us."

"Then we find allies outside the pack. Other territories, other alphas." Dante grabs her hand. "But we stay together. Whatever happens."

"Together," Sera agrees.

They start for the exit, but Connor's voice stops them.

"You can't win," he says. "Victoria has the council, I have my revenge plan. You two have nothing but each other."

Dante looks back at him. "That's more than you've had in five years."

They run.

Outside, they can hear sirens—pack enforcers responding to Natasha's call. But there's also another sound: motorcycles, multiple engines, coming from the east.

"Who" Sera starts.

Three bikes roar into the mill's parking lot. The riders are wolves—she can smell it. But not the Silverclaw pack.

The lead rider pulls off her helmet, revealing long black hair and golden eyes.

"Need a ride?" she asks, her voice carrying a distinct Mexican accent.

Dante's face floods with relief. "Isabella. Thank God."

"Heard you were in trouble, Alpha." Isabella tosses them helmets. "My pack owes you a debt. Time to repay it."

"Who's she?" Sera asks as they climb onto the spare bike.

"Alpha of the Aguila Pack. Arizona territory." Dante revs the engine. "And our only chance at survival."

The enforcers burst through the mill's doors just as they speed away into the night.

Behind them, Connor's laughter echoes one final time.

Because he's right about one thing: they can't prove Victoria's involvement. They can't stop the merger. They can't save the pack.

Not yet.

But Sera grips Dante's waist as they race into the darkness, and she makes herself a promise: they will find a way. They will expose Victoria, stop Connor's revenge, and save Crimson Hollow.

Even if it kills them both.