Savage Urges (The Phoenix Pack, #5)(92)
Ryan held a finger to his mouth, opened the door a little . . . and f*cking disappeared out of the room like smoke. Dante must have sensed Makenna’s automatic instinct to follow, because he raised a hand and shook his head. She was about to tell him to f*ck off, but then he mouthed, “Listen.”
So she listened . . . and realized nobody was talking anymore. Ryan poked his head into the room and signaled for them to exit with a jerk of his chin. Her brows shot up as she spotted two males on the floor, their heads tilted at an unnatural angle. He and Dante dragged them into the room and quietly shut the door.
Well, that was two less immoral f*ckers in the world.
Dante took the lead as they kept close to the wall, using the shadows as cover. She guessed he was following the voices they could hear—unfortunately, they weren’t yet clear enough for anyone to understand the words.
Approaching a T-junction, Dante raised a hand and briefly glanced around the corner. He then raised his thumb and led them around it. Still sticking close to the wall, they silently hurried down the hall. That was when the voices started to become clear.
“Don’t make me ask you again, Dawn,” growled Remy.
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.” Dawn sounded cool and collected, but Makenna knew the feline would be nervous as hell.
“I know they’re here, so lying to me is pointless,” he spat.
“You can’t truly believe that the council left them here, in such an obvious place,” scoffed Dawn.
Reaching the cafeteria, Makenna found the door ajar. Staying within the shadows, the Beta pair moved to the opposite side of the doorframe while she and Ryan peeked through the gap near the hinges of the door. Madisyn and Colton were flanking Dawn while the residents and other staff members were grouped behind them; some looked nervous, others looked ready to kill.
Over twenty of Remy’s wolves were present, including Selene. They had kicked aside most of the tables and were circling Dawn and the others. It was a relief to see that Madisyn hadn’t gotten herself killed. But going by the way she was eying Remy with lethal precision, she sure was thinking about pouncing on him any moment now.
Pacing, Remy sniggered. “The council left them here because it’s an obvious place, thinking I wouldn’t suspect it.” His every movement was jerky and awkward, like a junkie needing a fix. His recently deceased pack mate was right: he’d lost it.
“You had your wolves search the entire building, and they didn’t find them,” Dawn pointed out. “The second search doesn’t seem to have yielded anything either. What does that tell you?”
“That you’re hiding them with the others.” Remy went nose to nose with her. “You think I haven’t noticed that there are no children among this crowd? You think I wouldn’t find that a little f*cking suspicious? You’ve hid them somewhere, and you’ve hid mine with them. Tell me where!” Remy slanted a glance at Selene. With a wicked grin, the female sliced out her claws and pointed them at Colton’s throat. “Tell me, or he dies.”
To his credit, Colton didn’t move a single muscle. He showed no fear at all. Dawn, on the other hand, hitched a breath as her eyes rounded.
Remy snickered, smug at her slight sign of weakness. “I think we understand each other now, don’t we?”
Makenna shot a “We need to do something” look at Ryan. He then exchanged a look and some kind of weird hand signal with Dante and Jaime. They both nodded.
“Colton has nothing to do with this, Remy,” said Dawn. “Leave him out of it.”
“You’ve taken something important from me. I think it’s only fair that I take something important from you. Of course, you can save him if you just give me what I want. So I’ll ask you one more time. Where. Are. They?”
“I’ve told you, they’re not here, and I don’t know where the council took them.”
“I warned you.”
Selene sliced open Colton’s throat. Everyone froze, breaths catching. Unable to process what was happening, Makenna watched as, eyes wide with horror and pain, her friend gurgled and dropped to his knees. Then he slumped to the ground. Time seemed to slow as ice-cold fury slammed into her core and settled heavy in her stomach while heat rushed to her head. Everything inside her screamed and bled, inflating like a balloon that was destined to burst. And that calm she’d clung to . . . it went.
Sensing the storm of emotion in his mate, Ryan made a grab for her. It was too late. She charged into the room just as Madisyn launched herself at Selene. Several things then happened at once.
A hand fisted in Madisyn’s hair from behind, wrenching her away from Selene.
The residents roared and lunged at Remy’s wolves, shifting into their animal forms.
Makenna jumped on Selene’s back when the Head Enforcer tried to stab Madisyn, making Selene hit the ground hard.
Ryan, Dante, and Jaime raced into the room and joined the fight.
Remy made a dive for Dawn, but Ryan swiped his back, raking his claws over the bastard’s skin.
Then everything and everyone pretty much went crazy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Somewhere in the back of Makenna’s mind, she knew she was half feral. Knew she was back in that state where mercy had no place. A state that seemed to intensify every emotion—the raw anger, the terrible grief, the heart-stabbing pain, and the desperate need for vengeance . . . all of that curdled inside her and fuelled her every move.