Claimed By The Ruthless Alpha Beast

5

CHAPTER 5: KILLIAN

“f*****g bastards!”

They made a massive mistake letting me out of those silver-lined cages. The Elders of the Great Council thought three years of captivity would break my spirit after they turned me into the beast I am right now. They thought that without adequate evidence of my higher crimes, a short sentence would keep me quiet. I never got caught on the charges of the old pack leaders, mostly because I was able to clear my name simply by picking off a few key witnesses before the tribunal could even meet.

Three years in the dark—long enough to map out exactly how I was going to reclaim my stolen position.

The rain was coming down in sheets now, heavy and thick, smothering the glowing rune-stone sign outside the Dawn house. It was a heavily guarded underground vault house hidden right in the middle of the neutral city center. The security on that place was so high that even an Alpha wouldn’t dare just smash through the front gates. The guards would know immediately that I was up to no good by a single glance at my aura and my pack markings.

"I can't just walk in there," I growled softly to myself, leaning my back against a stone pillar across the street. "They'd sound the alarm before I even hit the steps."

No, I needed a pawn.

I had to find someone to put eyes on the inside for me—someone with no other choice but to listen to my every command. Everyone had dirt, but I needed someone who was so trapped, so desperate, that they would sell their very soul to a dark Alpha for a handful of copper coins.

Garrick was a useful piece of trash before I left him in his dungeons. I was honestly glad that a wolf as pathetic as he was had been the one to handle my family's sacred collection after my trial. I didn't care about much of what we lost when my pack crumbled to the ground, but I did care about those ancient artifacts.

Especially the map to The Blood-Moon Vault.

I pulled a small pipe from my vest and lit a pinch of dried mountain leaf, letting the thick, sweet smoke fill my lungs. I looked through the mist at the guarded entrance. The stone building wasn’t terribly large, but it housed some of the most powerful relics in the northern territories. From my quick research on the way here, the collectors running it would gladly sell anything if they could find a buyer willing to pay the price.

But acquiring the map to the Vault wasn’t as simple as walking in and handing them a chest full of gold. For one thing, I didn't have half a million gold pieces lying around. The Council took all of that from me when they locked me up. I was only able to get a hundred thousand or so from a few secret safes I had hidden around the mountains once I broke free.

I wasn’t the wealthy Alpha I used to be. I had fallen off, and the pack knew it.

In addition to that, I didn't actually want anyone to know that it was me who took the map. I was a free wolf now, and I wasn't on the High Council's active blacklist yet. Garrick’s punishment was clean; I didn't leave any evidence of foul play behind in his dungeon . I wanted to stay in the shadows until I could completely rebuild my forces. Once my army was ready, then all bets would be off.

I took another deep drag of the pipe, holding the heavy smoke in my chest until it dissolved into my lungs, and my breath came out clean. I shouldn't abuse my anatomy in such a way, but my wolf spirit healed quickly. I was in this life for a good time, not a long one. I stepped closer to the edge of the stone overhang, knocking the burnt ash into the flowing rainwater on the street.

A low voice cut through the sound of the storm behind me. "You shouldn't stand out in the open like this, Alpha. The Council's scouts still patrol these streets."

I didn't turn around. I already recognized the scent of the wolf approaching. It was Daniel, one of the few loyal warriors who had waited for my return.

"Let them look," I replied smoothly, keeping my eyes fixed on the Dawn house across the road. "The rain washes away my scent. Besides, I am a free citizen today, Daniel. I can enjoy the city views if I want to."

Daniel stepped up beside me, his hood pulled down low over his scarred face. "And what do you see over there? Are we going to tear the doors down?"

I chuckled, a dark sound that made Daniel’s posture stiffen automatically. "No. Smashing doors is for mindless beasts. We are going to be smart about this. The place isn't currently open, and the wards are too strong for a direct assault."

"Then what is the plan?" Daniel asked, leaning against the pillar. "We don't have the coin to buy what you want."

"We don't need coins," I said, a cruel smile stretching across my face. "My best bet is to come back early in the morning and see who arrives for work. I will watch the scholars, the guards, the servants. I will pick a target, find their weakness, and roll with it. This might take a while."

"You are willing to wait?" Daniel looked surprised. "I thought you would want your revenge immediately."

“I am a patient man, Daniel ," I said, looking down at my scarred hands. "Three years of staring at silver bars and dreaming of getting out will do that to you. You have to be patient in those cages, or you’ll end up losing your mind like the rest of the rabble in there. I’ve seen some incredibly sad things go down in the dark."

Now that I was out, dreams of reclaiming my throne had trumped every other primal need. I didn't care about comfort, and I didn't care about finding a female to pass the time. I would get around to that eventually, but it wasn't in my direct line of vision right now. I would be able to secure an adequate mate once I had salvaged what was rightfully mine.

The map to The Blood-Moon Vault.

It meant more to me than anyone in this territory would ever know. Being an expensive, ancient piece of parchment was just the tip of the iceberg. Once you dug a little deeper, the dark secrets inside of it came out.

I would know. I was there when the spell was placed on the map, and the witch who cast it was buried ten minutes afterward. I don't care much for witnesses.

"So we use an insider," Daniel murmured, catching on to my thought process. "You'll blackmail them into aiding us with the theft?"

"Exactly," I said, turning my gaze back to the locked iron gates of the house. "And hopefully, I’ll never even have to show my face inside the building. The city guards will never know who took the map once I eliminate my little helper."

"It sounds like a smooth plan, Alpha," Daniel said, though his voice held a note of caution. "But life has a way of taking your perfectly good ideas and twisting them. What if the insider fights back?"

“Let them try," I hissed, my eyes flashing a dangerous, bright gold in the night. "Life can turn my plans into whatever horrendous beast it wants. I am the Alpha of this pack, and I am fully willing to slay anybody that stands between me and my birthright."

I turned away from the street, pulling my fur cloak tightly around my shoulders. "Nobody on this godforsaken planet is going to stop me from opening that Vault, Daniel. Nobody."