KNOX
“Who did this to her?” Doctor Cameron, the pack house’s main doctor, exclaimed as soon as I stepped into his office.
He pushed down the glasses to the bridge of his nose, taking in Oleander’s bruised body.
I laid her on the examination table, my hands clenched by my side.
“Is she going to live?” I murmured.
That was all I needed to know.
The assurance I needed to keep myself from running back into the damned room I left Dante, slamming my fist into his face.
Then use the horsewhip he’d used on her to strangle him.
My Alpha or not, he was a fucking asshole.
The sound of Oleander’s tortured cry as he fucked her still echoed in my ears, haunting me.
I didn’t eavesdrop.
Unfortunately, my room was two rooms away from his.
“She will,” he said, turning Oleander over.
The skin on her back was broken, red, and bloody.
I imagined the number of scars this would leave on her once-perfect body, and once again, rage surged through me.
“Is she Jonathan’s daughter?” Cameron asked in silence.
I watched as he cleaned Oleander’s wound.
Giving a firm nod to his answer, he sighed deeply.
“She’s human.”
It was obvious.
A weak, defenseless human.
Unlike her father and brothers, who were werewolves.
She had turned out to be human.
Even though I couldn’t understand how that worked, I wanted to believe she had gotten her human side from her mother, just as Tessa and I got our genes from our mother.
“This is terrible,” Doctor Cameron shook his head.
He was human himself.
I didn’t mention this before.
Some humans coexisted with supernatural beings.
In this pack house, there were many of them, but they’d been made to swear an oath of silence.
Anyone found breaking it would face death punishment.
As far as I was concerned, no one had been able to do that.
“Even if he’s going to punish her for her father’s sin, should he brutalize her in this manner like some damned animal?” He wrinkled his nose, eyes travelling down the ridiculous dress on her body.
He looked at me briefly, eyes narrowed.
“Did he sleep with…” he trailed off, looking back at Oleander in almost lifeless form.
My stomach churned.
Before I could answer, the door flew open.
I turned to it, and Dante stood there, looking far better than Oleander.
If anyone were to judge by his appearance, no one would even assume something had happened.
He left the door, moving closer.
His eyes flicked to Oleander, then to Doctor Cameron, and finally to me.
“She needs some form of contraception. I can’t let some whore and daughter of my enemy carry my pup.”
My teeth gritted, and I forced back the rude retort, shoving it down my throat.
“I’ll do that, Alpha,” Doctor Cameron said.
“But I need to make sure it’s her wish. I won’t inject my patient…”
“Who gives the order here?” Dante’s gaze hardened. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“You do.” Doctor Cameron answered.
Dante cocked one brow in question.
“And you were saying?”
Doctor Cameron sighed softly.
Then he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Alpha, but it’s against her human rights—”
“Fuck her right,” Dante growled, eyes flashing.
Doctor Cameron winced, gaze averted.
“I give the fucking orders here. When I say inject her with those damn drugs to keep her from getting pregnant, do it without asking me questions!” He snarled.
“I’ll do it,” he stammered.
“Good,” Dante grunted.
He looked back at me.
“Come with me.”
He strode out of the room, leaving me with Cameron once again.
“Shit.” Cameron groaned, kicking the leg of his table.
“I need to examine her more. I don’t think she has just these bruises alone. I can feel some broken ribs. How the fuck do I start injecting her just for his fucking selfishness?!”
“She needs to be informed!”
“Don’t inform her,” I murmured.
Doctor Cameron looked at me, frowning.
“Even you? I thought you were levelheaded.”
“Just do it. It’s for her good anyway.” I couldn’t even imagine her carrying Dante’s pup.
It would complicate matters.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he ripped the pup limb from limb.
Yes, he was crazy.
“Fuck!” He grunted.
I turned to the door.
Before I left the room, I said.
“Any new developments on her health, inform me as soon as possible.”
“I’ll,” he muttered.
I walked down the hallway, towards Dante’s room, where I believed he’d be.
Before I got there, I stopped by a door and opened it as I heard yelling.
The door opened to a bright room.
It was the indoor training room, mainly for the newbie wolves, as it had all the equipment needed to prevent anyone from hurting anyone during their shifts.
The heavy crash of bodies hitting the floor snapped my attention back.
I glanced over to where the punching bags hung from chains bolted into the ceiling beams.
Three delta wolves were going at it, fists flying, sweat and adrenaline thick in the air.
“Come at me, you weak ass scrawny shit!”
I turned to my right as I heard the voice.
A girl taunting a boy.
Correction—Celina provoking a boy.
He was part of the newly recruited wolves whose pack had been wiped out in the recent insurgency.
The government against supernatural beings.
“You shithead, thinking you’re all better than everyone else here,” she snarled, grabbing a knife from the long weapon rack mounted on the wall.
“Leave me alone,” the boy muttered.
Celina chuckled darkly.
“Ask around. I’m not one to leave anyone alone, especially when they catch my eye. Now pick up a damn weapon and come at me with everything you’ve got.”
The boy ignored her and kept walking toward the exit.
Celina, being Celina, didn’t relent.
“Fine, then I’ll attack. Sorry, but not sorry!”
And she did.
Her knife slashed toward his neck, clean and sharp, aiming for a killing strike.
But the boy moved fast—too fast.
He caught her wrists, disarmed her effortlessly, and slammed her into the floor.
“I told you to leave me alone!” He snarled, baring his teeth.
Silence fell across the room.
Everyone was suddenly interested in what was happening.
Celina’s eyes widened for a heartbeat, then she burst into loud, unrestrained laughter.
Everyone else followed.
“Welcome to Black River pack.” She said.
But the boy didn’t think it was funny.
“You think this is a joke? You tried to fucking kill me—so I’ll give you something to laugh about.”
Half-shifted, he wrapped his hands around her throat, choking her hard.
He had the advantage in that position.
I moved instantly, yanking him off her.
He stumbled backward and landed hard on his butt.
Celina coughed, clutching her neck as she glared at him.
“Dude!” she spat.
“It was a preparedness test! And you try to kill me? You really asked for it.”
“Enough,” I said, looking at both of them.
I held Celina, stopping her from walking towards him.
Even though he showed good skill, Celina would destroy him in a real fight.
She was wolfless, but she was strong.
“It’s fine, Celina,” I told her as she struggled in my grip.
“He didn’t know how things work here. He does now. He’ll adapt.”
“He’d better, because next time I won’t hesitate to kill him,” she snapped.
I let her go, and Celina stormed out of the training room.
“I’m sorry,” Randall mumbled.
“It’s okay,” I assured him.
He genuinely didn’t know.
Celina tested every newcomer, and this was the first time someone reacted badly.
Most either panicked, cried, or accepted defeat.
Here, everyone needed to be ready to survive.
That was pack mentality.