Cam glared at him, anger building once more.
“I mean, I’m sure Gareth has something going for him, but a beta?” His patronising chuckle had Cam gnashing his teeth, and the mere mention of Gareth’s name made him snarl. Newell’s grin widened. “How can you claim fair treatment when six members of your pack have such an in with their alpha. The rest are going to hate that you chose him.”
Another snarl escaped, Cam’s wolf desperate to get out.
“And it’ll spread throughout your pack.” Newell tapped his claws on the table, punctuating his words. “One. By. One.”
“You’re wrong,” Cam ground out, but not quite believing it. As much as he hated to admit it, he could see it playing out that way. If Newell had convinced Davies that Cam was biased, then his bonding with Gareth would only fuel that belief.
“I don’t think so. Davies had a lot of anger about things changing so radically. I just channelled it in another direction. He and his friends were happy to have someone else to blame, someone to vent their frustration on. I play the poor, repentant alpha very well—it’s no fun taking your anger out on someone who’s so very sorry about everything that happened. But you, with your squeaky-clean alpha image—which naturally I told them was a lie—you’re perfect.”
Cam gaped at him. He’d badly underestimated the lengths Newell would go to. “Is that why you told them I’d already killed one alpha?”
Newell shrugged. “I merely reminded them how our two packs had come to be in the first place. I wanted to make sure they were left with no doubt as to what a hypocrite you are.”
“We were all responsible for killing our alpha. All four of us.” The memory was one he tried hard not to revisit often: the story of how their packs ended up being split wasn’t a happy one. “And as awful as it was, it was necessary for the safety of the rest of the pack. Even you can’t deny that.”
Newell made a non-committal sound. “Yours was the killing blow, so essentially I told the truth.” He sat back down in his chair, examining his claws as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “That freaked them out a little—knowing what you’re capable of. It wouldn’t surprise me if they took matters into their own hands.”
Narrowing his eyes, Cam leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“Well, after you present Gareth to the pack at large—because I’m assuming they don’t know yet—tempers will be running high. Feelings of betrayal and fear are a volatile combination. With a word here and there, who knows what ideas they might come up with? You might want to keep an eye on him.”
The thinly veiled threat was like lighting touch paper.
With an ear-splitting roar, Cam let his head fall back as the half-shift took over. The sound of cracking bone filled the room as his jaw elongated, huge fangs replacing his human teeth. His gaze dropped to Newell’s throat with a bone-deep hunger.
Never in all his years as alpha had he lost control and shifted, but the need to protect his mate overrode everything else.
With great effort, Cam ground out, “Watch your fucking mouth.” He glanced at the door, half-expecting Fleck and his guards to burst in any second, but it remained locked.
Newell stared back at him, the tremor in his hands the only sign he was affected. “I know you. You won’t stop them from coming to see me. It goes against every stupid and pathetic thing you stand for—even though you know I’ll be turning them against you every chance I get.”
Cam growled in warning, but Newell blundered on.
“I’ll plant little seeds, nurture the ideas without them even realising. They’re so easy to manipulate at that age, so gullible. Imagine the things I could suggest for them to do. Oh, you can keep an eye on Davies, but who knows who else he’s spoken to by now? Who else in your pack feels the same? You can’t watch all of them all the time. And who can you trust to tell the truth?”
Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, Cam knew Newell was goading him on purpose, but the more Newell spoke, the quieter that voice became as the instinct to protect his mate and his pack took over.
Newell swallowed, the bob of his throat catching and holding Cam’s attention, and Cam licked over the tips of his fangs, poised.
“From what I hear,” Newell’s voice turned deceptively soft. “The pain you feel if your bonded mate gets killed is—”
Cam launched himself over the table.
Grabbing Newell around the throat, claws sinking in, Cam toppled them backwards onto the floor. The chair skittered out from beneath them, hitting the wall with a crash, and Cam landed on top of Newell, forcing the breath out of him and making him gasp for air even as he shifted to match Cam.
Cam tightened his grip, blood trickling down Newell’s neck from the puncture marks, and Newell snarled up at him, squirming futilely in Cam’s hold. Alpha power flowed through Cam in a welcome burst of energy, and coupled with his basic instinct to protect his mate, he felt stronger than he ever had.
Leaning down, he set his fangs against the base of Newell’s throat, pressing down but not breaking the skin, and Newell stilled underneath him. Raising his head again, he hissed, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip your throat out.”
Newell met his gaze. Cam swore he saw a flicker of fear in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly, replaced with his usual mocking sneer.
“You haven’t got the balls to kill me, and we both know it.”
Cam’s growl reverberated around the room, claws sinking in further.
Newell winced but kept speaking. “You call me a shit alpha, but look at you,” he spat. “Too concerned with toeing the line to be the strong alpha that a pack really needs—one who can protect his mate at the very least. But you couldn’t save Mia and you won’t save Gareth eith—
A red haze filled Cam’s vision as his wolf took over. Pain lanced through him as his body realigned itself to take wolf form. The second he transformed, he darted forward, sinking his teeth into Newell’s throat and biting down with such ferocity Newell’s scream died on his lips.
His body went slack, head lolling to the side.
Blood filled Cam’s mouth. Disgusted, he spat it out and backed away, gaze focused on the mangled flesh where Newell’s neck used to be. Tipping his head back, Cam howled out his victory as an intense satisfaction filled him, radiating outwards until his whole body relaxed enough to shift back.
Slumping against the far wall, the surface cool against his bare skin where his clothes hung in tatters, Cam slowly came back to himself.
The door burst open and four guards rushed in, weapons raised and trained on Cam. “Don't move.”
Cam stared at the guns all pointing at him.
What have I done?
Blood pooled on the floor, the smell clinging to the air, and Cam stared at Newell’s lifeless body.
The guards looked from Cam to Newell and back again. They kept their guns trained at Cam’s head and waited. For Fleck no doubt.
Cam closed his eyes for a moment, hoping it was all a bad dream, but no.
I gave him exactly what he wanted.
Even knowing that Newell had used Cam’s newly bonded status against him, goaded him into attacking, the guilt didn’t come. Should he feel stupid for letting Newell take the easy way out? Maybe. The prospect of another fifteen years in this place was obviously too much for Newell to take—and he deserved to suffer for all he’d done—but Cam couldn’t bring himself to feel anything other than relieved.
Newell would never stop, never tire of trying to make everyone’s life a misery. And no matter how vague his threats to Gareth had been—and with a clear head, Cam doubted Newell could actually coax any of Cam’s pack to commit murder—he’d still thought about it, would still try to carry it out.
The world was better off without him.
Footsteps sounded in the hall outside, and the guards stood that little bit straighter. Cam turned towards the door as Fleck walked in, two more guards in tow.
He took one look at Newell
’s ravaged throat and paled considerably. Facing Cam, he shook his head. “Alpha Harley, it would appear you have some explaining to do.” Before Cam could answer in his defence, Fleck added. “Lock him up.”
Fuck.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Two o’clock.
They should have been back by now, or at least on their way home.
Gareth stared at his phone on the coffee table, picked it up, then put it back down again. Cam would have texted him if he was out of the prison, right? Alec wasn’t one not to pass on a message.
So that had to mean he was still inside. What could they possibly have to talk about for this length of time? The worry that had steadily built over the last couple of hours threatened to overwhelm him, and Gareth couldn’t sit there any longer without doing something.
He’d held off until now, not wanting to come across as the needy bond mate, but by this point, he didn’t give a fuck. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Deep down he’d known something was off for the past couple of hours, but he’d ignored it. Cam would have called. Wouldn’t he? Or at least Alec.
His hand flew to his chest again before he realised what he was doing. Rubbing it did nothing to ease the ache Cam’s absence left. It just served to make him feel helpless.
“Fuck it.”
Snatching the phone off the table, he scrolled through to Cam’s number and hit the call button.
Predictably it went straight to voicemail.
Shit.
Next he tried Alec, his heart racing wildly as it started to ring out.
Fortunately, Alec answered after the third ring, but his strained voice did nothing to calm Gareth down. “Hey.”
Gareth frowned. “Everything all right? Thought you’d have been back by now.”
Silence.
“Alec?”
The sound of a car door opening and shutting told him Alec had just got inside his car. That didn’t bode well if he needed privacy. “There’s been a complication.” Before Gareth could ask what, Alec added, “Newell’s dead.”
Gareth already knew the answer even as he voiced the question. “How?”
“Cam.”
“Is he—?”
“He’s fine.”
“Thank fuck.”
Alec sighed, and Gareth pictured him rubbing a hand over his face. “But as you can imagine, there’s all sorts of shit to sort out at the prison.”
Gareth could well imagine. Newell was one of their high-profile prisoners. It wasn’t often an alpha ended up in there.
Alec’s next words stopped him cold.
“They had to inform the alpha council.”
“Bollocks.”
“Indeed.”
They did not need another visit from them anytime soon.
Another sigh from Alec, and Gareth gripped the phone tight, waiting. “I’ve only spoken to Cam briefly. They only let me talk to him for a couple of seconds.”
“Wait, where is he?”
“They’re holding him until members of the council arrive.”
Gareth felt the blood drain from his face. “They’ve locked him up? In the fucking prison?” The thought of Cam in that place made it hard to catch his breath.
“Gareth.” Alec’s tone managed to be commanding even over the phone, and Gareth immediately paid attention. “They’ve got him in one of the visitor rooms, not a cell.”
“But they’ve still got him.” Cell, visiting room, what did it matter? He wasn't free to leave and that was the main thing.
“Yes, but the guards out here don’t seem overly concerned. Well, they’re not pointing their guns at us yet, anyway.”
Gareth’s mouth went dry. He knew the prison would be heavily guarded, but hearing Alec talk about it so casually made his stomach roil. “That’s something,” he managed to get out.
“It is. Look, Gareth, I won’t tell you not to worry because it’s fucking pointless, but let’s hear what the council have to say when they get here. I honestly don’t think Newell’s death will be all that big of a deal as far as the prison’s concerned. You know how they feel about the shifters who end up here—he’s just one less danger they have to worry about.”
“I suppose.” Gareth could accept that. The death of a dangerous shifter wasn’t going to be at the top of their list of things to worry about. But that wasn’t Gareth’s main concern now. “What about the alpha council? Their involvement can’t be a good thing?”
“It’s not the best outcome, I won’t lie to you.”
Gareth almost wished he would.
“But the prison only informed them because it was the council who sent him there in the first place. Apparently it’s protocol.”
“Is that a good thing? Or….” It seemed like Alec was saying as much, but Gareth didn’t quite get why.
“We’ll have to wait and see.”
*****
CAM SIGHED, suddenly feeling drained. A glance at the clock told him he’d only been in the room for a little over forty-five minutes, but it felt like so much longer.
He hadn’t seen a soul since they’d marched him back through the prison and locked him in the same room he'd visited Wes in. Well, they’d let him see Alec for all of ten seconds and then locked the door and left him to it.
Dried blood clung to his hands, probably his face too, but there was no mirror. At least they’d given him something to wear, even if they refused to let him clean up anywhere.
The red light on the cameras blinked; he knew they were watching him, but no one had been back to tell him what was going to happen.
Probably reviewing the security footage.
They’d taken his phone off him. He couldn’t call Gareth to let them know what was happening. Alec would have filled him in by now, but it wasn’t the same as Cam talking to him, hearing his voice.
The lock on the door scraped back and Cam sat upright, startled. In hindsight, he should’ve expected to see who walked through the door, but he hadn’t.
“Alpha Harley.” Karin Wallace walked into the room, accompanied by Fleck and his constant team of guards. “I didn’t expect to see you quite so soon or under such dire circumstances.”
Cam wanted to bang his head on the table in frustration. Of course they’d have to call the fucking council. Of course. “Alpha Wallace.” He frowned, how did she get there so quickly?
As if reading his mind, she raised an eyebrow. “No, I didn’t break the land-speed record getting here. We were in the area. Which is most fortunate for you.”
Fortunate? Cam glanced at Fleck, who looked like he’d eaten something disagreeable.
She smiled and took the seat opposite Cam. “I’ve seen the footage of what happened. But I’d still like to hear it from you, if you don't mind.”
So Cam told her, in as much detail as he could remember, while she sat and listened to him as though hearing it all for the first time.
When he'd finished, she tapped her fingers on the table. “In essence, you attacked Newell because he threatened your newly bonded mate. Am I correct?”
Cam nodded. “Yes.”
Turning to Fleck, her manner took on an icy edge. “Tell me, Governor Fleck, what possessed you to allow a newly bonded alpha to have an unsupervised visit to an inmate with a death-wish?”
He startled and took a small step backwards. “I-I didn’t know he was bonded.”
“Really?”
Fleck pointed an accusatory finger in Cam’s direction. “He never disclosed that he was newly mated.”
“He’s not required to by law, but I’ve watched the video feed. Newell noticed Alpha Harley was bonded in plenty of time for you to stop things from escalating.” She fixed him with a steely glare and he visibly shrank backwards. “I know you were monitoring that meeting. Don't tell me you couldn’t see where things were heading.”
Fleck opened his mouth but no words came out.
“As far as I’m concerned, Alpha Harley exercised his right to protect his mate. As such, you will release
him immediately, and this matter will be closed.”
Cam held his breath, but Fleck nodded quickly. “Of course, Alpha Wallace.”
She wasn't finished though. “I’ll be bringing this up at our next meeting, however. I find it unacceptable that you show so little regard for your inmates’ welfare. If I wanted Newell dead, I would have killed him myself.”
Fleck had a pinched look about him, but he didn’t comment further.
She stood and motioned for Cam to do the same. To Fleck, she said, “You’ll be hearing from me in the next few days, about this and the collection of Newell’s body.”
With a nod, Fleck moved to let her past. Cam hurried after her, not wanting to stay in that room one second longer.
“Thank you,” he said as soon as they were out in the corridor, not caring about their guard escort. “I tried to tell them that he threatened Gareth, but they weren’t interested.”
She glanced over at him as they walked. “Yes, I think some changes are in order here, but…” She fixed him with that same look she’d given Fleck and Cam flinched. “You should have known better than to come here so soon after bonding. What were you thinking?”
Cam sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “I wasn’t. Not clearly anyway.”
“No, I imagine you weren’t.” To his surprise, she smirked before schooling her expression. “Stephen Newell deserved to rot in that prison for the next fifteen years. I’m not happy about what’s happened, but I can't say that he didn’t deserve this either. Maybe it’s poetic justice. But…” She put her hand on Cam’s arm, and he felt the full weight of that one word. “After your bond has settled, I expect you to make better choices.”
Cam tried not to let his relief be too obvious. “Yes, alpha.”
“Curtis and I would like to see you in the morning and attend the pack meeting that I assume you’ll be having.” She raised her eyebrows.
“In the afternoon.”
“Good. I’d like to see for myself how your pack is coming along.”
Bitten By the Alpha Page 21
