Forty Nine

Kade sat up like he had just been electrocuted, heart hammering in his chest loudly before the piercing pain in his head made him groan. It felt like someone was pushing an ice pick into his skull and piercing his brain over and over, every synapse firing in protest.

"Oh goddess, what did you do to me?" He growled.

"Brought you back to life." Dagmar replied sharply, moving to sit in her usual seat. "That pain in your head is your body repairing itself after having a bullet shot through it at point blank range."

Kade groaned, elbows resting on his thighs and hands pushed into his thick dark hair. He could feel the dried blood still clinging to his scalp and roots. It took a moment before it all came back to him. He had been ambushed and shot in the head. He shouldn't be alive but Dagmar had found him and apparently decided to resurrect him.

"Why am I not dead?" He finally looked at the old witch with her dark grey hair and mean eyes.

"Because for whatever reason the gods have spoken and it's not your time to leave this world." Dagmar replied, finding her half empty packet and cigarette and lighting one. "And when the gods speak, I listen. Now, you need to replenish yourself. Food, water, rest. You've been dead for several days."

Kade nodded softly, avoiding moving his throbbing head too much even if the headache was already subsiding. He was about to ask if Dagmar knew who had shot him but he didn't have to. The memory came flooding back swiftly making the beta growl.

Ethan.

"I need to warn the pack." He snarled, looking around for his belongings.

He found his shirt and phone on the back of the couch he was on but jacket was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing his phone, he tried Daniel's number several times but each time there was no answer.

"Let me guess, his majesty isn't answering?" Dagmar mocked. "It's already begun. If you had woken up sooner, then you could have called before that snake had gotten to him."

Kade cursed, chucking his phone on the table before tugging at his hair. This wasn't just about Daniel. The whole pack was in danger. He didn't know why Ethan was doing this but he had no doubts that Ethan was behind it all. He knew he was right not to trust the man. Those brown eyes had been cold and lacking any emotion. While werewolves were indeed predators, Ethan was something much more sadistic who enjoyed the chaos he was creating.

"Where's my bike?" The beta finally asked.

"The police have it." Dagmar replied, narrowing her eyes at the cub she had raised. "Kade, don't you dare go anywhere. You're still recovering and this isn't your fight."

"Then why bring me back to life if I'm not meant to help my pack?"

"Because your mate needs you!" Dagmar hissed. "You should be focusing on finding her!"

"Sorry Dagmar but I've made up my mind." Kade growled. "I need to help the pack."

He ignored the witch's cursing and telling. She had the power to stop him if she wanted but never used it on him. There were just some things you didn't do for your family. That didn't stop her from scolding him as he raced out the back door, not bothering to strip the last of his clothing or clean off the symbols Dagmar had painted on his body. The moment his foot hit the ground outside, he shifted. Silver fur and black eyes took over before he fell onto all fours, Legion taking over as his giant paws hit the earth and he took off in a sprint back towards the pack.

---

**Three hours earlier**

Daniel stormed out of the packhouse, eyes searching for the familiar shock of blonde hair and all too pleasant smile. His chat with Alpha Anderson had revealed little but what it had revealed was disturbing. Ethan was not the beta of the Emerald pack, he wasn't even a pack member. The conversation with Alpha Anderson hadn’t lasted long but it was long enough for Daniel to learn that there was an intruder in their midst and it was likely Ethan was behind all of the attacks. It had taken only a few moments for Daniel to get the other Alpha off the phone, promising to explain everything in due course but right now, he needed to find Ethan and detain him.

He headed towards the command center for the patrols and planning was taking place. His blood was boiling. He had welcomed this man into his pack, let him sit in on meetings and sleep in his house. Yet this whole time he had been lying through his teeth. Daniel seethed at the thought of being manipulated in such a way, his eyes narrowing as he spotted Duncan and Joe.

"Alpha," Duncan greeted Daniel, frowning when he saw the Alpha's murderous look. "Everything okay?"

"Where's Ethan?" Daniel growled.

"Uh, he was here about five minutes ago and then mentioned he was going to go back to the site of the first attack." Duncan explained.

"Daniel, what's going on?" Joe asked.

"I'm not sure yet but I need you to run the licence plates of the van that collected the victims." Daniel explained before making a beeline for the boundary.

It was becoming apparent that Ethan had more to do with what was happening than it first seemed and Daniel growled at the thought of Ethan being behind the attacks and Kade's murder. If he was, Daniel was going to destroy the bastard. He would make Ethan beg for mercy like he imagined the victims of the attack had. It didn’t take long to reach the site of the attacks. There were no traces of what happened that night. The rains had washed away any remnants of blood and anything that was considered evidence had been taken away to be analyzed. All that existed now was the canopy of trees with their light green leaves, the wet earth and the wild daffodils that grew in clumps along the forest floor.However, the woods were eerily silent. The birds had fallen silent perhaps in anticipation of what was happening and the light breeze barely stirred the featherlight leaves and blades of grass.

“I wondered how long it would take for you to figure it out.” The familiar male voice broke the silence, echoing through the branches. “Would your enemies still be scared of you if they knew how fucking dumb you are.”

Daniel turned his eyes to the source of the sound, gaze landed on Ethan as he lazed on a felled tree, a smug smirk smeared across his face.

“You were behind all of this?” Daniel growled, feeling Hades just beneath the surface.

“Pretty clever, huh?” Ethan raised an eyebrow before jumping down from his perch, brown work boots landing with a soft thud. “I will admit, I had fun watching you all run around like headless chickens but it was all taking too long. I knew the letter from the Mad Alpha would do just the trick to get you looking in the right direction and it did! Now don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing personal. I just did it because I could.”

“You murdered innocent people.” Daniel glared at the rogue. “You will pay for this.”

“Now, if I was playing fair, you’d probably be right.” Ethan shrugged, his eyes darkening with sadistic glee. “But I don’t play fair and I haven’t got time to explain everything right this second. I figured we would do that when that pretty little mate of yours joins us. Then the real fun will start,”

Daniel snarled at this, launching himself at the blonde male, ready to rip his throat out. Before he could even reach Ethan, he felt something hit his leg, distracting him and putting him off task. It wasn’t hard but it was sharp and enough to make him wince. He growled, looking down, spotting the tranquilizer dart poking out of his thigh.

“Really? You think that’s going to stop me?” Daniel chuckled darkly.

“No.” Ethan shook his head, looking amused. “But the rest will.”

Before Daniel could react he felt five more darts hit him in quick succession. The burning sensation quickly followed by the waves of dizziness told Daniel Ethan had hit him with wolfsbane and something else that would take him down quickly. He growled again, eyes flashing amber as he took a step towards Ethan hoping to grab him and kill him before the wolfbane kicked in. The world tilted and shuddered from the slight movement. He stumbled, vision blurring and spinning as he crashed to his knees.

“Sweet dreams Alpha.” Ethan’s voice cut through the haze just before Daniel saw Ethan’s fist speeding towards his face and everything went dark.