Alpha Pack 3 - Black Moon (33 page)

OR.

“Goddamn,” Jax hissed, fists clenching. “That was Nix!”

“Those sorry bastards,” Ryon said, his voice low and deadly. “Let’s go get him and bring him

home.”

They’ve got Phoenix! We’re on the move.

They closed in fast, and Kalen could see Nick round the corner at the other end of the hallway, the

rest of the team behind him. Kalen glanced into the cell the lackey had retrieved Phoenix from and

spotted three more figures huddled together in misery. For now they’d be safer where they were.

Ryon led the first strike as they burst into the OR. Bowman looked up, shock blooming on his face.

The man grabbed a nearby scalpel and brandished it over Nix’s inert body, but the weapon was scant

defense against a roomful of enraged Pack brothers out for his blood.

“I’m gonna tear out your fucking heart,” Jax snarled. Then he pounced, taking Bowman to the floor.

The man’s scream as Jax ripped him apart echoed eerily in the enclosed space. The asshole had it

coming. He’d hurt and killed so many in the search of world domination, and now it was over.

Kalen turned toward the assistant, who had managed to pull a gun from his lab coat. Throwing out a

ball of energy, he zapped the weapon out of the man’s hand, and Ryon took him down, ending him in

the same manner as the doctor.

Hammer glanced around uneasily. “Is that it? That was too easy, man.”

And then the world exploded into chaos. Literally. All around them, the very walls of the research

facility detonated, blowing them off their feet. Kalen’s back hit a counter hard, and then he was thrown to the floor. Pain radiated through his vertebrae, and he sucked in a sharp breath only to get a lungful of debris.

He coughed as dust and dirt rained down. Chunks fell from the damaged ceiling, which threatened to

cave as well. Where the hell was everyone?

Wiping the grit from his eyes, he saw his group struggling to rise. The scent of blood hit his nostrils and this time it wasn’t rancid. The aroma was sweet and delicious, and he instantly recoiled. The blood belonged to his Pack brothers. He wouldn’t betray them.

Kill. It’s what you do best.

“No.”

He pushed to his feet, and his heart sank as more Sluagh emerged from the shadows. Malik had sent

them here. This was another test. Kalen wouldn’t fail. But for which side?

Sounds of battle came from somewhere beyond them. Nick’s group. There was no longer a corridor

or distinguishable rooms. Just a mess of ruined walls and rubble.

His friends threw themselves into battle with fervor, dispatching Sluagh right and left. More took

their place. Using his claws, Kalen slashed, stabbed the beasts’ hearts. He used rapid-fire balls of energy to take some down before they could overwhelm his brothers.

But somewhere in the fight, the line began to blur. The craving for the next kill, and the next,

mounted with each life he took. It was all too easy and satisfying. Watch the light die; take the next one.

Death and more death. So good.

The darkness took him and he was powerless against it. Without a sliver of the light to guide him, the need to deliver death knew no bounds. He turned, searching for his next victim, to find himself staring into wide, light blue eyes, the face surrounded by layered blond hair.

Ryon.

“Kalen! Don’t—”

The Sorcerer’s hand whipped out almost of its own accord, and he gathered a massive ball of

energy. This one would burn right through his opponent’s heart, leave nothing but scorched flesh in its wake. And death. Bittersweet and delicious.

But before he could release the fire, a body slammed into him, knocking him to the dirty floor. He

roared, trying to dislodge his enemy, to no avail. He fought to gain purchase. Barely understood the

words shouted near him.

“Christ, he’s gone feral! Hold him!”

Nick?

He struggled harder, but more bodies held him down. He hated being pinned. When men did this, it

was for one reason only.

And then he went wild. It was all they could do to subdue him.

“Somebody put him out, goddammit!”

“Sleep, kid,” Nick ordered, palm on Kalen’s forehead.

And he had no choice but to obey.

Fourteen

Mac picked at her sandwich with disinterest. She’d hardly been able to stomach three bites before

nausea played ping-pong with the roasted chicken. The food in the compound’s cafeteria was

excellent, but nerves and pregnancy were getting in the way of any enjoyment.

The creamy tomato basil soup, one of her favorites, settled much better. She was halfway finished

with the bowl when her father came jogging into the dining room. The expression on his face had her on her feet in an instant. She didn’t think she’d ever seen the man look nervous before.

“Daddy?” She reached for him instinctively.

“Baby, the Pack is on the way in. They’re six minutes out.”

“Injuries?” She hurried out, jogging beside him.
Stay calm. Professional.

“A few lacerations. Hammer had a broken leg, but Zan healed it.”

“So why the hurry?”

When he didn’t answer right away, she grabbed his arm, stopping him outside the entrance to the

infirmary. He gave it to her straight.

“It’s Kalen. He’s gone feral and Nick had to put him out—”

“Oh my God!” she cried. “He’s dead?”

“No! I mean put him to sleep for a while. But it’s wearing off and they’re having trouble keeping

him under control. They’ve bound him in silver chains and they’re bringing him here as soon as they

land.”

She thought fast. “It won’t do them any good to bring him to the infirmary if he’s not injured.”

“Nick wants him sedated.”

“No. That won’t help. Sedation will render him incapable of defending himself mentally, and that

will only give Malik an easier path into his mind.”

“Shit.” The general scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Then what do we do?”

God. No. It killed her to say it, but there was only one solution at the moment. “They need to take

him to Block R.”
My mate, forgive me.
“Call Nick back. I have to ready a cell.”

She ran toward Block R, where they kept the creatures that required rehabilitation. The block

housed several residents, chief among them Raven and Belial. Raven was the Pack member and former

SEAL who’d been stuck in wolf form for more than five years. Belial was a sneaky, seductive basilisk

who had yet to earn freedom to roam the compound.

And now it would house Kalen. Her heart ached for her Sorcerer. Quickly she used the keypad to

unlock a cell away from the other residents, opened it, and studied the interior. There was nothing in it but a bed bolted to the floor and a mattress on top of the frame. No sheets or pillows. Nothing that he could use to harm himself.

Her father came around the corner and she heard the commotion heading their way from behind

him. Kalen was screaming profanities, out of his head, and she braced herself for a horrible

confrontation.

Or thought she had until Nick and several others came in to view, barely holding on to the Sorcerer,

who was bound in silver chains. Her mate was enraged, twisting his body and slashing with his fangs to try to take a chunk out of his captors. When that didn’t work, he tried to utter a spell in Latin, but Nick slapped a hand over his mouth hard, risking a nasty bite to stop the chant.

“Bring him here!” Mac called.

They struggled but managed to maneuver him into the cell, where Nick and Jax tossed him across

the space, then let him go and hauled ass out of there. As soon as they cleared the door, Mac and her

father slid the heavy bars home. They locked into place with a loud clang that was awfully final.

Hands still bound behind his back with the chains, Kalen hit the bars, causing the whole door to

rattle on its track. Mac stood immobile, watching the man she loved slam himself into one wall, then the other, totally out of his head.

“Let me go!” he screamed. “I’ll fucking kill you! Every last one of you! And I’ll laugh while I’m

doing it!”

Tears welled in her eyes, trickled down her cheeks. She couldn’t stand seeing him like this.

“Daddy,” she whispered, grabbing his hand. He held on to her tightly. “What can I do? How do we help

him?”

“I don’t know, baby girl,” he murmured. The entire team gathered around, looking equally stricken.

“Feast on your carcasses,” Kalen raved. Laughing, he slid down the far wall next to the bed, uttering

curses. Perhaps parts of spells that had no effect in the iron-and-silver-fortified room. His eyes were those of his cat, green, glittering, and elliptical. He smiled, showing off the huge fangs that had almost gotten a piece of his friends. “This is what I am. Blood will tell, won’t it?”

Nick stared at Kalen, his eyes suspiciously moist. “We can’t let him suffer like this.”

“I agree,” her father said.

Aric spoke up. “If we can’t reach him, he’ll eventually bring this place down around our ears. He’s

too strong to be kept in a cell for long.”

Nick withdrew his gun from his waistband. “I’ll do it. He’s my responsibility.”

“What?” Mac shouted. “No! You can’t give up on him just like that! I can reach him. I know I can!”

“Honey,” her dad began, his face wretched.

“Please. I’m begging you. Give me a chance to get through to him.” Her voice broke. She trembled

from head to toe, terrified that Nick would deny her plea.

“Mac, he’s too far gone,” Nick said gently, eyes sad.

“He’s a man, not a dog to be put down,” she spat angrily, wiping her cheeks. “He promised me he

would fight this, and I know he’s in there somewhere.”

“God,” Jax breathed. “Where’s the justice in this? We gave him our word that we’d have his back.

What’s our word worth if we let him drown the first time his head goes under water? Even Raven is still here, though he’s been stuck in wolf form for almost six years.”

“Raven isn’t a Fae Sorcerer with an Unseelie sire and the power to destroy the entire world as we

know it.”

“Another chance, Nicky. Please.”

One by one, the guys voiced their agreement. Against their united front, Nick wavered, then finally

relented. “Forty-eight hours. If he’s not showing signs of improvement, I won’t allow him to suffer any longer. Or to endanger us all.”

Even against the backdrop of Kalen’s vile rampage, the guys were visibly relieved. Kalen was one of

their own, and they didn’t want to give up on him.

Nick slumped, looking wiped out. “I need to go check on Phoenix. Melina’s taking care of him.”

One by one the guys hugged Mac, then headed for the infirmary to await word on their old friend,

found and home once more. Mac was torn, but opted to stay with Kalen for a while. Nick wouldn’t hear

of her remaining behind alone and ordered A.J. to stay with her. Just in case. A.J. nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. He understood the situation very well. And he was trained to handle it.

Mac eyed the rifle with the wicked-looking scope slung over the sniper’s shoulder and her gut

cramped in dread. She sent a prayer to whatever deity might be listening for her mate to come out of this safely. Alive and whole.

After the others were gone, Mac turned to A.J. “What happened at the research facility?”

The man shook his sandy brown head. “I was on a hillside doing my part to pick off the uglies. I

didn’t know what was going on inside, but suddenly the central area of the building exploded and fell in.

I raced down there, but it was all over by the time I picked my way to where the guys were.”

“Surely Nick told you something?”

The handsome man looked away. “Doc, all I know is that the team was ambushed. They were able

to get into the research lab and the prisoners way too easily. Then a shitload more Sluagh arrived and they were outnumbered.”

“They don’t think Kalen had anything to do with that . . .” The idea was horrid. But given the way

he was acting now—not unreasonable.

“Nick doesn’t think so. But the bloodlust of battle got to your mate. The others said he went into a