Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Saint Cage, Haven
I ’m shaking with terror.
My heart feels like it’ll break out of my chest. I can barely suck in painful breaths.
I push my nails into my palms to stop myself tipping into panic attack.
This can’t be happening.
How’s Dad here? On Saint territory?
He’d never have been allowed through security, right?
We’re just about to take down the corrupt mayor, risking our lives in front of the world by standing up for Omegas everywhere.
Instead, Vito, Thomas, and I have been marched at gunpoint by Dad and the fucking triplets back into Saint Cage.
Of course, first they confiscated our phones. We can’t call for help.
We’re trapped again.
This had better be part of Thomas’ plan.
Since he’s the one who has been stripped to his shirtsleeves and tied to a wooden chair in the center of the basement, however, it doesn’t look like it.
In fact, as this is the Snake’s signature move before they torture their victim, it looks far more like Dad is about to triumph.
Have we been double-crossed?
Who has betrayed us?
My thoughts are whirling. My stomach cramps with dread.
How the hell can I get us out of this alive?
I was born a Snake.
I know Dad. I should be able to predict how this will go. Except, that’s the problem. Because nobody gets out of a meeting with him, which starts with being tied down in a basement, unharmed.
Dad means fucking business.
Plus, if he’s brought the psycho triplets with him as backup, then it won’t only be Thomas who’s going to be hurt.
From my position in the far corner on the hard dirt floor of the basement, I scan around myself desperately.
The lighting is harsh from a single bare bulb across the unfinished walls and my beautiful mate who’s been tied to the stark, single piece of furniture in the room.
Thomas’ wrists are tightly tied to the arms of the chair, while his ankles are bound to the legs. Rope also snakes around his torso and thighs like a boa constrictor
I grew up seeing rival pack members, along with Betas from my own pack (and sometimes Vito), tied up like this.
Usually, they were waiting for Dad to deal with them.
If they were really unlucky, then they were waiting for the triplets.
Today, both Dad and the triplets are here.
We’re fucked.
Thomas’ jacket and waistcoat have been slung onto the bottom step. His shirt has been ripped open to the waist. He’s sitting composed like he’s bored and unaffected, but I can see how rapidly his chest is rising and falling.
Vito, on the other hand, isn’t trying to hide how freaked out he is or how furious.
“Fuck you.” Vito struggles with two of the triplets, Bianca and Ludovica, who are holding him in their grip.
The triplets are tall with muscled arms and broad shoulders. They’ve trained for years to become the pack’s enforcers and illegal fighting ring champions, and it shows.
They’re stronger than Vito.
Their black hair is twisted into elaborate braids. Matching snake tattoos are inked on their hands. My sisters are dressed in punky blue mesh shirts and black jeans.
They hold Vito with his wrists twisted painfully behind his back.
“It’s sweet how you try to fight us, as if you actually could,” Bianca mockingly coos, stroking Vito’s back. He flinches. “It makes it much more fun, when we break you.”
“Our precious baby brother.” Ludovica grabs Vito by his hair, wrenching back his head.
“Leave him alone,” I cry.
“Don’t, Dy,” Vito manages to gasp. “They’re only p-p-playing. It d-d-doesn’t hurt.”
Bianca laughs, twisting his arms more cruelly.
My eyes smart with tears.
They’re only playing.
It’s what Vito told me, when I found him being held down on the floor by the triplets for the first time, when we were kids.
I cried and demanded that they leave him alone.
Afterwards, I asked if it truly didn’t hurt, when the triplets crushed his face against the floor.
Vito’s eyes were red rimmed like he’d been crying, but he told me that it didn’t.
He said the same all the other times.
For years, I pretended to believe him, until I couldn’t any longer.
Our gazes meet across the basement. It’s agonizing to see the despair in Vito’s eyes.
Did he ever believe that he could escape the Snake pack for good?
He gave up everything to get me out of there and try to give me a safe life. Now, I have love and a pack who protect, rather than hurt me.
Yet my brother is still under the control of Dad, as Head Alpha of the Snakes.
The dank basement is awash with the soured scent of my pheromones.
“How nice of you to drop in for a social visit,” Thomas drawls. “You don’t have an invitation, however, and as much as I enjoy bondage (if it’s done consensually), I’m rather busy to be tied up right now.”
I stare at Thomas.
Did he seriously just say that to my dad?
To a mobster boss?
His enemy?
Yep, he did.
Thomas has balls.
Vito gives a startled laugh. “Dad likes to drop in unannounced and fuck up your day.”
Thomas’ own defiance seems to have helped Vito.
Vito struggles to pant through the pain of our sisters’ hold, defiantly tilting up his chin.
I fucking admire both these men.
I wipe the tears from my own eyes and copy them.
Whatever happens, I won’t whimper and hide in the face of Dad’s bullying anymore.
He’s terrorized me for too long.
Dad swaggers across the basement toward Thomas.
Dad is dressed in a navy suit with a wide belt, which has a snake’s fanged head as a buckle. He looks immaculate compared to Thomas and Vito. He holds his pistol loosely in one hand, while running the other through his severe gunmetal gray hair.
“It’s good to know that you like bondage because so do I.” Dad rubs his thick beard. “Your consent isn’t needed, cub. Things are run differently in the Snakes. We’re predators, and I take what I want. Right now, all I want is a fatherly talk with my disobedient kids. You’re the waste of a knot who bonded with my Omega daughter without asking my permission.”
I stiffen, when Dad leans over Thomas.
No…
Dad patronizingly slaps Thomas lightly on the cheek.
Thomas’ expression blanks but he doesn’t flinch. “I asked her permission. Anyway, I didn’t think that you believed in consent…? And I’m a predator too.”
My eyes widen.
Nobody talks to Dad like that.
Dad’s blue eyes narrow, before with a speed bred of familiarity, he twists his gun in his hand and uses the barrel to pistol-whip Thomas.
I scream at the crack , as it splits Thomas’ cheek.
Shit, has it broken his cheekbone?
Thomas, however, doesn’t make more than a low grunt, as his head is thrown to the side.
His knuckles whiten, as he clutches at the chair to control the pain.
I leap up, ready to rush to push Dad away, before he can hurt Thomas again.
“Stop it!” I scream.
I’m trembling.
Dad doesn’t look away from Thomas, fixed on the blood that’s dribbling down his cheek. “Silence, Omega, or I’ll turn my gun around and shoot. You know this game.”
“Don’t touch her,” Thomas mumbles. His words are slurred. “Leave her alone.”
Thomas’ eyes are dazed.
Shit, Dad hit him hard.
I’m breathing rapidly.
I back against the cold wall because it’s the only way that I can be certain I won’t break and run toward Thomas.
He needs me.
It tears through our fate bond.
I bite my lip to force myself not to speak.
Dad means it. He’ll shoot.
Pain — agony — surges through the bond.
Yet there’s something else as well, which I can sense from Thomas. He’s confused and struggling to think clearly because of the blow from the pistol. But am I only imagining the calmness underneath that he’s trying to radiate to me?
Please, fucking please , let Thomas have a plan.
At least let Ghost and Lincoln find that we’re missing and rescue us.
Except, will that only end in them being killed?
“What’s with these dramatics?” Dad’s eyes narrow. “You don’t need to pretend that you care for each other. A Snake can never love a Saint, or is it that a Saint can never love a Snake ? You’re having hysterics, but the deputy mayor here looks like he’s carved from ice.”
Thomas blinks, as if he’s trying to struggle to focus through the concussion to answer but can’t get the words straight in his mind.
It breaks my heart.
Dad has no idea how fucking wrong he is.
“Dad, what do you want?” Vito demands. “You promised that you wouldn’t pull this shit and come after Thomas.”
Thomas looks startled for the first time, groggily attempting to turn his head to look at me.
“But did he promise not to come after you ?” Dad turns his gun to once more hold it by its handle like he’s considering whether to use it or not.
Bianca twists Vito’s arm more harshly behind his back, and he howls. “Silence, or I’ll break it.”
Ludovica cards her fingers through Vito’s hair, as he shudders with the effort of holding in the pain. “You know this game too.”
This is what it’s like in the Snake pack: sadistic games.
Dad’s smiling, as he watches his daughters play with their Alpha brother, dominating him.
Dad’s enjoying this.
In his eyes, it’s how they’re proving their worth.
I’m caught, pressed against the wall, desperate to run to both my brother and fated mate. I’m trembling from the helplessness to protect either of them.
I’ve spent my life feeling like this.
For the first time with the Saints and the resistance, I began to feel like I could stand up and fight back.
Yet the moment that Dad walks into the room, my power is stolen.
Thomas was right that with Dad in my life — hell, in the same fucking state — Vito and I will never be free.
Perhaps, this is what Thomas needed me to see for one final time…?
Suddenly, I hear footsteps coming down the basement steps. Unable to stop myself, I throw myself toward the stairs.
Lincoln…
Except, it isn’t my savior.
It’s Gia, the third triplet. Head Snake enforcer. Cruelest member of the pack.
She kicks Thomas’ jacket and waistcoat dismissively out of the way.
Yet I remember that she gave me Mom’s cookbook. The tears that I was certain glimmered in her eyes. All the times that she made sure I ate, hid me from Dad’s rages, and helped me with homework.
I can’t pretend that she truly loves me. But she won’t let this happen, right?
She’s still my sister.
I know that there’s something in her that cares about me.
I throw myself into her arms, desperately nuzzling at her neck. My cheeks are wet against her skin.
Gia freezes.
She’s dressed the same as her sisters, but her long hair lies in snaking waves to her waist. Her hands are heavy with opal rings, which fascinated me when I was young.
“Gia,” I plead, “ help me . I love Tom. We’re bonded. That bond has saved my life. He’s my fated mate. It’ll kill me, if Dad does anything to…” Gia shrugs me off, sauntering to lean against the wall. “Gia…?”
Gia avoids looking at me. “What do you want from me, little snake? Thomas St Clair is the enemy.”
My stomach sinks. “Is Vito your enemy? Look at him. Please, you raised him as much as you raised me.”
Gia’s gaze darts to Vito and then away. “I didn’t. He’s an Alpha. A rival. We beat him down to make sure that he knows his place in the hierarchy. I wasn’t raising him. I was training him not to become dominant enough to challenge my sisters and me. All I care about is putting him in his place.”
I take an unsteady step back in shock. My eyes blur with tears.
“I hate you,” I whisper.
Naked hurt flashes across Gia’s face, before she can hide it. I didn’t think that someone as heartless as her was capable of that.
Vito bares his teeth. “It didn’t work, bitch.”
“Broken arm it is,” Bianca says, delighted. “Good choice.”
“No.” Gia straightens, looking startled. “You’re both too rough with your toys. Put him on his knees. Dad has given him to us for the rest of the weekend, after all. We need to pace ourselves.”
Vito snarls, as he’s forced to his knees. His breathing is shallow.
I understand why.
The rest of the weekend…?
Fuck, no.
I won’t let that happen. Somehow, I’m stopping this.
Dad peers around the basement like he owns it, despite this being Saint territory. “It seems that you have some of the same tastes as my own pack, Thomas. But clearly, you can’t tame an Omega, or my daughter wouldn’t have forgotten the proper way to address Alphas and that an Omega has no right to interfere in an Alpha’s business.”
Thomas looks amused, and his gaze becomes more focused again. “If only my own dad and you knew how alike you sound.”
Dad’s expression darkens. “I respect spirit but not insolence from a wolf pup like you. You certainly do have the cold dominance, however, that I find delicious to break. I knew that up close and personal like this I would feel it. Do you know that the triplets can take months stripping it away from Alphas like you? Pretty little things are boring. But smart, strong men who are true challenges are rare.”
I want to hurl.
Thomas has become ashen. “Then kidnap me, if that’s what you want, but let your son and daughter go.”
“No,” I yell at the same time as Vito does.
My knees buckle. I slide to the hard ground. My hands bunch in the silky material of my dress.
Dad pushes Thomas’ shirt further apart, slipping his hands to stroke over his chest in a gesture that’s so threatening it makes my breath catch.
“The problem, however, is that my daughter needs punishment, as much as you need to be taught a lesson.” Dad pushes Thomas’ shirt off his shoulder. Thomas claws at the chair arms in his struggle to not react. Yet I can hear his panic through the bond at being touched like this…and as Dad explores closer and closer toward our Soul Mark. “She dated, spent her heat with, and bonded our enemy. What does that make her look like? What would it make me look like if I let that disrespect slide?”
When Dad rakes his nails viciously over the glittering SAINT , which is written underneath the mark of the wolf, Thomas and I growl at the same time.
It’s a primal sound, torn from our souls. I can feel the same agonized, violated pain burst through our bonds.
Lincoln and Ghost must feel it.
But they won’t know where we are.
Thomas thrashes, finally reacting. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
Dad laughs. “And there’s the bad wolf inside. He just needed coaxing out.”
I howl, visceral and raw.
I throw myself across the basement at Dad. I don’t care that I don’t have a weapon or that I’m only an Omega baker against an Alpha who’s the best fighter in the mob.
I can’t hear anything over the pain in the bond, the roaring of blood in my head, and the chants of mine, mine, mine, when I see my Alpha suffering.
Tom…
My gaze catches his.
Thomas’ eyes, which are clouded with pain and feral rage, widen in shock.
I don’t stop my attack.
I raise my fists to bring them down on Dad’s back.
Suddenly, however, Gia’s arms are around me, clasping my arms to my sides and dragging me across the basement to the far wall.
I scrabble wildly, dragging my feet and trying to get away. “Let me go. Fuck, fuck, let me…Gia, let me the fuck—”
“No,” Gia’s voice is commanding. A leader’s voice. It startles me out of my red haze. She sits down with me still wrapped in her arms and snatches up the blue blanket, which is in the center of Ghost’s abandoned nest. “You’re feral right now. And you may hate me, but I don’t hate you, little snake.”
With efficient motions, she wraps me in the blanket.
Swaddled like this and held against Gia’s strong chest, I can’t even scratch at her.
Ghost’s sweet scent surrounds me from the blanket.
Has she done this on purpose?
It soothes me, bringing me back from the edge of turning feral.
I snuffle at the blanket, taking a few more deep breaths.
Dad is watching me with interest. “I always thought that it was shame you weren’t born an Alpha. You have a lot of Snake spirit in you, and I respect that. But I still have to discipline you.”
“I’ll take her punishment.” Thomas is making rumbling growls like he can’t control his own feral side. The skin is inflamed around the clawed marks down his chest. “I’m her Alpha now. If she deserves discipline, then I should take it for her.”
“Should you now?” Dad’s blue eyes gleam, before he slaps Thomas as casually as if he’s swatting a fly. “Are you trying to prove that you truly are fated mates? That you really do love my daughter? But would a cold-hearted man like you take an Omega’s punishment for them?”
Dad slaps Thomas again.
The crack rings through the shadowy room.
It reopens the cut on Thomas’ cheekbone.
Thomas’ blood stains Dad’s palm. Dad wipes the blood off on Thomas’ copper hair.
Somehow, his messing up Thomas’ perfect hair is the thing that makes me snap.
I scream, struggling to escape from Gia’s hold again. She tightens her arms around me, swaddling me tighter.
To my shock, she soothes me with her pheromones.
It’s the first time that she’s done that.
I don’t stop struggling, however, kicking with my feet. “Fucking asshole. Don’t touch him, just don’t. Stop, stop…”
“My sweet venom,” Thomas’ voice is gentle, but he has the sense not to take his gaze away from Dad’s, one predator sizing up another, “let me do this for you. Let me show him how much I love you.”
Dad backhands Thomas.
Thomas steadies himself, making no more than a low grunt of pain.
I whine in distress.
Vito snarls, unable to remain watching this on his knees any longer. He tries to launch himself forward, but my sisters grab him by the shoulders and press him back down.
Vito’s anguished gaze swings to meet mine. “Stop this. He’s not our enemy anymore. We’re family.”
“He’s her Alpha,” Dad replies. “He swears that’s why he’s taking this beating for her, unless this is a trick. Isn’t it romantic, son?”
“I can pay,” Vito bargains. “Money’s what you want from us. Isn’t money more important to you?”
Bianca snorts. “You’re a broke ass good for nothing. Dad cleared you out this month already.”
When Dad casually raises his hand again, Gia holds me closer to her chest.
Vito bares his teeth. “How does a quarter of a million sound, bitch?”
Dad hesitates. “You’re talking about the prize money.”
Of course he’d know about that. Dad never misses a chance to make money; it’s the only thing that he cares about as much as power.
Ludovica pats Vito’s head like he’s a dog. “There, there, precious baby brother. There’s no need to make up for your micro knot by boasting. There’s no way that you could win a contest like that.”
“If we win, will you leave Tom alone?” My heart speeds up.
“You can’t be sure that you can win, unless…” Dad takes a step back, studying Thomas with a dark admiration. “…You’re even more ruthless than I suspected. You’ve bribed the judges so that the business you’ve married into will win.”
I forget that Dad is good at what he does.
Thomas’ expression changes like he’s allowing a mask to slide away and reveal the truly dangerous man underneath.
And in many ways, that’s true.
“Would you expect anything less of a cold-hearted, dominant Alpha like me?” Thomas voice is low and deadly.
Dad’s lips curl into an equally deadly smile, which is as sharp as a blade. “You’re everything that they say you are.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Do we have a deal?” Vito asks, hopefully.
“Please.” I shrug out of Gia’s hold.
This time she lets me crawl the distance to Vito’s side.
Vito’s holding his far arm awkwardly. The shoulder must have been wrenched, and the wrist looks swollen too.
I glare at Bianca, and she blows me a kiss.
Vito reaches out and clasps my hand with his uninjured one. For a brief moment, we nuzzle each other’s necks, and he calms me with a burst of pheromones.
“Stop holding hands like prey,” Dad sneers at us.
Gia pushes herself to her feet, wiping the dust off her pants. “Quarter of a million would be a good day’s pay.”
When I hold my breath, Vito squeezes my hand reassuringly.
“This will be the second time that those two have bought you.” Dad brushes his fingers through Thomas’ hair in a way that makes me cringe. Thomas doesn’t move, but through the bond, I can feel how much he hates the touch. “Beautiful, smart, and corrupt. I see why my daughter wants you. But here’s the thing,” Dad leans closer to Thomas, who stiffens but is unable to pull back, “ I want to kidnap you. You thought that you could take a Snake Omega without consequence. I don’t need to be given the quarter of a million dollars. I intend to bite you now and force you into a bond. Then you’ll be my Second Alpha. Everything that you own will be mine anyway. I’ll have a lifetime to show you what happens to bad wolf cubs when they fall into a pit of snakes.”
Thomas’ real emotion flashes across his face; he can’t hide it.
Horror.
Wild panic.
And the type of terror that comes from triggered trauma.
Is he remembering Richard or any of the other Alphas who have tried to force him into bonds?
Dad’s eyes glitter with violent desire, as his gaze drops to the long column of Thomas’ throat.
“He’s mine,” the words burst from me. I won’t hold them back. I refuse to be helpless any longer. “He’s my peacock. My fated mate. You won’t control my life any longer. I’m bonded to a Saint now, and you can fucking kill us, but you can’t change that. If you touch Tom again, then I will tear out your throat.”
Silence.
I’m breathing hard.
I’ve just challenged the Head Alpha of my pack.
It’s unthinkable.
I’m dead.
Yet I can’t regret what I’ve said.
Not when Dad means to force Thomas into a bond like he has other members of his pack. He’s not bluffing about that.
I can’t let it happen.
Thomas would be used as worse than a toy: the mayor’s son amidst the mob.
The triplets exchange a glance, stepping closer to Dad.
Are they trying to stop me helping Thomas?
Adrenaline spikes through me.
Vito pulls me to my feet.
How can we fight all of them at once? How the hell can we fight any of them?
I shake, as the triplets slip long, thin daggers with glittering snakes on the handles out of their belts. They twirl them around intimidatingly.
I sob, unable to stop. “Gia…”
Gia ignores me, standing behind Dad.
“You have fangs.” Dad shakes his head. “But you’ll never be the one tearing out anyone’s throat, Omega. You’ve forgotten the basic rule within the Snakes yet again. Don’t let someone see you pointing the knife at them, unless you intend to use it.”
“He’s right.” Gia’s gaze meets mine over Dad’s shoulder, and there’s something twinkling in it that I don’t understand.
To my surprise, she smiles at Thomas.
Then she stabs Dad between the shoulder blades at the same time that she steals the gun from his holster.
“Fuck,” I gasp.
Vito looks as shocked as I am.
Thomas, on the other hand, nods casually at Bianca and Ludovica like they’re Alphas under his command.
Bewildered, I watch as they use their knives to slice through the ropes that are binding him.
What the hell is happening?
Dad growls in pain. His eyes widen in shock.
He tries to twist around and wrench out the knife, but Gia kicks out his knees. He lands heavily on the hard floor.
“What the fuck are you…?” Dad snarls.
“Silence, or I’ll slice through your vocal cords.” Gia holds her sharp blade against his throat. He swallows, as it nicks him. “You know how this game is played.”
Thomas pushes himself carefully to his feet. When he sways, it’s Bianca who steadies him. He wipes the blood out of his eyes, taking a moment to shrug his torn shirt back over his shoulder and attempt to cover his chest.
Then like the peacock he is, Thomas smooths his hair into place.
Am I going crazy here?
“Tom,” I whisper.
Thomas stalks toward me, and I rush to him. I need to feel his arms around me more than I need breath itself.
I know that he feels the same way because he drags me into his embrace, kissing my hair, cheeks, and lips.
“Candy,” he murmurs, “I’m sorry, sorry, sorry—”
“Why?” I stare into his bruised face. “What’s going on?”
“I knew that your dad was going to make his move today. So, I had to make mine.” Thomas glances at Vito. “For both your sakes. And I couldn’t risk telling you because he knows you well enough to read your responses and pheromone changes.” Reluctantly, he pulls back from me. “Forgive me?”
“I don’t understand.” I stare at the triplets and Dad, who’s furiously glowering on his knees. “What just happened?”
“A takeover,” Gia replies. “We’ve been planning it long enough for Dad to have no idea how to read us.”
I should have realized that Gia was the one who’d be ruthless enough to overthrow Dad.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Dad snarls. “I’ll—"
Gia presses the knife harder against his neck. “Did you teach us to bluff in this game ? Talk again and see if I don’t use this blade. You have three of your top fighters and Alphas here, and we’re united in taking over the pack. Want to know something funny? The moment that you sold our mom, we were planning to get our revenge. We’ve been playing you ever since. We were simply building ourselves up, growing strong and waiting for the right moment, you total asshole.”
Gia glances at me.
I wrap my arm around Vito’s waist because the triplets forget that she was his mom too.
We should be united in this revenge.
Am I being hopeful to imagine the guilt lurking behind Gia’s eyes?
The other triplets look grim.
Thomas saunters to Dad, before crouching down in front of him. “You’re never going to be able to hurt or control Vito or Candy again. Finally, they’ll be free to fly like they always should have been. They’re both incredible people, if only you could see it. Much better than you…or me. We don’t deserve them. And I’m going to be certain that you can never force anyone into a bond again.”
He exchanges a dangerous grin with Gia, before she moves the blade away, at the same moment that Thomas snatches Dad by the hair and then smashes his head against the floor.
Dad slumps unconscious.
“Your Alpha is badass,” Vito breathes. “He has officially earned a gold star in the brother-in-law test.”
Thomas stands and prowls back to me. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head. “But you are. Tom, your head…face…chest… We need to call you a doctor.”
“There isn’t time. Trust me, okay? I’ll survive.”
“You’re swaying,” Vito points out, steadying Thomas. “How many of me can you see?”
“Three,” Thomas admits. “I only have to hold on a little longer, however, and we’ll all be free.”
Gia undoes the ropes from the chair, looping them around Dad with her sisters’ help. “Who’d guess that your wolf would be so similar to me, little snake?”
I’m struggling to come down from the adrenaline high.
Is it true? Have Thomas and Gia truly overthrown Dad?
“How?” I ask.
Gia glances at Thomas and then me. “We’re both eldest kids who’ve worked for years to become the heirs to our brutal empires. We’ve both worn cruel masks. And we may both run enemy packs, but since you two are bonded, we’re family. So, we can help each other out in this. We’ll call it a temporary truce.”
“And Vito?” I demand. “Are you going to stop bullying him?”
“It doesn’t matter, Dy,” Vito mutters.
“It does,” I snarl. “It fucking matters. Look at his wrist. You could have broken his fucking arm.”
Bianca doesn’t look apologetic. “Are we letting Omegas talk to us like that now?”
“This Omega, yes,” Gia says, sharply. “And Vito is off-limits. No one from the Snakes approaches him on pain of ending their life on my blade. That includes you two. He’s under my protection.”
“Spoilsport,” Ludovica grumbles.
Gia wrenches on a rope to tie Dad’s hands together. “Concentrate on the here and now. We’ve taken out the Snake Head Alpha in the dark, but this is just the bloody first half of the plot. You’ve got the Saint Head Alpha and half of Haven celebrating out there in the light. Now, comes the truly risky part.”