Page 84 of Alpha Chained
Without warning, he launches himself at me, wild-eyed and screaming. I sidestep him easily as he barrels forward, slamming into the reinforced mesh on the other side with a clatter.
I watch with a twisted sense of satisfaction as Parker scrambles back to his feet, eyes wide with panic. His gaze darts around wildly. He’s trapped, and he knows it.
“What’s the matter, Parker?” I taunt, stalking toward him slowly. “You look a little rattled.”
He tries to gather himself, puffing out his chest in a feeble attempt at bravado. “This is nothing,” he sneers. “I’ve seen you fight a hundred times before. I know all your moves. You don’t scare me.”
“Maybe not.” I shrug, allowing a cruel smirk to pull at my lips. “But I bet the idea of being trapped in here with a ticking time bomb does.”
As if on cue, the computerized voice drones out again.
“One minute and thirty seconds until detonation…”
Parker flinches at the sound, his mask of confidence slipping.
This is it. There’s no getting out of this for him. Not this time.
“You’re bluffing,” he says, but his voice wavers with uncertainty. “You won’t let yourself die in here either.”
I let out a dark chuckle, shaking my head slowly. “That’s where you’re wrong, Parker. I’m not afraid to die. Not anymore.” I pause, letting that sink in as I stare him down. “But you…you’re terrified of it, aren’t you? The great Franklin Parker, brought low by the very thing he’s spent his life trying to control.”
His face twists into an ugly snarl. “You bastard…”
Parker launches himself at me again, fists swinging wildly. I deflect his blows easily, allowing a few glancing strikes to land just to drag this out a little longer. I want him to really feel the weight of his failure crashing down on him.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I growl, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and slamming him back against the cage hard enough to rattle the metal.
He wheezes out a pained breath, eyes bulging. In that moment, I can see the fight going out of him as the reality of his situation sinks in.
This is really happening. He’s not walking away from this one.
“One minute until detonation…”
I lean in close, our faces inches apart, as I stare into those ugly, fear-filled eyes.
“You’re going to die here, Parker,” I hiss, tightening my grip on his shirtfront. “Alone. Afraid. With no one to witness your final, pathetic moments except me.” I give him a brutal shake, smashing the back of his head against the mesh. “Just like all the others whose lives ended here over the years.”
He cringes, trying in vain to shrink away from me. Suddenly, he looks so small, so helpless. Just a broken husk of a man.
I want to savor this. To make it last.
But there’s no time. The clock is ticking, and I don’t intend to go out the same way he is.
Leaning in one final time, I stare into those hollow eyes and utter the words I’ve been waiting a lifetime to say to him. “I’ll make it fast,” I growl a second before I smash a clawed fist into his chest and rip his heart out.
“Thirty seconds until detonation…”
* * *
Raura
I’m standing with the others, my pulse pounding as I watch them emerge from the Enclave. Jagger, Gage, Callum, and the rest of the team are back, looking triumphant but weary. Casey hands over a stack of files to Jagger, her expression resolute. The importance of getting those files out of there had overshadowed all else for a while.
“Where’s Riot?” I ask, my voice trembling. The exhilaration of the successful attack is tempered by a growing sense of unease. My anxiety rises as I scan the faces of the returning wolves, searching for the one I need to see most.
Callum steps forward, his expression somber. “Riot stayed behind. He’s going to initiate the Enclave’s self-destruct sequence.”
Gasps and murmurs ripple through the group.