Page 100 of Defiance
A wave of power washed down the corridor almost knocking Cole off his feet, and unsurprisingly Logan shifted immediately.
Silence.
Cole’s stomach sank. They were all totally and utterly fucked.
He’d thought Simon was pretty fucking frightening, but Michael? He was terrifying. The bite mark on Cole’s neck had long since healed, but it throbbed in time with his heartbeat now. The presence of his alpha, all that power rolling off him, affected him in a way that left him feeling strange and off-kilter.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Michael looked from Logan to Paul, gaze finally landing on Simon.
“They’re traitors.” Simon nodded at everyone standing between him and Michael. “Every fucking one of them.”
Michael’s gaze landed on Cole, and he felt the weight of it heavy on his shoulders. “I gave you a second chance when others wanted you thrown in jail, and this is how you repay me?”
Cole stood frozen in place.
“Nothing to say?” Michael raised his eyebrows. “We accepted you into our pack. I gave you mybite.”
“I’m sorry.” Cole didn’t know why he was apologising but he felt a sudden surge of guilt as Michael’s gaze bore into him.
“I don’t want your fucking apology!” He roared, and Cole’s heart rate spiralled, his wolf unsettled. “I want you out of my sight.”
At his words Paul and Simon rushed forward, grabbing Cole and Nick between them, pulling Cole’s hands behind his back. He felt the bite of handcuffs as they snapped around his wrists.
“You will be taken to the shifter prison tonight while we discuss your fate. But rest assured you have no place in this pack or any other. The life of a packless shifter is a harsh and lonely existence. But you will never have the opportunity to betray a pack again.
“As for the rest of you?” Michael’s voice was soft, but disappointment laced his words as he looked from Smith to Aaron, and finally Logan. “You have betrayed your pack and your alpha. What you’ve done tonight is treason against the Shifter Alliance.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’ve known you all for years and it gives me no pleasure to do this, but I will not and cannot have traitors in my pack. We’re in charge of security, for fuck’s sake, I must set an example for the others, so... Logan, Aaron, and Smith McKillan. You are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.”
“What? No!” Cole yelled, pulling at his restraints, but Simon held him firm, fingers digging into this skin.
Michael ignored him. “You will not return to your homes but will be taken to prison tonight, where you will see out the rest of your life with no chance of parole.”
Finally his gaze landed on Nick. “Nick Cox, you are charged with being a member of the CEG and of actively recruiting other shifters to your cause. If found guilty, the maximum penalty is death.”
Nooo.Cole’s knees buckled but he somehow managed to stay on his feet.
“You will be held in prison until the Alliance votes on your fate.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Never in all my years as alpha did I think I’d have traitors in my pack. You are a disgrace to the McKillan name.”
He walked forwards and grabbed Logan by the throat, and for one awful second Cole thought he was going to kill him. Instead he leaned in, voice cold. “We’re going outside to the van I have waiting. You will walk to it, and you will get inside. If you try and escape, I will hunt you down and rip your throat out. Is that clear?”
Logan nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
Michael let out a harsh laugh. “I am not your fucking alpha. Not anymore.”
Cole watched as Logan’s shoulders slumped, defeat written in every bone of his body.
Was this it?
Everything they’d been working to achieve snuffed out in a matter of minutes?
Cole struggled to wrap his head around how quickly things had unravelled.
Michael gestured for Baker to get Aaron and Smith, then kicked open the doors behind them and marched outside.
Cole followed, Simon dragging him along with a grip that was sure to leave bruises.
“You think your flat was constricting,” Simon muttered, smug amusement clear in his tone. “It’ll seem like fucking freedom personified compared to shifter jail.”
“I’m sorry,” Nick whispered as they stepped outside into the night. “I never wanted you dragged into this.”
