Chapter 46
FORTY-SIX
THISTLE
I slipped out into the hallway and tried to close the door behind me, but his foot caught it.
A gun clicked, cold metal pressing against the back of my neck.
He had guards?
How had they got in?
Knox had sworn the security was solid now.
“What are you doing?” I asked, but Carrion was shoving the door open.
“No!” I barely felt the gun as I launched after him. The person at my back grabbed my arm, but panic burned away the last of my sanity. My teeth sank into something soft and I heard a growl. Then I was darting away.
There was no gunshot, and the dim, warm light of Bambi’s room closed in around me.
Carrion was crossing toward the burrow.
No.
Why did he want Bambi?
I threw myself after him, searching desperately in Bunny’s pouch for my knife. I darted around Carrion as he reached the burrow, staggering as I tugged the weapon out.
“Don’t touch her.”
“So protective.” He sounded amused.
“She’s not yours,” I snarled, the wall of pillows and blankets behind me squishing beneath my weight. I tried to shift some to cover Bambi.
Before I could flip the blade, or do anything, Carrion seized me by the shoulder and threw me aside with ease. I collided with the wall in a burst of pain and a whimper, air driven from my lungs.
I blinked the world straight in time to see Carrion reaching into the burrow.
Bambi!
Feral rage stole me from time itself, and the world flashed, red bleeding in. I’d moved, a snarl rolling up my chest. I reached them, but he reacted too fast. Pain exploded on my temple. I was on my side, breathing heavy, body reacting too slowly…
Where was Glade’s knife?
It wasn’t in my hand anymore.
I dragged myself upright, chest tight, lungs not working, but before I reached him, he was standing up, and what he held wasn’t Bambi at all.
The bright pink Bunny I’d scent-marked for Bambi was hanging from his fist. Then he was turning away from the burrow.
Something loosened in my chest.
I searched for her, and found the slightest movement amongst the pillows. Clouded honey eyes were wide with terror and fixed on me, and her hand was clamped over her mouth.
Stay there…
I couldn’t say the words, and my lungs felt like they had imploded. But all that mattered was that she stayed hidden. Even as footfalls drew closer, and there was a painful jolt in my hair as I was hauled upright.
I needed to get it together, but I felt like my heart was a blown fuse, slamming blood through my veins as if I was still watching him reach for Bambi…
Where were we?
I tried to get my bearings as the Alpha dragged me along. We were at the doors that led to the main ballroom.
They’d left the Misfits’ quarters…
That was good…
I felt rough hands on me, tugging my jacket down, and pulling Bunny from my fist. I snarled, lunging, but I was held still by another. Bunny was gone…
Then their hands were on me, patting me down. The bracelet—I tried to curl my fist against my chest, but I felt it rip from my wrist, and then the sound of it hitting the marble, sharp and echoing in the vaulted space as it clattered to the floor.
Fuck… No!
I needed that…
Too late, though. I was being shoved through the doors, the guards finally letting me go.
I felt vulnerable without Bunny. Without Ace’s protection. I was in my hoodie, shorts, and fluffy slippers I’d put on before I’d dashed down to Bambi’s nest.
She was safe, though.
That made everything easier.
I had to sort myself out. My Alphas weren’t here. Every instinct screamed at me to stall, to last until they arrived. I looked up into the dark eyes beyond the bone mask, my throat raw as the words dragged out.
“What do you want?”
Carrion just nodded toward the seats in the corner.
“Come.”
He sat in one, then set the pink bunny down beside him, beckoning me toward him. I remained standing, watching, trying to focus on anything that could give me information.
He was calm, though there was a slight edge to his scent as he watched me. It wasn’t anger—it was something worse. The curiosity of a predator analysing its prey. His scent was dry and metallic, like burnt sage ground into iron—desert heat and blood, clinging sharply to the back of my throat.
He glanced at the pink bunny. “Your Alphas brawled the day they bought this. One of my men bugged it while they were distracted. I thought it would be a gift for you. Unfortunately, it took a while for it to do its job—or before it crossed paths with enough of your security to compromise their phones.”
I glanced up at the second floor, to the huge arches and balcony that overlooked us.
“Most of them are gone; they believe they’re meeting Ace at his old mansion. The rest are dealt with.”
It was then that I spotted a shape between the pillars: a limp arm hanging over the edge, traces of crimson stained the fingertips as they dripped onto the floor below. The droplets spattered the marble, sharp and rhythmic.
A security guard.
My stomach dropped so hard I almost retched. We were cornered.
“I like to make casual visits, but your Alphas did make it quite difficult.”
“Then why drag me here?” I snapped, trying to keep my voice steady, but the words scraped raw in my throat.
“First, I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?” I had to calm my mind enough to think. What would Ace be doing right now? I had to make him proud or this would be the end of us all.
Bambi wasn’t here. That’s what mattered. Everything else I could handle.
“I was curious how your scent was in person,” Carrion said. “Wanted to see your temperament—and it didn’t disappoint. I wasn’t at your auction, though perhaps I should have been.”
Uh… I stared at him. “Are you… flirting with me?” The words spilled out before I could stop them, reckless, jagged, like my brain had grabbed the first distraction it could reach.
Carrion tilted his head slowly, and I thought there might be amusement in his eyes. “I’ve never met a slave who has so successfully graduated to a different status.”
We were interrupted by the sound of the door at the far end of the hall opening. The groan of the hinges was like a warning across the space.
Oh… no...
Ace had his hands up, a guard at his back. His eyes darted around the room as he took it all in. I could already see too many guns to fight.
Rogue followed and they were herded before Carrion.
Rogue’s eyes were darting between me, and the Alpha I was with. “What is happening?”
“Do you know who I am?” Carrion asked.
Ace was the one who answered, tone flat as he examined the mask. “I’d imagine you’re Carrion.”
I heard Carrion’s breath of amusement. “It’s good to finally meet the pack who’ve been causing me so much grief, but before we get started, we’re missing someone.”
I swallowed.
Had Knox escaped?
Could he be getting help?
But it was then that we heard a shout from a far set of doors—the same ones I’d come through from the Misfits’ quarters. There was an audible scuffle, boots scraping against marble, then the doors burst open and Knox was dragged in.
No…
They shoved Knox to his knees, slamming him against the marble between Rogue and Ace. I tried to keep my breathing in check.
“You don’t have to hurt them.”
“The others, no. But this one?” His scent twisted, charring as he exhaled. “The Ring’s traitor will find no mercy.”
I swallowed, desperately searching for any way out.
“We have him managed,” Ace said flatly. “She claimed him.”
“I’m sure you do,” Carrion said. “But I’m more concerned about revenge. You’ve disrupted my project. I’ve known for a while something was wrong, and I’ve finally tracked it back to the source. Detective Doyle doesn’t have long on this earth, and neither do you.”
Knox’s eyes flickered up to Carrion, something dark in them. He didn’t say anything, but his jaw was set, hatred burning there stronger than I’d ever seen. Carrion was the Alpha he’d spent every waking moment of the last few years chasing.
“Why don’t you tell them what I want, Thistle,” Carrion said.
I looked between them, mind working desperately. But the bracelet was gone.
Ace… I met impassive ice-blue eyes.
He had a way out, right?
He had to. He always did. My chest burned waiting for him to prove it.
I shook my doubt away as Carrion dug his gun into my waist. The press of cold steel sent a shiver up my spine.
“He wants the pack,” I whispered.
Ace’s eyes flickered from me to the man in the mask.
The silence was suffocating, every second stretched so thin it felt like my bones would splinter under it. Even the lights seemed too loud, their faint electrical buzz gnawing at my ears.
“I only intended to get rid of the irritant at first,” Carrion said.
“But once I heard what Bella Morgan was saying about you, Knox, the last puzzle piece fell into place. But in my investigation I came across the footage of her party.” Carrion tilted his head, hand brushing my arm.
The casualness of it made my skin crawl—like I was already his.
His fingers were warm, and it was as if I could feel his scent of burning iron clinging to my skin like a brand.
I straightened, forcing the growl back down.
“It turns out your pack might be a solution to another of my issues.”
I could see the strain in all of my Alphas as Carrion touched me. Every muscle coiled tight. But the guns were waiting for just that, and one wrong breath and I’d lose them.
“I’ve never found myself interested in an Omega. It’s inconvenient. There’s only so much money can buy—drugs and slaves don’t quite make for a smooth ride when my instincts become unmanageable.”
“What are you saying?” Ace asked.
“Would you like to be a part of another kind of Empire?” His eyes were fixed on Ace.
“I could provide your Omega with as many playthings as she wants—for our entertainment. And you’d have enough to do to pass the time.
It’s hard to find true competence when it comes to managing an empire like mine, but you just might be the right fit. ”
The words made bile rise in my throat.
Ace cocked his head.
Was he considering it?
My pulse picked up.
He couldn’t… right?
But what if that was the way out?
It couldn’t be—this Alpha was the beginning of every nightmare Knox had ever had.