Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 902: Family Reunion

"I’m wasting my energy," Violet commented when the third wave of skeletons she had erased simply reappeared moments later.

It was becoming a real pain in the ass.

Violet could easily solve this by letting her darkness consume the entire estate. Unfortunately, there could still be innocent people trapped inside. It was exactly the sort of thing Angus would do. Use civilians as shields and hostages while hiding behind them like a coward.

"Someone has to get in somehow," Griffin grunted, punching a skeleton so hard its skull exploded into fragments.

"Definitely not me. I’m a little occupied here," Alaric shot back while hurling bolts of lightning left and right. Skeleton after skeleton exploded apart beneath the assault only to climb right back out of the ground seconds later.

"Seriously, where the hell are they even coming from?" Alaric complained.

Angus certainly couldn’t have buried an entire army beneath his front lawn.

On the other side of the battlefield, Asher fought with his pistols.

Then suddenly—

"Shit!"

A sharp pain exploded through his ankle.

He looked down to find one of the damn skeletons latched onto his leg, its rotten teeth digging into his flesh while attempting to chew through muscle.

Asher immediately shot it through the skull and the bullet blasted half its head apart. Still, the creature refused to let go.

"Persistent little bastard," he hissed.

Then the skeleton suddenly vanished.

Asher looked up. Violet stood there looking unbearably pleased with herself.

"I believe a thank you is in order."

Oh, is that so?

Unfortunately for her, a skeleton chose that exact moment to rush from behind. Asher fired without hesitation. The bullet struck the creature directly in the forehead before it could reach her.

The skeleton collapsed into pieces and Asher lowered the gun.

"I believe we’re equal now, baby girl."

Violet’s brows lifted.

Fine. Challenge accepted.

She snapped her fingers. Every skeleton within a five-foot radius of Asher was consumed by her darkness.

Violet smirked.

"I also accept alternative forms of payment."

The meaning was not subtle. Asher’s grin widened instantly. Before he could reply—

"Could you two stop flirting for five fucking seconds before I get chewed apart by undead skeletons?" Griffin shouted furiously.

"Ow!" He immediately stomped on one that had bitten his boot.

"Do something!"

He pointed accusingly at both of them.

Then the air rippled, and space distorted.

Micah materialized directly in the middle of the battlefield, sword in hand.

An actual sword.

He waved the blade, skeletons collapsing wherever he moved.

For a brief moment everyone simply stared.

"Catch." Micah tossed the weapon toward Asher.

Asher caught it effortlessly and without missing a beat, launched himself back into combat.

The blade sliced through necks and skulls alike, sending skeleton heads flying in every direction. The headless creatures stumbled around blindly.

Griffin immediately took advantage of the confusion and smashed each one apart.

Granted, they started reforming seconds later. Still, it felt therapeutic.

Then Micah vanished.

The next thing they heard came from inside the mansion were screams. Several of them. The noise lasted minutes before

Micah reappeared.

This time, he stood directly beside Enya.

For the first time, the little girl looked genuinely surprised. That was when she realized her barrier was gone. Micah had killed the witches shielding her.

At once she spun around to run. Unfortunately she made it exactly one step.

Micah grabbed her by the ear.

"Oww! Oww!" Enya yelped. "That hurts!"

Micah remained entirely unmoved.

"Do you know," he asked conversationally, "there’s a very special place where I come from for naughty children?"

The darkness in his eyes deepened.

"Though I’m sure you already know that, demon spawn."

Enya froze as real fear appeared on her face. Her eyes widened, almost as though she knew exactly which place he meant.

Oh yes. Micah’s expression seemed to say. You absolutely know. A pleased, wicked gleam flashed across his face.

Enya immediately panicked.

"Daddy!"

She turned desperately toward the mansion, hoping Angus would appear.

But nobody came.

Micah grabbed her shoulder and the both of them vanished.

The moment Enya disappeared, every skeleton collapsed where they stood into piles of bones.

With a casual wave of her hand, Violet released her darkness and the remains vanished completely.

Finally, the battlefield fell silent.

"Damn," Alaric breathed heavily.

The fight had been stressful as hell.

His clothes were torn and his arms carried scratches. Bite marks covered several places on his body.

He glanced down. "Hopefully those skeletons don’t carry the zombie virus."

Then he grinned proudly.

"Though if they do, my mate can just cure me."

Violet rolled her eyes. But inwardly, she swelled with pride.

Then Asher decided to contribute.

"Hopefully wherever Micah took her," he said, "there isn’t a return ticket. Children are terrifying."

Violet slowly turned toward him.

The realization hit Asher instantly, the

look on his face was priceless.

He immediately scrambled into damage control.

"I mean terrifyingly adorable." He added quickly, "And I’m sure ours won’t be summoning skeletons in the living room."

Violet simply sighed.

Men.

Across from her, Griffin and Alaric immediately burst into laughter. The idiot had dug his own grave and jumped into it willingly.

Violet waved them off. "Let’s just get this over with."

Together, they went into the house.

It was obvious Angus had built the place in the image of a traditional packhouse. The interior was enormous, with high ceilings, broad hallways and enough rooms to house dozens of people comfortably. It was like the headquarters of a small kingdom.

Unfortunately, they were not alone.

With every few turns they made, another enemy appeared. Sometimes it was one or two witches waiting around a corner for them. Other times it was wolves hidden behind the doorways or crouched inside rooms waiting to ambush them. Occasionally it was both. The attacks came one after another, desperate attempts to end them.

Her mates knew the attacks were coming and handled everything before the threats could even reach her. Alaric blasted enemies apart with lightning, his kill count easily the highest out of all of them thanks to the destructive power of his ability. Griffin bulldozed through anyone foolish enough to stand in his path.

Asher used his ability to pry Angus’s location from the mind of one of the witches. After that, he stayed close to Violet, shielding her from danger while directing her through the maze-like estate.

Violet felt positively spoiled. Her mates were handling everything while she simply walked behind them like royalty.

Finally, they reached a pair of enormous double doors at the end of a corridor. The doors towered over them, and without hesitation, Griffin shoved the doors open.

The chamber beyond was vast.

Their footsteps echoed as they entered what could only be described as a great hall. Massive pillars stretched toward the ceiling. At the far end of the room sat a throne unlike anything Violet had ever seen.

It was made entirely of skulls. Human skulls. Wolf skulls. Perhaps even witches.

Seated comfortably upon it was Angus Richmond himself.

"Welcome," he greeted casually as though they were visiting for diplomatic talks rather than to kill him.

Violet took her time studying him.

For someone of his age, he looked remarkably young and handsome. One of the few advantages werewolves possessed was their slower aging. No wonder her mother had fallen for him once upon a time.

Then Violet made the unfortunate mistake of noticing something else. The resemblance. She had his nose —and unfortunately, his lips.

Violet nearly gagged.

Ew.

Hopefully none of her mates noticed.

Angus rose from his throne and descended the short dais. His movements were unhurried, almost relaxed like this was nothing. He stopped several feet away from them, the distance between both sides neither friendly nor hostile.

"We finally meet, daughter."

"Yeah," Violet replied sarcastically. "Doesn’t suck at all that this will be the final time I’ll be seeing your miserable face."

Instead of getting angry, Angus chuckled as though he were listening to a child throw a tantrum.

"Tell me something, Violet," he said. "Why exactly do you hate me so much?"

His gaze remained fixed on her.

"What exactly have I done in your eyes that makes you think I deserve death?"

The question hung in the room.

Violet simply stared at him. Was he serious?

The audacity of this man truly knew no bounds.

Before she could answer, a familiar voice suddenly interrupted.

"Well," Micah said as he materialized beside them out of nowhere, "since this appears to be a family reunion, why don’t I go first?"

A dangerous smile spread across his face as he cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, trust me. I have a list."

He vanished once more.

Angus was startled when the space distorted behind him and Micah reappeared gripping a long metal pole.

It wasn’t just any pole but a street sign with the words STOP still attached to the top.

They had no idea where he found it. Nor did they have time to ask because Micah swung it.