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Scorch stared into the bastard’s eyes, and he knew what Victoria meant. Chain was full of evil. The wolf wanted to do something, but there were always so many boundaries. The length of steel by Chain’s side tormented him. The desire to grab the chain and kill the man was strong. He ignored the pull, waiting for the alphas to step in.
In that moment Scorch detested his wolf and the inability to change into wolf form and kill the man who caused so much harm.
“You think she cares about you? You think Victoria loves you? She knows who her alpha is,” Chain said, tormenting him.
He wouldn’t give the other man the satisfaction. Lidia’s presence was an unwelcome distraction. The lead alphas would deal with her along with Chain. Lidia would be removed from society and learn the errors of her ways.
“Why?” Scorch asked.
“What?”
“Why are you wanting to destroy you connection with your wolf?”
Chain laughed. “He gets in the way. I want all the power with no interference from anyone.” He growled when his gaze landed on Victoria behind him. “No woman will reject me again. They’ll know to bow down to me and take what I f**king give them.”
“This is about rape?” His hatred increased tenfold.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to need something? I need to feel all my women screaming underneath me as I take them.”
The sick bastard wanted to rape women and hurt his pack. The wolf inside Scorch growled to protect, to take out the man who’d hurt the life of their packs forever.
Taking several deep breaths, he dodged the lash of the steel as Chain tried to hurt him. Scorch was stronger than the other alpha and faster. Chain was distracted by his need.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw the alphas approaching. Grabbing Chain, he restrained the male against the tree without hurting him. It took every ounce of strength not to hurt the man. The thought of the pain from the forced turning kept him steady.
“Fucking bitch,” Chain said, snarling at Victoria as he saw the other men approaching. David restrained Lidia without hurting her. The alphas cuffed Chain, holding him down by the silver chains that had once been his weapons.
“Lidia will be removed and taken for punishment where she will realize the error of her ways,” Edward said.
“How do you punish when we can’t hurt?” Scorch asked, grabbing Victoria’s hand.
“We have other means to handle punishable wolves. Lidia’s desire to be your queen will be handled. She’ll have her focus altered toward her efforts of joining another pack.” Edward nodded toward Chain. “He’s too far gone. The only hope we have is of his pack finding their real leader.”
Scorch kept hold of his woman, his mate, and he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. She had a cut on her cheek, which annoyed him.
“What happens now?” Victoria asked.
“We’re going to your pack.” Scorch kissed her head. “You’ve got to lead the way. When your pack sees you they’ll relax.”
He hoped they were grateful for them capturing Chain. Looking at the other alpha tied and snarling, Scorch felt relief at seeing him restrained. Chain kept his gaze on Victoria.
“I’m going to get free, and I’m going to kill you. I can’t wait to hear you beg for me to let you live.”
“Ignore him, Tori. He can’t hurt anyone. We need you to lead us to where your pack resides.” Scorch cupped her face, offering her strength by sheer will alone.
“You’ll be by my side?” she asked.
“Yes, all the way. I’m not leaving you alone. We’re in this together.” Squeezing her hand, Scorch walked beside her as she led everyone toward where the pack was. Her heart was racing. Scorch heard it pounding against her chest. He wished there was some way to stop her from going through with this, but there wasn’t. Gripping her hand, they all walked in silence. Every now and then Chain would curse something out. David was silent as well. One of the alphas had taken Lidia away. There was no need for the other woman to follow them.
“I’m scared,” Victoria said.
“Don’t be. No one is ever going to hold the pack down.”
For an hour they walked until Victoria stopped at the edge of the clearing. There was another large house, similar to Scorch’s, but this one was surrounded by tents.
“He kicked us out of the house years ago. We’re not allowed inside unless he demands it,” Victoria said.
The tents opened up, and people walked out. Their gazes were locked on Chain. Glancing behind him, he saw the alphas had bound Chain to a tree.
The smell of fear surrounded the group, but there was also anger. Scorch locked onto the anger along with the need to protect.
He couldn’t find the person who was feeling that way. Looking from one face to the other, he saw nothing that would show true leadership.
Edward started talking, gaining the attention of all of the members of the pack. They listened to him talk. Wrapping his arms around Victoria, Scorch didn’t let her go as the rest of the pack listened to the lead alpha and what Chain had planned. The fear turned to anger on the men. He noticed there were only a few men around the pack. Chain had killed many. The women were filthy from hard work, and the emotions of everyone were weighed down by their awful alpha.
“One of you is the real alpha. Only one of you can set yourselves free. None of us can help you. We’ve got him bound. The evil is lurking deep in his eyes, and he will kill you if he gets the chance,” Edward said.
Chain snarled, smiling evilly at all of them before landing on Victoria. “Fucking bitch traitor. I’m going to kill him, and then I’m going to f**k you raw. All of these ass**les are pussies. They’ll never kill me. They know who their better is, and it’s me. You’ve got no chance.”
On and on Chain ranted. Through his rant his people started to hate him. With Chain bound with no way of hurting they saw the truth in front of them. All it would take was one person to stand up.
The crowd cleared, and before them stood a heavily pregnant woman. She rubbed a hand down her stomach.
“My name is Julie. He killed my husband five months ago because he was showing signs of being the true alpha.” Julie looked down at her stomach.
Scorch inhaled the air sensing the two emotions swirling around the woman. Julie was terrified, but the baby within her wanted justice.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Edward stepped forward. “May I touch your stomach?”