Chapter 156 HOLD!!!

Chapter 156 HOLD!!!


The clock in the council room was mocking him.

Tick. Tick. Tick.
11:42 AM.  
18 minutes until the world decided if Alex was an Alpha or a ghost.

Ivan was in Alex’s chair. Because of course he was. Feet up. Chewing a toothpick like he was in a western.  
"Comfy," Ivan said, rocking back. "You should try it sometime. Oh wait. You won’t be Alpha after noon."

Alex didn’t answer.  
He was standing at the other end of the table. Barefoot. Jeans. His chest was still open and bleeding.  
He looked like he’d walked through hell and decided to file a complaint.
The wounds would have healed if Ivan and the elders didn't use spells, it was the nature of werewolves and he would have died if he was just some ordinary wolf.

The last 3 hours had been a tour of every elder in Black Fang.  
A very polite, very terrifying tour.

Hoss had been drinking cold tea 
"Alessandro, I don’t…..”
Alex pulled out a chair. Sat. "You chanted in the circle. I heard you. Sounded like a dying goose."  
Hoss choked on his tea.  
"When I find them," Alex continued, "I’m gonna remember who has a nice singing voice. For later."  
He left. Hoss spilled his tea.

Marek was counting guns.  
"Alpha……"  
Alex picked up a gun. Checked it. Put it down. "Cool. 47 of these. That’s enough to shoot everyone in this room twice. Good to know."  
Marek went pale.  
"Also," Alex added, "you suggested ‘to the death.’ Real creative. I’ll put that on your tombstone."

Coren was praying. To the Moon Goddess. Smart man.  
Alex closed the prayer book. 

Coren had stammered just as the other elders had done.  
"No? Okay. Well, when I come back, I’m bringing the Goddess with me. She’s gonna have questions about how you're nothing but a hypocrite. 
Coren started praying faster.

The wolf in his chest wasn’t screaming anymore.  
It was sitting. Legs crossed. Drinking coffee. Waiting.  

This is gonna be fun, it thought.

Ivan stood. "Alright alright. Time to vote. Who’s with me?"

Silence.

Marek stared at the floor.  
Coren stared at the ceiling.  
Hoss stared at his own hands like they’d betrayed him.  
Varro stared at Alex.

No one moved.

Ivan’s toothpick snapped. "What. The hell. I set this whole thing up for you!"

"Yeah," Alex said. First words in 20 minutes. "About that."

12:00 PM.  
The clock chimed.

And Alex smiled.

It wasn’t a nice smile. It was the smile he used before he broke someone’s jaw in a back alley 12 years ago.

"You were wrong," Alex said.

"About what?" Ivan sneered.

"About what I’d choose."  
Alex rolled his shoulders. The cuts on his chest pulled open. Blood ran down. "I choose both. The throne. And my family."  
He looked at Ivan. "And if you think a piece of paper and a stolen baby can stop me, then you really don’t know who you’re dealing with."

Ivan laughed. "Oh please. You don’t have—"

The windows rattled.

It started in Alex’s chest.  
A sound. Low. Like a truck engine turning over.  
Like the mountain deciding it was done being quiet.

The temperature dropped.  
Torches on the wall flickered out.

"Last chance," Alex said. His voice had dropped an octave. "Where are they."

Ivan backed up. "You can’t do this. The Council, the law…."

"I AM THE LAW," Alex roared.

The table exploded.

Literally.  
400 pounds of oak split down the middle like it was paper.  
Splinters shot across the room. One hit Marek in the forehead. He yelped.

Witnesses dove for cover.  
Chairs went flying.  
Kane screamed and hit the floor.

Alex hadn’t fully shifted.  
He was in between.  
7 feet tall. Back hunched. Claws out. Teeth too long for his mouth.  
Eyes full gold.  
Blood running from his chest, his lip, his knuckles.

He looked like a nightmare that had gotten a gym membership.

He walked around the table. Slow.  
Each step left a wet footprint.

"Elder Hoss," Alex said. Cheerful. "You first."

Hoss tried to stand. Fell. "I—I don’t know—"

Alex crouched in front of him.  
"You were chanting. In the circle. Sounded like: ‘Hit him harder, he’s old.’ Was that you?"  
Hoss sobbed.  
Alex’s claw came out.  
Not deep. Just across the forearm.  
"I’m asking again. Where is my wife."

"I DON’T KNOW!" Hoss shrieked.

"Cool. Cool." Alex stood. "We’ll circle back."

Next: Marek.  
Marek was trying to climb out the window.  
Alex grabbed his ankle. Yanked.  
Marek hit the floor hard.

"Hey Marek. Remember when you said ‘to the death’?"  
"Please—"  
Alex picked him up. By the throat.  
"Was that for me? Or for them?"  
He slammed Marek into the wall. Plaster cracked.  
"ANSWER."  
"I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!"

Alex dropped him. "Alright. Fair."

Coren was under the table.  
Alex reached down. Grabbed him by the collar. Pulled him out like a cat.  
"Coren. Prayer buddy. Where are they."  
Coren was muttering to the Moon Goddess.  
"Goddess isn’t taking calls right now," Alex said. "But I am."  
He shook him once. "LOCATION."  
"I SWEAR ON THE MOON—"  
Alex threw him. Coren slid across the floor and into a bookcase.

Varro hadn’t moved.  
He was still sitting. Hands folded.

Alex stopped in front of him.  
The wolf wanted to tear his throat out.  
The man remembered Varro teaching him to hunt.

"Varro," Alex said. Quiet.

Varro opened his eyes. "I’m sorry, boy."

"Don’t call me boy."  
A pause.  
"Where are they."

"I don’t know," Varro whispered. "I swear it. Ivan kept it from all of us."

Alex stared at him.  
For 3 seconds.  
Then he nodded. "I believe you."  
He turned away.

Ivan was at the door.  
"You’re insane," Ivan said. "You’re feral. They’ll put you down."

Alex tilted his head. "Maybe."  
He took a step toward Ivan. "But first, I’m gonna take you apart piece by piece until you tell me where my daughter and Mia are."

Ivan grinned, even as he backed up. "You’ll never find—"

The door slammed open.

Kane.

Holding a phone.  
Hands shaking.  
Face wet.

"Stop," Kane said. "Just... stop."

Alex turned. Slow.  
"Kane."

Kane held out the phone.  
Video playing.

Mia.  
On the floor of a cabin.  
Hair messy. Lip split.  
Holding Sara to her chest.  
Sara was crying.  
Mia was singing to her. Soft. Off-key.  
The same lullaby Alex used to hum.

And in the background:  
A window.  
Through the window: the Caruso barn.  
Rusted roof. Broken silo.  
The place where Marco had grown. 

The place Ivan thought no one remembered.

Alex took the phone.

He watched the whole 8 seconds.  
Watched Mia look at the camera and mouth: Come get us.

The wolf went very, very still.

Alex looked at Ivan.  
Ivan was still grinning. But his eyes were wide now.

"Caruso barn," Alex said.

Ivan shrugged. "Prove it."

Alex dropped the phone.  
It clattered.

Then he walked to Ivan.

Picked him up. By the throat.  
Lifted him until their eyes were level.

"I’m not gonna kill you," Alex said. Soft.  
Ivan choked out a laugh. "Then what—"

"I’m gonna leave you alive," Alex said. "So you can watch me take everything back."  
He squeezed. Once.  
Ivan’s face went purple.  
Then Alex dropped him.

He turned to the room.  
To the bleeding elders.  
To the 20 witnesses on the floor.

"Meeting adjourned," Alex said.

He walked out.

No one followed him.


Alex stood in the yard.  
The sun was finally out. It hurt his eyes.

He looked east.  
To the Caruso land.  
3 miles. Through woods. Through fences.

He took a breath.  
The wolf was done waiting.

He dropped to all fours.

Clothes tore.  
Bones broke.  
The black wolf came out.

300 pounds.  
Scarred.  
Pissed.

He didn’t howl.  
He didn’t warn anyone.

He ran.

And behind him, the packhouse was silent.  
Because everyone inside had just realized:  
The Alpha wasn’t gone.  
He was just getting started.