Pack Ruin (The Splintered Bond #3)

11. The Long Hunt

11

The Long Hunt

FINNICK

T he formal reception room in the Eastern pack’s Mansion was always cold. It was even colder when you’d been held in a prison cell in the sublevels for a week with no clothing, almost no food, and no one for company other than the pack torturer, Niall.

Fucking Niall. I would kill him someday, and I’d make it as slow as he’d made this punishment over the past seven days.

The bastard tightened his grip on my arm, trying to force me to my knees on the marble floor. I resisted, keeping my eyes on the Louboutin spiked heels that graced the feet of the leader of the Eastern pack, even though I was dressed in a pair of threadbare shorts and nothing else, and dizzy with hunger and blood loss. I knew better than to show any signs of weakness.

“You made us wait, Finnick,” my mother remarked from her antique ebony throne.

It wasn’t really a throne, though it had cost as much as one at the Sotheby’s auction where my father had purchased it for her, at her request. As if Mother ever made a request. Even the smallest of whims from her was a command, and not giving her exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it, resulted in consequences.

“I’ve been here for a week, Mother. If you were waiting, I was just below.”

She scoffed. “You know I can’t abide disrespect. And yet, you made me wait.” She managed to sound as if she cared. “How many weeks were you at Northern, playing with your little friends? You’re lucky I’m not sending you below for the same number of days.”

I shivered, and Niall chuckled behind me. Father had sent me to one of the cells beneath the Mansion the moment I arrived home, and I hadn’t even seen Mother. For all I knew, she had been at a spa while I was tortured.

I kept my voice calm. “I came as soon as I could. The Northern pack was attacked by rogues. They had an almost simultaneous attack from within, by Enforcers who rose up against Alpha Hillier.”

“Of course, you didn’t take the opportunity to remove him from the board,” my father groused from the smaller chair a few feet away from his mate. He had a tumbler of whiskey in his hand, as usual, and drained it in one long gulp.

“Quiet,” Mother snapped. My father flinched, but obeyed.

I held my gaze on her chin, refusing to drop it, though I felt blood seeping from my nostrils. Mother’s power was far greater than my father’s had ever been, though she was usually careful not to reveal the truth to anyone not in our inner circle.

Niall’s hand trembled on my bicep as her waves of power beat down on us, and in seconds, he was slumped against me, using me as a support under the barrage. Normally, I would’ve crumbled under the force of her dominance, but this time, even after I’d been punished for a week, I was able to keep from collapsing.

That’s new, I thought. New and dangerous.

Mother’s eyes narrowed. She would hate that I wasn’t kneeling yet. I hoped she would also respect it. She hated my father, mostly because he was weaker than her. Strength, power, and ruthlessness were all she valued, and for once, I had enough for her to notice.

It was my connection to Flor that had given me that power, though I’d rather spend seven more weeks in Niall’s tender care than admit that.

I felt a deep surge of gratitude that her wolf had left the mating claim on my tongue. Our bond was hidden. Flor was safe, or as safe as she could be. I knew Brand would keep her as far from my packlands as he could. If she ever came here, there was no hope.

A short whimper came from the other side of the throne. My eyes flew to my little sister, Tana, who had fallen to her knees under the onslaught of Mother’s power. Unlike me, Tana was dressed as if she were attending a cocktail party, though she was too young to drink. Or wear clothes that slipped off her shoulder inadvertently, revealing one of her breasts.

Damnit. Who had put her in that dress?

As if in answer, Niall made a grunting sound beside me, then noisily licked his lips, and it was all I could do not to elbow him in the gut. He’d had far too much fun over the past week, and it was only knowing that every hour he was beating or cutting me was an hour Tana was safe from him that had kept me from despair.

Her green eyes met mine, and I saw the embarrassment, the shame, in them. I shook my head slightly. She loved to wear jeans and baggy sweaters she hand-knit for herself, and hated revealing clothing. Unless she was appearing in the reception room, she didn’t even wear jewelry.

She had nothing to be ashamed of.I was the one who had left her here.

She shivered, unable to move the strap of her dress back into place, as Niall leered at her, his grip growing even tighter on my arm. The short, raw silk slip dress didn’t have enough fabric to ward off the chill in the room either, and was the color of blood, clashing with Tana’s bright auburn hair.

“Well, I’m so glad you were able to return home now.” Mother’s words were like an oily snake slithering through the room, but the sound broke the oppressive pressure as she pulled back most of her power. “We’ve had so much going on. Deals with PetroCorp and Imregin that needed your particular… skills to finalize.”

“I’m sure Father could have filled in,” I said. His eyes blazed as he finally paid attention. He and Mother had an arrangement of sorts that I wouldn’t have believed could exist between two true mates, if I hadn’t witnessed it once, when as a child I inadvertently opened a guest bedroom door to see them entangled with two other shifters, Mother wielding a knife on the rest.

The three days I’d then spent in the lower levels had only been half as horrific as witnessing their bloody sexual perversions.

“Maybe he needs another week to remember his place, Elina,” he muttered.

The corners of Mother’s mouth dipped, then firmed. “No. He wouldn’t have time to heal. The Baranoff woman has to fly home tomorrow. He needs to take care of her tonight.” She stared at me, waiting for something. I didn’t even blink, and eventually, she went on. “I’m shocked it took word of your sister’s mating ceremony to bring you back to your pack, Finnick. It’s almost as if you’ve forgotten who you are. Who you… belong to.”

She stood and glided toward me. She was wearing her usual custom-made, perfectly fitted black vicu?a pantsuit. I tried not to inhale, but she came closer, pinching my chin between her thumb and two fingers, making me gasp slightly as she yanked my head to each side, looking for…

Of course. She was looking for a mate mark. She knew my power had increased, and she knew how that must have happened.

Before I could blink, she’d jerked me to my feet and torn my ragged shorts off with one shifted hand. She circled me, searching for what she suspected.

“Aidan, have your contact in the Northern pack taken care of,” she said smoothly as she inspected me. “He fed you misinformation.”

“Ah, about that contact…” Father hesitated. “He was put to death last week. Executed.”

“The Hilliers discovered him?”

“No,” Father snapped. “He was one of dozens. They restructured the pack, from what I heard. They executed some of their best Enforcers for petty crimes.”

Mother tsked. “Stupid Bradley. Not the sort of shifter who should lead the Council, I’d say. When do they arrive again? I want to make sure we have everything ready.”

“In an hour,” Father replied, crossing to the door. “I’ve commanded forty additional Enforcers to be ready when they bring their request.”

“How many Enforcers are they bringing?”

“Four. They left their new Heir at Northern.”

“Patrick, yes. He’s young. He won’t pose much of a problem.” Mother stepped back, her eyes skating over my skin once more. “An hour, hm? Barely time for Finnick to dress for his… date.”

“Our agreement still stands,” I said coldly. “If you want me to use my skills, that is.” I didn’t give specifics aloud, unsure how much Niall knew.

After the first few “assignments” I’d been given to help coax the wives of the corporate giants—and sometimes even the CEOs, on the occasions when they were female—Mother had hinted that Tana could also be used as an enticement for the men.

She’d been twelve.

My wolf had, for the first time in my life, gone nearly feral. I’d killed four of Mother’s favorite Enforcers, as well as the human Chinese textiles dealer who had been the one to suggest the atrocity.

Once she understood she would lose my “skills” as well as the lives of any businessmen who dared touch Tana, we’d negotiated a deal.

Tana was safe until she turned eighteen. That day had not yet arrived, though it was only a few months away. I’d been working on a plan to get her out of our pack, but Flor’s appearance had changed a lot of things.

“We shall see,” Mother said in reply. “Tana has a fiancé now. Young love and all that.”

I bared my teeth, feeling my wolf rise. I was still nowhere near as powerful as her, but I would die to protect my little sister. “If she is even touched before the age of maturity…” My wolf rose inside me, and I felt the unmistakable prickle of fur sprouting on my neck.

Mother hummed. “Our arrangement will stand, as long as you kneel.” She meant it figuratively, but I dropped instantly, the hard stone bruising my knees.“Good. Remember to kneel for—what was her name? Ah, yes—Stella Baranoff, as well. She’ll be in your room within the hour. Keep her occupied until dinner at nine.” She snapped her fingers. “Niall? Make sure the cell Finnick was in is ready for new occupants, please.”

“Yes, Alpha… Mate.” He bowed and left, my parents following afterward without another word or look at their children. As I staggered back to my wing of the Mansion, Tana helping me to stay upright, I wondered if our situation could get worse.

When I heard the shouts of Bradley and Margarette Hillier ringing in the vaulted ceilings of the foyer, too distant to make out the words, but close enough to hear the anger and mocking tone of my father’s yelling, I realized it already had.

My parents had been waiting for a long time to bring down the Hilliers and take over the North American Council. I hadn’t been certain how far they would be willing to go, but I should have remembered what my father had said, the first time he’d placed a silver blade in my hand and forced me to slowly execute one of our own pack members. “The strength of the shifter isn’t what matters. The number of wolves in a pack is nothing. It’s how far one is willing to go to accomplish a plan… and how patient one is during a long hunt.”

The Long Hunt. That was what I’d overheard my parents calling their secret bid for power. They’d maneuvered the other packs into this untenable place, playing the other members of the Council, while making certain no one suspected our pack was the root of so many of the problems. Southern had made a fantastic scapegoat, but our pack had far greater abuses taking place, and it wasn’t only the unranked who suffered here.

“I tried to get you food, Finny,” Tana whispered as we turned the corner. “But Mother has me on another diet. She’s watching too closely.”

I sighed. Mother was obsessed with appearances, and Tana’s bone structure and build were more like the pictures I’d seen of our father’s parents than Mother’s.

A maid wearing a plain black dress with an apron, her head bowed, opened the heavy door to my wing. Neither one of us thanked her; we’d learned early that to draw any attention to the staff meant punishments for them and us.

And we never knew where or when our parents were watching. I glanced up to the corner of the hall. A small red eye gleamed there. “New addition?” I breathed.

Tana huffed. “They’re in the bathrooms now, too. And our bedrooms.”

“Shit.” Tana was trembling, so I forced myself to smile. “Father selling rights to a reality show or something? Wolves Gone Wild? Shifters After Dark?”

It worked. Tana giggled, the same soft, innocent sound that had driven me to protect her at any cost to myself since I was ten. And I’d protect her now.

I leaned down, pretending to fall, and breathed in her ear, far too quietly for any microphone to pick up. “Your birthday is only a few months away. I have to get you out. I have a plan.” I did. I’d used my time hanging from my wrists in the basement to come up with a desperate one.

“It’s impossible.” She didn’t elaborate. They used locked doors, alarms, and trackers as well as their shifter senses to keep us in place.

“I have liquid cash and more stashed in banks outside the country. I have allies in Europe, and their Alphas have made no pledges to keep you out.”

It would be an act of war, she mouthed. No one will take me.

“If I give them the keys to Mother’s kingdom, they will. You forget, I know where all the bodies are buried.”

She gasped, her green eyes wider than I’d ever seen them. She knew I meant literal bodies. Some of them were shifters, some human. Most of the ones in the well-hidden mass graves behind the Mansion were people who would never be missed.

But Niall, Torran, and Mother had miscalculated after a ball four years before. They’d invited a young male to an after-party that got out of hand, and ended in his death.

He’d been the Heir of a small Italian pack, and Mother had done everything she could to conceal the crime. In the end, she’d ordered me to burn his corpse. I’d buried him instead. I’d dig him up with my claws and teeth if I needed, if it meant Tana would get free.

I kissed Tana’s head and gently shooed her into her room, then went to my own. I ordered some food to be brought up, then ate, showered, and shaved. I’d just pulled on a robe when a knock came at the door, and a brassy, sultry voice called out, “Finnick? Are you decent?”

The door opened before I could draw a breath to answer, and I forced a smile at the bottle-blonde, fifty-two-year-old society matron who glided in wearing jewelry that cost as much as my little mate’s Pack House would, and a blunt-toothed, greedy smile.

“No, I’m not decent, Stella. But then, neither are you.” I crossed to the wet bar. I knocked back three fingers of the Macallan Lalique, then poured two more. “I hear you’ve been kept waiting. I’m terribly sorry. How can I make it up to you?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she purred, her gaze taking me in, assessing me like I was a purchase she’d made, and she wasn’t yet certain I’d been worth the cost.

I was exactly that: a purchase, part of a business deal. Flor had said again and again that she was nothing, that she was a reject. If she’d known who I really was, under the thin veneer of manners and expensive clothing, she would never have claimed me. She was worth a thousand of me, ten thousand. She was honor, strength, determination, and fierce will wrapped in a perfect, small, fiery package.

I was a whore.

My mother’s whore, to be exact. My father’s greatest disappointment.

My sister’s only hope at escaping a living hell.

I lowered the lights so the healing wounds on my torso wouldn’t be visible to her weak human gaze. The camera in the corner of my bedroom stared with a baleful red eye, though, as I let my robe fall, and I knew at least one of my parents would be watching. Making sure I did what I was told.

Flor, forgive me, I thought, as the woman pulled up her skirts, revealing her bare sex. My cock didn’t even twitch, but that didn’t mean anything. I didn’t mean anything, not to these women.

“I think you should ask forgiveness from down there,” she half-teased, half-ordered.

My wolf howled with rage and desperation as the stranger grasped my hair and pulled my face forward, between her legs. I swallowed bile, then opened my mouth, salty tears coursing from my eyes so quickly, it was almost all I could taste.

The mate mark on my tongue burned like acid as it touched the other woman. I swallowed bile and tears, and did what I had to, to save my sister. Even though it damned me.

Forgive me, Flor.

Please forgive me.