Chapter 22
TALIUS
I was going out of my mind. I couldn’t think straight.
My mate. Where was he? What were they doing to him? Anything could be happening to him right now, and I had to deal with this treacherous piece of shit.
I tightened my grip further. A weak gurgling sound spilled out of Agelius as he choked, but he didn’t offer any resistance, lying limply on the ground, his neck still tilted in an offering of submission.
Submission! Pah! What was his submission worth? A traitor. Maybe a traitor, the rational side of myself reminded me. I couldn’t listen to that side of myself right now, I wanted to squeeze the life out of him…
“Easy, Talius,” Johnson warned.
I looked down at my hands. They had tightened around Agelius neck.
His face was bright red, his lips had a blueish tinge, and he was clearly trying to keep himself perfectly still even as he struggled for air.
I closed my eyes, a wash of shame rolling over me.
This was not the way to deal with this. And it was not going to help Irian.
I released his neck, but pinned him to the ground with a knee in the middle of his back, in case he decided to try anything.
He didn’t. He lay on the ground, gasping in great lungfuls of air, a horrid gurgling sound in the back of his throat. Purple bruises were already starting to form in the pale skin of his neck.
“Let’s get them back to the farm,” I growled.
I twisted Agelius’ arm behind his back, rotating and bending it until he cried out in pain.
“One wrong move and I won’t hesitate to break it,” I warned.
Agelius nodded once, wincing. “Yes, Alpha,” he replied, meekly.
I was wary. I’d trusted him once and look where it had got us. I shook my head. I needed to get control of myself. I knew my fear for Irian was making me irrational. I was the Pack Alpha. I needed to show more composure than this. At least there was only Johnson here to see me losing my shit.
I drew in a long, stuttering breath, held it, let it out slowly.
I needed to get the full story, I reminded myself, but it was a struggle to think logically, when all I wanted to do was… I shook my head, trying to clear the rage.
Teetering on the edge of control, I dragged in a lungful of air, filling out my chest and reminding myself of who and what I was. I eased my weight off Agelius, keeping his arm trapped uncomfortably behind him, twisted just a shade beyond the point of pain.
“Get up,” I snarled. “Slowly.”
The younger man struggled awkwardly to his feet. I did nothing to make it easier for him, and he staggered before righting himself. He stood there, no resistance, head hanging down, the black curls obscuring his face, but he kept his neck bared to me.
Looking across, I saw Johnson had the other guy’s arms twisted behind his back too.
That shifter looked like a mean son-of-a-bitch, his eyes narrow and sharp, a beak of a nose and pinched features.
His expression was sour, but that could have been because we’d outwitted them.
They obviously hadn’t been expecting us to know they were coming - courtesy of my telepathic link with Irian - and they’d been making enough noise to wake the dead.
Well, enough to alert a wolf lying in wait for them anyway.
Johnson nodded. I didn’t doubt he had the guy under control. Much larger than Agelius’ accomplice, he’d done a bit of MMA in his younger days, and even some cage-fighting, so he was a formidable opponent.
I shoved Agelius, and he stumbled forward. He knew the way, so I kept my attention on making sure he didn’t try to outfox me and catch me by surprise. But he made no attempt to escape or resist the entire way to the farm.
We emerged from the trees into the clearing where the farm buildings were located. Instead of heading into the main house, one Agelius was very familiar with, I pushed him in the opposite direction.
“In the barn,” I snapped.
“Yes, Alpha,” Agelius’ submissive attitude was puzzling me. I’d expected him to fight back or argue or try and defend himself, or just something on the way down the mountain, but he’d simply plodded quietly along, at no stage trying to escape. It had to be a trick. Why was he even here?
Agelius stumbled over the uneven ground and I held him up by his twisted arm.
“Ah…” he drew in a short gasp of pain but clamped his mouth shut again as he regained his balance. I eased up on my grip.
The interior of the shed was dark and cool, a paltry beam of light slanted in through a dusty windowpane high in the end wall where it caught the last of the setting sun.
The distinctive scent of last years’ left over hay bales hung in the air.
This year’s haul hadn’t been brought in from the paddocks yet so the barn was only half full.
Our footsteps stirred up the dust, the scent of dry earth and hay combining in the familiar smell of the farm.
The farm Irian and I had built our pack on. Another surge of anger washed over me.
Furiously, I spun Agelius to face me, pushing him against the rough timber wall with a solid clunk.
“Where’s Irian?”
“He… he’s safe!” his raspy voice sounded like cut glass, and I felt momentarily ashamed of my behavior. He cast a sideways glance at his accomplice, whom Johnson had pinned in the corner. “At least for the moment. Zarbius has him.”
A roar exploded from my throat and I only just managed to stop my fist from connecting with Agelius’ face. He paled as my hand hit the wall beside him, the timber dissolving in a cascade of splinters. A few wooden shards landed on his face. A few red beads oozed from my knuckles.
“His betas grabbed him in town and took him out to their new camp up in the mountains.”
“Where is it?” I hissed, eyes narrowing.
“I… I don’t know,” he stammered. “I just stumbled on the pack when I was out running.”
“And joined us. He’s second-in-command now,” the other shifter’s gravelly voice supplied helpfully. Agelius flinched.
I scowled at the shifter, then returned my attention to Agelius.
“What are you doing here?”
Agelius gulped. “We… we came to bring you Zarbius’ ransom demand,” his voice was barely about a whisper, the whites of his eyes showing.
“The fuck?” I had my hand around his throat in an instant, squeezing, before I managed to get control of the red rage that had swept over me again.
Fuck! This was not the way to help Irian, but by the Goddess I wanted to ring this little traitor’s fucking neck.
I relaxed my grip and Agelius sagged against the wall.
“Tell me then,” I spat through gritted teeth.
“He wants half a million dollars and…and…” Agelius paused, sucked in a deep breath, and dropped his voice so low it was barely audible, “he wants Isca.”
If his eyes hadn’t filled with tears right then, I swear I would have ended him. I would have smashed his face into pieces without hesitation.
But I knew in that instant.
He wasn’t doing this voluntarily, or at least, if he was, there was something else going on. But for some reason, he wasn’t exculpating himself, and it didn’t take a great deal of brilliance to figure out that reason might be standing in the corner of the shed.
“Right,” I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. “You’re coming to the office right now to help me make that transfer. And you…” I stabbed a finger towards the other shifter, “can stay here.”
I turned to Johnson. “Lock him in the shed while I deal with Agelius. And set a guard.”
I pushed Agelius roughly towards the door. “If you make a run for it,” I told him loudly as I followed close behind, “I won’t make that payment and your buddy here will be turned over to the police. Your new Alpha won’t be happy with you.”
It was said more for the benefit of the accomplice.
Clearly there was something Agelius didn’t want him to know.
It still didn’t mean Agelius didn’t have something to do with Irian’s kidnapping, but maybe he’d bitten off more than he could chew and was regretting it and willing to help us get Irian back. Maybe it was something else.
The tension was obvious in the heavy silence between us as I marched the young alpha to the main house and into my office.
He seemed skittish as if he sensed how close to losing it I was, but he made no attempt to escape.
If he was actuality involved in this, then he certainly had balls to turn up here.
Once inside, I waved him to a seat and closed the door.
There was no way anyone could hear us. When I turned back, Agelius was still standing.
Tears glistened in his eyes, and his neck was bared in submission.
“Alpha,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry, but I swear I’m not a part of this.”
He looked defeated. In this moment, he was again that scared pack-less wolf who’d arrived on our doorstep a few months ago, desperate and alone.
I scrutinized him, wondering what sort of burden he was carrying.
He was young and he seemed overwhelmed if the worry lines and the slumped shoulders were an indication.
As if he needed his Alpha to take control of the situation.
But I had Irian to think of, and now Isca was threatened as well.
I had to be sure.
I knew what I had to do, though it was not something I enjoyed doing. I made an effort to soften my tone.
“Agelius, my mates’ lives are at stake,” I told him firmly but not unkindly. “I have to be certain which side you’re on.”
Agelius swallowed hard. “I understand, Alpha.” He bowed his head. He knew what I was going to do, and he was making it easier for me by giving his permission. “Compel me.”