Page 79 of The Red Moon

Dimitri drops to his knees and screams. Not a word. Not Alexey’s name. Just the heavy sound of every emotion he normally holds in. The gun slips from his fingers and clatters near his feet. No one says anything. We stand there in silence, an undeniable helplessness passing through us all. Clément lost most of his pack because of me, and now, I’ve lost a piece of mine. If this is what it means to be an alpha, to watch the people you care about die, then I don’t want it. I would rather let my father turn this world to ash than lead anyone else to their death. He’s won. He always fucking wins.

We wrap Alexey’s body in what we can find and load him into the back of the truck, leaving his uniform top reading Sarkov draped over his chest. And ten minutes later, we’re gone, driving down the vacant road with fields stretching for miles in every direction. Dimitri at the wheel, I insist on keeping the windows down to track her scent, knowing we’re not far off now.

“Nikolai?” Dimitri finally asks, breaking the silence. “What do we do now?”

I draw in a deep breath and glance at the few clouds rolling overhead. The sun continues to lift to its rightful place in the sky, but it won’t stay there forever. There’s no telling if those things will come after Clément’s pack again at dusk. After her. “I don’t know. We need to find Natalia first. She’ll have shifted back by now, and she’s not alone.”

He turns to me, his reddened eyes widening. “The soulless?”

I shake my head, breathing in her scent and the one I locked onto a few miles from the compound. It wasn’t a smell I immediately recognized, not when I haven’t stepped foot in my family’s home for years. Even then, he made it a point to avoid me after Ida’s death. Whether it was guilt for telling my father I turned her or he was afraid of what I might do to his other leg, I’m not sure. All I know is he isn’t chasing Natalia. He’s running with her.

“No …” I say, clenching my jaw. “She’s with another wolf.”

EPILOGUE

VIKTOR

SOMEWHERE NEAR THE RUSSIAN BORDER

He hasn’t said a word.

Instead, my father just sits at the head of the table sucking down artificial air with his gaze fixed on the door like his firstborn son will burst in at any second. No, my big brother will have his hands full cleaning up what’s left of his little pack, if anyone besides him survived, that is. A pity, really. I would’ve loved to see the look on his face when his precious little Natalia was torn to pieces by the captives she tried to help escape.

By now, those things will have retreated from the sunlight and back to the cellar like the fucking cockroaches they are. Why my father insisted on working with these leeches is something I’ve silently questioned since I found out about our new allies. It doesn’t matter, though. He had a hard enough time shifting last night even during the blood moon. One more lunar cycle is probably all the old bastard has left.

Then, we will lead the packs, the sinister voice in my head says, and I nod in agreeance. No more orders from humans. No more fucking soulless. They will all remember the fear that began with my great-grandfather, Viktor Vostik. And now, I will be the one to finish what he started. We will no longer be bound by treaties meant to keep us from our true nature. The world will be our hunting grounds, and we won’t need a full moon like those before us.

Three knocks on the door disrupt the lingering silence, and my father peels his oxygen mask to the side. “Enter,” he says, his voice low and hoarse. The door creaks open, and when the wolf comes into view, an irritated snarl rattles my chest. Of course, it’s her.

“You asked to see me?” she says, her sharp hazel eyes glowing under the florescents. She doesn’t bother glancing in my direction. Maybe because she knows I’m not my brother, and I’d take no issue tearing out her fucking throat where she stands.

Air hisses around his mouth and cheek. “Do you bring news?”

“Yes. Four Duval wolves escaped the compound. Clément, Jade, and two of his pups.”

The alpha surviving the night isn’t surprising. His daughter and two pups, however, is something neither of us expected. What’s worse is my father didn’t ask me to make contact with the den when the transformation wore off. No, for some reason, he went behind my back to the mutt standing at the foot of the table. The same one refusing to look at me now.

“And what of Nikolai?”

I ball my fists, feeling the familiar sting of claws biting into my palms. Of course, that’s his concern. My big brother. The heir apparent. Has he forgotten that I’m next in line and not that fucking traitor? I suppress a scoff and watch the hard lines above my father’s brow deepen.

“Alive,” she says with a nod. “They lost his scent somewhere outside of Samara but I’ve added more experienced trackers to find him.”

I slam my hand to the table, earning their attention and nearly shattering the wooden surface to splinters. “That was not your call to make!”

She glares at me, her face twisting in disgust. “If you killed him like you promised, he wouldn’t have come back with a fucking army.”

I jump to my feet, and the chair tumbles behind me. Violent cracks split the skin of my forearms, leaving black fur on full display. Who in the fuck does she think she is? Talking to me like I’m not about to be the alpha of this godsdamn pack.

My father waves me off before I have a chance to move around the table and answer her challenge. “Viktor, you had your chance. And twice you have failed me.” He draws in a lengthy breath from the mask. “Consider yourself fortunate to still have a seat at this table.”

We wouldn’t be at this fucking table if it wasn’t for him choosing Nikolai as the Vostik heir in the first place. Anger simmers the bile in my stomach. My blood reaches a scalding temperature. I could kill them both. Explode out of my human form with a snap of my fingers while my father will struggle to even bring out his claws. It wouldn’t be difficult. And killing her is something he should’ve done years ago.

Not yet, my wolf says with a demanding huff. And he’s right. We both know if I kill my father without challenging him in front of the other packs, there’s a chance the wolves sworn to follow him would turn against me. I can’t take that risk. Not when I’m this close to ascending.

“Now,” he says, looking to her once more. “The Duval council is expecting you. They believe we wish to show gratitude for alerting us of Clément’s plans. Make sure they understand what happens to anyone that crosses a Vostik.”

Blood drips from my palms as I dig my claws even deeper. She isn’t even a Vostik. And not only is she undermining me, but she’s handling pack business on his behalf. Things I should be taking care of. This has gone too far. “Father, you can’t seriously be thinking of sending this mutt. Let me deal with the Duval council. I am stronger. The next in line for⁠—”

He rips off the mask and leans forward, silencing me when his menacing red eyes meet mine. “You have done enough, Viktor.” He snarls my name and settles back into his seat. “No survivors. We need to send a message. Understand?”

A corner of her mouth tilts up in a smirk. “Yes, father.” She turns for the door and before she reaches the threshold, he speaks again.

“And Ida? Don’t fail me.”

To be concluded in

The Red Reckoning