The Wolf's Prey (29 page)

"Let's
go."

On the drive to
the airport I feel Jocelyn's anger and hurt feelings. I keep
telling myself I'll make it up to her, but her anger and betrayal
tells me I'll need to do more than that. I can't shake the feeling
that she is questioning our relationship. Maybe I should have been
honest with her, but what would that have done besides worry and
scare her. I'll tell her everything after I get back and
apologize.

We board the
plane and take off down the runway. My need to bury Rhys grows as
we get closer and closer to his territory. This is a damaged and
deranged man. How anyone could live under his control is
astonishing. What are his pack members thinking?

Jocelyn's POV

I leave the room
before I start to cry. Why can't he ever be honest with me? I think
I've handled the last couple of months better than most would've.
I'm not a weak individual that needs constant pampering.

He's fighting
Alpha Rhys I'm certain of it. I understand why he wouldn't want me
there and I agree with him. Me being there wouldn't be a smart
move. I just wanted to hear him tell me the truth for once. I'd
give anything for him to be honest and straight forward with
me.

I close the door
to my room as I listen to them leave. I know I should be worried,
but I'm not. I know he can defeat Rhys and with two alphas as
backup I don't think too much can go wrong. Things might not be
done without fighting, but we do have a sense of ethics or code
when it comes to it. Fighting is fine if possible with the least
amount of casualties. For instance if two alphas have a problem
that can be solved between the two of them, it will be. Whatever
the outcome it will be respected by the members of both
packs.

There's a knock
on my door and it opens I almost gasp in shock.

"Hey, can I talk
to you?" Rachel asks, tentatively.

"Yeah, sure." I
reply kind of dazed.

She takes two
small steps in when I see Alpha Thompson directly behind her. I
look at him.

"Are you making
her apologize to me?" I question, slightly irritated. I notice
Rachel look behind her quickly, obviously not knowing he was with
her.

"No, just making
sure she didn't try anything."

"I'm not going to
do anything to her." She snaps at him.

"Good, then I
won't have to do anything to you."

Rachel glares at
him for a few seconds, but turns back to me and shifts on her feet
uncomfortably.

"How's your neck
and back?"

"Not that bad.
Thanks for trying to help."

"I really didn't
think she'd actually attack. I know she was a little crazy and
aggressive but I thought it was all talk."

"She had it out
for me." I agree with a smile. I appreciate that she's trying to
tell me she's sorry. I don't think anyone thought that she'd attack
me, it would've been suicide to do so.

"Yeah, but what
she did." She shakes her head sadly.

"No one saw it
coming, Rachel. She had to have known what would happen if she
attacked."

"She told me it
was Alpha Rhys' baby. He told her he was connected to you that she
had to kill you to set him free. He sent her on a suicide mission.
knowing that she'd fail and be killed along with the
baby."

"Ah, that's sad
and sickening." I say, holding my stomach.

"I understand why
she did it. Why did you?" Alpha Thompson asks.

"Attention
mostly." She replies turning toward him slightly, then liking back
to me.

"No one cared
about me when you were taken. They certainly wouldn't care about me
know that you were back."

"You have to know
that's not true. You devastated the whole family. Especially, dad.
I've never seen someone so distraught. He was worse than I was when
I found out my family wasn't really my family." I state, setting
that I'm going her attention I continue.

"He and mom cried
over everything to do with you. They know they made mistakes, but
they hoped that you would forgive them."

"It's hard to
forget something like that."

"I'm sure it is.
I didn't want to forgive the people that raised me. I was angry,
hurt and confused. I couldn't understand how they could lie to me
all my life. Then I went to talk to them. They explained things and
I got to look into their eyes, I know they're sorry for what they
did. Maybe you need to do the same thing with our parents." I
suggest.

"Maybe." She
shrugs carelessly. I know I pushed and I don't have the right. I
wasn't here when it happened, but I know they're sorry and she
needs to realize that too.

The silence is
awkward, which somehow is only intensified by Alpha Thompson's
presence.

"Hey, bitch.
Let's-" Jessica says, walking through the door and coming to a stop
after seeing Rachel and Alpha Thompson. Marta follows directly
after Jessica only muttering, "Awkward" under her
breath.

Rachel doesn't
talk to either of them, she simply ignore them as she leaves the
room.

"What was all
that?" Jessica inquires, confused.

"She wanted to
talk, it was nothing."

"About
what?"

"Nothing much.
You guys kind of interrupted." I lie. It's not that I'm hiding what
happened between Rachel and I. I just don't want to talk about
it.

"Oh. Well, what's
going on with dad, Lennox and Andrew leaving?"

"They're meeting
up with Rhys."

"For
what?"

"To talk." I
answer sarcastically.

"They're going to
fight?"

"Lennox wouldn't
tell me." I reply, truthfully. They must see the hurt in my eyes
because they instantly come closer.

 
"You know he did it to protect you."

"Protect me from
what? It's not like I'm the one fighting. He never tells me
anything. I hate that he can't be honest with me, maybe it's me
intentionally refusing his claim. it's that possible? I mean he's
forced this relationship and he's never honest with me. Maybe it's
me refusing the marking."

"It's
possible."

"But could I also
mark him?"

"If you mark him
that would demonstrate your love and trust in him." Alpha Thompson
explains.

Do I want this?
To live with the man I love, but can't trust to be honest with me?
Is it a matter of trust or is it strictly protection? I sit on the
edge of the bed, completely torn and hurt.

**********

The Fight

Alpha Lennox
Hall

We're picked up
at the airstrip and driven to Alpha Rhys' home. The car pulls up to
a large two story home and parks in front. Andrew, Travis, Beta
Martin and I get out. One of the men that picked us up motions for
us to follow him.

"Alpha Rhys said
to bring you in back. We've cleared an area for the match." The
taller one says. Judging by his demeanor he and his friend aren't
even put on alert by three alpha's coming into their territory. I
don't know if he's stupid or has no loyalty or fondness for Alpha
Rhys.

I'm not concerned
about this fight, there's no way I can be beaten by Rhys, this will
end quickly. I notice Rhys as we round the corner of the back of
the house he's standing with another man and I instantly recognize
him. Wesley Dalton, Wendy's brother. He was kicked out of my pack
when he chose to challenge me five years ago and lost. He is older
then me by two years, he's big and a quick fighter. However, he
always had two weaknesses, arrogance and alcohol. He's not looking
too sober as far as I can tell. As we walk closer I hear Rhys is
not at all pleased by his intoxication. This must've been Rhys'
plan. Wesley would be fighting me in place of him for the death of
his sister. Smart move, if he would've kept his fighter
sober.

Rhys and Wesley
turn towards us as we walk closer. I look at both men and see that
Wesley has been training, his build looks menacing. Even
intoxicated, Wesley will be a fiercer match then Rhys. However,
even standing with his legs are braced apart he is swaying
slightly. I will not fight a drunken mess like him. "I hope you
don't expect me to fight him." I say, looking at Rhys and pointing
to Wesley.

"Why? You afraid,
Alpha Hall?" Wesley slurs, taking an unsteady step towards
me.

"Please, you look
like you're about to pass out." Andrew mocks.

"I'm not drunk."
Wesley refutes, drunkenly.

"I know that.
You're completely wasted." I respond. "Look, I'd rather get this
over with soon. Are you ready?" I ask Rhys.

"That's the
thing, Alpha Hall. I demand a fight for the killing of my pup and
Wesley demands a fight for you killing his sister." Rhys says,
smugly.

"I may have
killed his sister, but you sent her on a suicide mission. Her blood
is on your hands, just as it is mine." I respond, knowingly and
intentionally wanting to get Wesley's attention.

When Rhys doesn't
respond I look at Wesley who is shaking his head. "That's not true.
He begged her not to go, she wouldn't listen." Wesley says,
sounding doubtful of his own words.

"My daughter was
the one to tell me of Rhys deception. You can ask her
yourself."

"No need. I was
there she told me she was sent to kill Jocelyn Griffin." Beta
Martin states, stepping closer to Wesley. "Alpha Rhys convinced
your sister that killing Jocelyn was the only way he'd be free to
mate with her."

"In hopes that
she would fail. Tell him Rhys, how you thanked me for Wendy and the
pups death." I say, seeing Wesley face become hard as he takes in
Rhys obvious guilt.

"He's lying."
Rhys replies, nervously backing away from a suddenly fierce
Wesley.

"No, you're
lying. Wendy told me she was going for you, but I didn't understand
what she meant. Now, I know she went because you gave her no
option. She was pregnant! With your pup and you refused her on a
lie! She left in hopes that she'd succeed and that you'd accept her
and your pup!"

Wesley doesn't
wait for a response. Even I had to look away from the viciousness
of the attack. Rhys was dead within seconds, yet the sound of
creaking bones continued for minutes longer. After the attack
Wesley sat breathing hard and looking at his former
Alpha.

"Why didn't you
challenge him earlier. Why wasn't he challenged by any of you?" I
ask, looking around the oval seeing the other pack
members."

One of the men
that walked us to the clearing steps forward. "It seemed that
anyone that would challenge Rhys would die before they could get to
the fight."

"Who was
responsible for the killings?"

"Rhys." He
replies.

"He didn't act
alone." Travis states, pointedly.

The pack members
look around themselves, everyone suspicious. "Did anyone help Rhys
in the killings? It's understandable if you were ordered to do
so."

From the corner
of my eye I watch as Wesley stands, looking less drunk then before.
"Answer him, now." He demands to the pack. The men step forward
with their heads down.

"What did he
order you to do?" I question.

"After Theo left
I tried replacing him. I set up the killings, making sure there
were no witnesses." The man admits, truly ashamed.

"And you?" I ask,
the next man.

"Rhys made me his
ears. Any talk of a challenge from the members of the pack, I had
to tell him."

I nod to the last
man telling him to state his involvement. "I got rid of the
bodies." He mutters quietly.

There's a few
murmers and gasps from the crowd. They can't be surprised, everyone
had to have known their alpha was deceiving them. A man as unstable
as Rhys would be virtually impossible not to notice.

"You have a new
alpha, Alpha Dalton." I turn to him. "Unless, you still want your
retribution?"

He shakes his
head, no. "There was no other option. Rhys made sure she'd get
killed. I got my retribution."

"I assume you'll
run this pack with more honor then your predecessor? No, sudden
deaths before the challenge date?"

"I'm not Rhys."
He grumbles.

"I'm sure your
pack is happy to hear that." I reply, walking towards him. I see
him tense up and watch me wearily. I stop in front of him. "Keep
yourself out of the bottle. Your pack needs you." I hold out my
hand to him as a gesture of truce. He nods and shakes my
hand.

He tilts his head
in respect. "Alpha Hall."

I mimic his
actions and reply, "Alpha Dalton."

Wesley offers us
dinner but I refuse on behalf of us. "No, we have to get back." I
reply, already walking back to the vehicle that bright us
here.

"Anxious to get
back and finish your mating?" Beta Martin asks,
knowingly.

I stop beside the
van and turn towards him, about to tear him apart for mocking our
relationship. Then I see that he's perfectly serious. "What are you
taking about?"