“I know who you are,” Talia replied, trying to raise her arm slowly, straining against her cuff. If she kept him talking she could use her strength to escape. “Tynan Ross. What I don’t know is why my mother is standing next to you.”
“Ah well, you see. You’re young. Strong no doubt, being a tenth gen. But alliances and politics are…complicated.”
Talia stopped moving her arm. No, it couldn’t be. “Alliance?”
“It’s not what you think,” Radha said.
“Good,” Talia sneered. “Because it looks to me like you sold me out and ripped the rug out from under me.”
“I did it to save your life! All of us! Don’t you see? You were right. He was scouting us, testing our defences. He found them lacking. The house is in disarray. I see that now. You tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t try to help, and you put your trust in another. I should’ve done better. I was so focused on finding the girl who carried Alicia’s grandchild I lost sight of everything else.”
“Why?” Talia roared. “Why could you not leave that girl alone?”
“Because of what she carried! She had an eleventh-generation wolf. The last surviving member of the Slade line. A male. A competitor to your Alpha title. One that you have earned! You should be given the right to choose your successor. This child, if allowed to grow, would be able to take it from you whenever it chose. By blood right or by force. I couldn’t have that. So I set things in motion for her to never come to full term.”
“Mother…how could you?”
“But…Tynan discovered my plan. He stopped it. The child has been born. He lives. Tynan has forgiven your trespass. Even though it is an act of war, he desires no conflict. He will allow you to remain Alpha of our house. All we have to do is submit and fight for him whenever he calls. If it should ever happen.”
“And who are you to be making choices like that for me?” Talia sneered.
“I did it to save your life! There was no time! Listen and think! It’s done. The child is safe. So is the mother. You and I can live in peace. Everything you desired has come to pass. It is a small price to pay.”
A numbing fear that Alicia could’ve died spurred her on to try again for release. But she couldn’t move her hands. What the hell were these restraints made of? “And what of Alicia?”
Radha rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated laugh. “Her again...”
“While it’s true I have no desire for conflict,” Tynan said, “Alicia has proven far too meddlesome for my vision.”
“What vision?” Talia scoffed.
Tynan smiled slowly. “I’m glad you asked.”
Tynan gripped one of the bars and turned her around a full one hundred eighty degrees. She faced three large, side by side glass panels. They showed an enormous bunker. Talia flicked her eyes around. They looked like they were deep underground. But that wasn’t what disturbed her. It was what she saw. What the bunker contained on the other side of the windows.
Weapons.
But not just guns, or bombs. Attack helicopters. Hornet jets. Gunships. All fully armed. Barrels and large containers with what looked like nuclear armament warnings. And more, so much more.
There was enough here to destroy an entire country. A new world war.
“You want to destroy the other houses…” she whispered, still trying to make the restraints budge, yet failing.
“No, not at all. I don’t want conflict as I have said. The threat of conflict, however, is a powerful ally. Oh, by the way, I’d stop trying to escape. That mask isn’t giving you oxygen. It’s fermented wolfbane. Your strength is subdued. And will be until I decide whether or not to remove it. So, do we have an accord?”
Talia relaxed her arm. He knew. He left nothing to chance. As she looked over the Amory he had built, a dreaded truth washed over her: he had become a silent world power. While the wolves, like her father and Creed, had fought amongst themselves and the other houses, Tynan had been hidden away, building up his strength, waiting for the right time.
“If I want to live, I have no choice…”
She hated the smirk he wore. “That’s true.”
A door behind her opened, and Tynan addressed the new occupant of the room. “Ah Greg. Good. Have you taken the blood sample from the baby?”
“I have.”
“And? What did you find?”
“The tests were inconclusive. I need more blood. But I will wait for a few days.”
“No. Take more. Now.”
“He’s asleep.”
“So wake him up.”
“You wished the child to live. Taking more will put him at risk.”
“Nonsense. He is an eleventh generation. He will give us all that we need and more. Was that all?”
“No my Alpha, Alicia’s escaped. Taken the girl, too.”
Tynan groaned under his breath, yet replied very calmly. “Oh well. Let them. Alert the patrols that they are to be returned unharmed if spotted.”
“My Alpha?”
“I have the thing they want. Why would I chase them when I know they’ll be back?”
*
Nicole hit the water second. Alicia had turned her body so that she absorbed the brunt of the impact. It still felt like sharp icicles had rushed over her body and clamped down her senses. She flailed her arms around but the rush was too much for her. She was dragged through the water, finally resting face down on a small strip of beach, coughing up the last remnants of fluid in her lungs.
“Rest for a sec,” Alicia said, herself breathing heavily.
“How did you find me?”
“My grandson,” Alicia replied, taking her boots off and draining them of water. “I could feel your pain and I could track it. It’s a rare thing among
