Chapter 18 - Kaleem
She was finally mine, Diana was mine, and she was happy, and over my dead body was Colin going to take her and the plans I had for us or my pack away.
After leaving Diana in Nazanin’s care, the wolves in the pack gathered in minutes at the packhouse at my call.
We weren’t going to go in blindly, but my tolerance for Colin was gone with him abducting Mathieu and forcing Diana and me into such a position to choose between saving her Dad if I gave up my pack or doing nothing and having the pack attacked.
Mathieu was now a member of my family, even though the initiation for him and Diana wasn’t done yet, but Colin abducted one of my kin, and I wasn’t going to stand for it. He crossed a line, and with all the power I had, I would make Colin regret this.
Diana had been happy, so happy, and after a few days, Mathieu had loosened up and was settling in.
I coveted peace. It was important to me, and that peace being disrupted and seeing the people I loved in pain was a trigger for a side of me I kept locked away.
One lesson I learned from my parents before they were cruelly killed by anti-supers was that violence didn’t have to be the answer to everything. They taught me to be an unbiased and kind alpha and never forget that I wasn’t a king among my people. I was their servant and protector.
But after seeing my parents killed, a rage and void I’d never known were birthed in me. I was a young wolf, nowhere close to becoming Alpha, and in the same breath, I lost my parents and gained the hefty responsibility of caring for a pack and my younger brother.
What I needed, the healing I needed like the rest of my pack, happened slower than it should have because I had to take care of everyone else. I buried my rage in an unhealthy way and fought to find peace every day in the smiles of the people around me.
I didn’t want to let my parents down, but when I met Diana, my broken pieces mended, and I knew nothing but happiness, not by drawing it from others but something born in me because of her. But even that, I thought I couldn’t have because I had a duty.
Now here Diana and I were facing the dawn of a second chance, and I was older, wiser, and I now knew I could have her and still be a good alpha by not sacrificing my joy.
Colin was messing with my peace, and I wasn’t going to have it. He was a disgrace to our kind, and this was the last straw.
Killian and I drove together while wolves in their wolf form made their way to the Bluemoon Pack through the forest. Behind us were four other cars with wolves, and since Colin was as careless as always, there wasn’t a barrier around the pack we needed to worry about.
Wolfcreek was peaceful, but all packs placed barriers around their territory across the country and world. Even ordinary homes had cloaking because dark creatures were unpredictable.
“I was thinking,” I said to Killian when he stopped far enough away so our cars wouldn’t be heard. “It’s odd Colin revealed where he was keeping Mathieu.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Killian replied. “If he hadn’t told us, we’d check the pack, but our forces would be scattered trying to find Mathieu.”
“Do you think he planned this as well?” I asked, and Killian nodded.
“I think so, but either way, we’re prepared. Maybe he wants us all here, and if that’s the case, he’ll get what he wants, exactly what he wants, and more.” Killian placed a hand on my shoulder. “Diana’s the future Luna of our pack, and Mathieu’s a good man. The entire pack will give their all for this Kaleem, for them.”
I nodded and patted his shoulder, and around us, the other wolves who’d exited their cars nodded in agreement.
We’d all drank the potions meant to hide our scents before leaving, so we continued on foot to the pack.
On the left and right were houses shrouded in darkness, but some had lights on, the few with heartbeats inside.
With a wave of my hand, everyone disbursed, their footsteps soundless, and Killian and I made our way to the back of the packhouse. There weren’t even wolves patrolling, and it pissed me off further that all these people were this defenseless.
When I cracked the back door open to enter the house, a wolf swung around to face us with a cup of water in hand. His eyes widened when he saw me, and before he could make a sound, I punched him in the throat.
I caught the cup of water before it could fall, and Killian attacked him.
With an arm around his throat and another over his mouth, the wolf was silenced and knocked unconscious while I continued into the house.
I could hear two televisions on, one on the lower floor with us and another upstairs, but I followed Mathieu’s scent to a lower floor door with a giant padlock on it.
I frowned at that because it was an ordinary padlock. No matter how big it was, this thing wouldn’t keep Mathieu trapped. So with no effort, I broke it and opened the door to find a staircase leading to a basement.
Killian remained behind while I descended the stairs to find an empty basement and Mathieu strapped to an iron chair.
His head was down and a drip attached to his arm.