KILLIAN’S POV
I didn’t even know how the car didn’t break apart from how hard I was stepping on the gas. My fingers were clenched around the steering wheel, stiff, bloodless. Every time I blinked, I saw Liana’s face again, that look in her eyes when she told me what Cynthia did to her.
I didn’t care about bumps, or the fact that I was probably going to flip the car if I wasn’t careful. I didn’t care about anything. I was just filled with nothing but rage.
When I got to the old cottage, it was too easy. The door wasn’t even locked properly. I barged in and there she was, Cynthia, sprawled on the bed like she was on a damn holiday, holding her phone like she didn’t have a single care in the world.
“K–Killian?” she stuttered, standing up so fast the phone slipped from her fingers and landed with a thud. Killian… h–how did you find me? Who told you where I was? What are you doing?”
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I didn’t answer. My face was locked in fury. I didn’t blink, didn’t breathe. In a flash, I crossed the room and yanked her by the wrist so hard she screamed.
“Killian, you’re hurting me!” she yelled, trying to wriggle free. “I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant!”
I didn’t care. Not even a little. She could be carrying triplets and it still wouldn’t change a damn thing. After what she’d done to Liana, she deserved every second of this.
“Killian! Killian, stop! You’re hurting me!” she kept screaming while I dragged her out of the cottage, not stopping for a second. I shoved her into the car like she weighed nothing.
“Where are you taking me?! What are you doing?!” she yelled, crawling out of the car.
Without saying a word, I slapped her across the face. Hard. Her scream filled the air. I tied her hands, her legs, shoved her down, locked the door from my side, and jumped into the driver’s seat.
She kept screaming. She was crying. She was begging. I didn’t respond. Not a single word. I drove like a man possessed, fast, reckless, brutal. Every pothole sent her head banging into the door, into the window, into the seat. Her sobs got louder, but I didn’t care.
In less than ten minutes, we were at the warehouse. I slammed the brakes, got out, opened the door, and dragged her out, not caring when she scraped her knee or twisted her ankle. Her begging turned into wailing.
“Killian! Please!”
I didn’t speak. I opened the warehouse door and pushed her in.
The second she saw what was inside, her whole body stiffened. Her mouth dropped open. Her eyes locked on the bloodied, half–conscious bodies of the three men she had once plotted with.
“Oh my God…” she whispered, trembling. “Killian, please. Please have mercy. I don’t know those men! I swear I don’t know them!”
“Do the same for her,” I said to Logan and Steve, who were already soaked in sweat and blood.
Cynthia screamed. “No! No, Killian, please! alpha… alpha, I’m begging you. I’m pregnant!”
One of the barely–conscious men lifted his head and croaked, “S–she lost the p–pregnancy. K–killed the baby h-
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herself.”
“No! No, they’re lying! They’re lying!” Cynthia shrieked, shaking her head violently, but it was too late. I already turned away.
I sat down, crossed my legs, and folded my arms.
“Tie her,” I said simply.
She struggled. She begged. She cried. But she was no match for Logan and Steve, who bound her hands and feet to the metal post. Cynthia twisted and kicked and screamed, but her strength was nothing. And before a whip even touched her, she passed out.
“Whip her into consciousness. She’s going to watch,” I said coldly.
Steve nodded and struck.
The scream that tore out of her throat was worse than any sound they’d heard that night.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “You’re not getting yours yet. That part’s for later. Liana deserves the honor.”
Cynthia cried. Cried until her face was soaked, until her voice cracked. She shook as if she was freezing, her eyes glued to the sight of Steve ripping through the skin of one of the men with a fresh whip, while Logan pressed a hot metal rod against the other’s thigh, and the stench of burnt flesh filled the place.
She screamed every time they screamed. She looked away, and Logan whipped her.
“Look!” he growled.
Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. They all blurred. Blood poured. Bones cracked. One of the men threw up from the pain. Another begged to die. Cynthia passed out three more times, but each time she did, they brought her back with a whip on her back.
Eventually, I got up. I was tired of watching and walked to Logan and Steve, patting their backs as I approached.
“Pause for now, I told them, and they nodded, both of them panting, blood splattered on their shirts, sweat dripping down their necks. They looked just as exhausted as I felt.
I didn’t walk off immediately. I stayed a moment, catching my breath. Steve wiped his brow and muttered, “This shit’s getting messier by the hour.”
Logan nodded beside him. “You sure you’ve got a plan here?”
“I do,” I said. “Just not one I can share yet. But I will. Soon.”
I stepped out to make the call I needed to. I dialed the one person who could help secure this place, my head warrior and the Chief of Police for the region, the highest–ranking officer in the town’s law enforcement and the enforcer of my pack’s law.
“Alpha,” he answered immediately.
“I’m sending you an address. I need ten of your best men there as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Exactly twenty minutes later, a black van pulled up. Ten armed, uniformed enforcers stepped out, each one wearing the crest of our pack. They lined up and bowed.
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“Alpha.”
“Surround this place,” I ordered. “Guard it with your lives. No one dies. If anything happens to them, all of you will answer to me.”
“Yes, Alpha!” they chorused.
As I turned back around, Logan and Steve stepped out after me. Logan was still wiping his hands on his jeans.
“You gonna tell us what the hell all this is really about?” Logan asked. “We’ve had your back through everything, you owe us at least a damn explanation.”
“I will,” I said with a nod. “I promise, but not now.”
Logan gave me a tired smirk and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t keep us waiting too long, man.”
“I won’t,” I said, returning the gesture, squeezing his shoulder before letting go. “Go on. Rest. You both did good today.”
With a final nod between us, they turned and walked off together.
I turned once more to the warehouse before walking away.
My Liana was waiting for me. As for her father, he has some serious explaining to do.
