Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Sebastian was also highly skeptical that Hale would have allowed his brother to keep breathing. He let that skepticism show on his face as he cocked his head at Davide. “The Olympus Pride isn’t known for being merciful. You really think they wouldn’t have executed him?”
Davide’s square jaw firmed. “What I think is that he’d never give up on us. If he thought there was a chance we were alive, he’d keep looking until he found us or had proof we were goners. And the pride isn’t merciful, no, but they might have decided to hold off on killing him until they have our pack’s location—they’ll be intent on wiping us all out.”
True, but … “I’m not convinced he’s alive. Hale’s mate seemed to know a lot, though. If the pride really has him, she’ll know where. She can point us in the right direction. And if she doesn’t, or it turns out she lied, I’ll just make her death that much more painful.”
He wasn’t going to make it an easy death. No fucking way. Blood was owed, and it would be taken.
Wattie rubbed at the back of his head, ruffling his tousled dark hair. “Maybe we should just back off.”
Sebastian glared at him. “Haven’t we been over this already?”
“Yes, but I still say it might be best to cut our losses,” said Wattie. “You can’t say you don’t wish we’d targeted a different pride. We thought it wouldn’t be too hard, since the Olympus shifters don’t live on a massive stretch of land somewhere. That was a huge miscalculation on our part. These assholes are proving tough to take out.”
“We just killed one of their enforcers, didn’t we?”
“Yeah. One. We also went after several of the pride—a kid, an enforcer, and a black-foot. Every attempt went to shit.” Wattie lifted his shoulders. “We could just walk away.”
“But we’re not going to. Their fucking enforcer killed Samuele.”
“Maybe we should have listened to him. He had doubts about going after the pride.”
With that, Samuele’s words flitted through Sebastian’s mind … “I say we pick another pride to target, Seb. You know their reputation. Pallas cats are crazy motherfuckers. I don’t feel like pitting myself against them.”
Sebastian had waved that off, undeterred. To go after a pride with such a rep would only lead other shifters to fear the pack more. “Are you saying it’s our fault he’s dead?”
“No. I’m saying we made a mistake in dismissing his concerns.”
“Stop being a fucking pussy, Wattie. We’re not cutting our losses. End of.” The days when Sebastian ran from anything were long gone. He wasn’t that reedy little kid anymore who’d been preyed on by his own grandfather. Sebastian did the preying now.
Once upon a time, he and his brothers had been a mere group of lone shifters—no pack, no land, no other family, no protection from shifter groups. So they’d built their own pack. They’d pulled in other loners, expanding it one by one.
Their pack was what shifter groups should be. There was no hierarchy. No ranks. No weak links like submissives or omegas or females.
When they wanted to fuck, they brought in women—shifters, humans, it didn’t matter—and had their fun. Then they either killed them or sold them.
Occasionally they’d let a female leave so she could spread the word that the pack was still something to be feared.
Fear was important. It kept people in line. It kept them cooperative. It kept them at bay.
For years they’d been public enemy number one. They liked it that way. No matter what group of shifters they took on, they always came out on top. Always.
This time would be no different. Sure, they’d had a few … issues here and there. But that would just make their triumph over the Olympus Pride so much sweeter.
Wattie exhaled heavily. “Let’s at the very least back off for a little while; let them think it’s over. We could come back months from now, when they won’t be expecting it. Come on, Davide, you have to agree it’s the best option.”
“I would agree … but we can’t walk away when they might have Tommaso,” said Davide. “They know he’s missing, so they either have him or they’ve killed him—just as we’d already suspected. We have to know what happened to him.”
Wattie swore beneath his breath. “We need to make this quick, then, or we’re not going to get out of this alive. As soon as she realizes we’re in the house, Hale will know something’s up. He’ll feel her fear. He might not know what’s wrong, but he’ll know she needs help.”
“He’ll only sense that if they’re fully imprinted. There’s no way they’re that tightly bonded. They were mere strangers when they mated.” Sebastian glanced at his wristwatch. “We’ll give the cats time to drive a fair distance away and then we’ll head over there. We have questions to ask, a black-foot to kill, and a nice surprise to leave for Hale to find when he gets home.”