The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 22

BRAX

“Where is she?” Silas’ voice booms.

“I’m not sure,” I answer truthfully, “but I suspect Alpha Drake has something to do with it.” The warlock's eye twitches.

“Why do you think that,” he sits back in his chair, crossing his arms.

“He nearly caught Vixen multiple times in her attempts to kill Wilder Bishop. I can only assume when he came to see her he recognized her and took her for questioning,” the shadows in the room flicker and the air turns cold.

“Useless,” Silas scoffs after calming himself, “go retrieve her before she screws everything up.” I want to protest. To yell at him that this is all his fault. He sent her after the Gamma of the strongest pack in the region, probably the country. He’s the one who drugged her so she wasn’t able to properly defend herself. I heard their argument last night. She warned him. Told him that the Alpha would likely recognize her, but he didn’t listen.

“Yes, sir,” I bite my tongue and leave without another word.

The security room is empty, nothing but monitors and computers lining the far wall. I pull up the footage from last night and watch the events unfold. The Alpha and his pack mate enter around ten in the evening, talking to several different employees before making his way to Silas’ office. There is a brief conversation before the warlock stands and heads to Vixen’s room, forcing the door open without knocking. There is no audio but can tell they are arguing. It starts to get heated and Silas slaps Vixen across the face, the force of it jerking her head to the side. Anger flares in my gut, but I stay focused on the footage. The warlock pulls out a syringe from his pocket and tries to inject Vixen, but she fights back. A hand manages to grab hold of long raven hair, yanking back her head and exposing her neck. The needle is stuck into the vulnerable flesh, red eyes go wide before lulling closed, and her legs give out from under her. The warlock leaves her there and returns to his office.

My blood boils, the cheap plastic of the computer mouse crunches under the pressure of my clenching fingers. Vixen stumbles down the stairs, unsteady on her legs as the drug spreads through her system. I see the exact moment recognition hits the Alpha. He talks briefly with his pack mate before throwing a jacket over Vixen’s head and escorts her out the door, though not without a clumsy fight from the still feisty women. I chuckle watching them struggle to get her into the back seat of their coupe.

“This isn’t going to be easy,” I sigh to myself.

A large gate stands in front of me, blocking the entrance to a long dirt road leading deep into the woods. A wall of fence sprawls in either direction, standing a menacing seven feet tall. I approach the gate and take hold of it. With a deep breath, I pull up on the heavy iron, the hinges groaning under the pressure. There are a couple of pops before it’s ripped completely away from its posts, the thick metal now bent and disfigured. I throw the heavy gate off to the side, and it lands with a loud crash. Stealth would definitely be a wiser approach, but anger is clouding my judgement as I walk down the middle of the road like I own it. The road should be about two miles long, cutting straight through thick wooded land and ends at a large manor. It’s graveled and looks to be heavily used, though well-maintained. Small rocks crunch underfoot with every step.

About a mile in, I run into two shifters on patrol, who get easily incapacitated, but not before they’re able to send off an alert. Soon, they are coming at me in droves. One after the other, and I'm barely breaking a sweat. I scruff the last one and toss them like a rag doll into a tree. They land in a crumpled heap with a whimper. A growl rumbles behind me and turn to see a large blonde wolf approaching, fangs on full display in a snarl. I recognize the blue eyes that belong to the male that accompanied the Alpha last night.

"WHERE IS SHE?" I roar, and I'm met with a thunderous bark before he charges at me. We collide explosively. Two hard and heavily muscled bodies fight against each other for dominance over the other. Long fangs snap at me, trying to bite at anything they can reach. I shove a hand into his maw and wrap my fingers around the lower jaw. Canines bite in my flesh, purple blood splatters onto the ground under us. The wolf rears back, gagging on the taste, but I keep my hold on him firm, managing to hook an arm around his neck and wrestle him to the ground. The large wolf snarls and jerks in my arms, but I refuse to let go.

“Where. Is. She,” I demand again, but he growls back at me in defiance. Sharp teeth start biting down harder into my hand, cutting deeper into the flesh. The pain is ignored, and I tighten the arm that’s pressed into his throat, causing him to choke and gasp for air.

“You’re just making this harder for yourself,” I continue to tighten my grasp, eliciting a whine from the wolf. “Are you going to cooperate?” Blue eyes glare up at me, the intensity of it enough to kill a weaker being. It’s just a waiting game now. I watch as azure eyes slowly close and the powerful jaw goes lax, releasing my hand. The shifter is dropped and the large body sags to the ground unconscious. My hand is screaming in pain, radiating up my arm. Broken bones stick out in directions they shouldn’t, forming protrusions in the skin.

The rest of the walk to the pack house is silent and when I approach the intimidating building, there’s no one in sight. My instincts are warning me something isn’t right, so I press forward with hesitance, not sure where to start looking first. The main building is huge and with multiple smaller buildings attached. Gravel crunches under my boots as I walk toward the front porch, deciding the main house would be as good a place as any to start looking.

The front door swings open abruptly and Alpha Maddox Drake steps outside. Large muscled arms lay crossed over his wide chest with a scowl pulling at his lips.

“Where is she,” I ask, stopping at the base of the porch steps.

“Who wants to know?” he asks, puffing out his chest, posturing.

“That isn’t important,” the Alpha’s jaw ticks in irritation.

“Get the hell off my land,” his voice has an edge to it.

“Gladly. Just as soon as I retrieve what I came for,” I take a step forward, placing a foot on the first stair. A low growl erupts from the shifter.

“I asked you to leave. I won’t ask again,” Maddox seethes.

“I don’t know what you’re hoping for, but you aren’t going to get anything out of her,” maybe I can appeal to him logically.

“You’re right, she won’t, despite my best efforts. What I want to know is why she was drugged out of her mind. Why did she have a fresh bruise on her face? Why she was terrified of leaving that nightclub as if she was an inmate escaping prison,” his eyes narrow at me.

“Why the hell do you care?” I scoff, “just let me take her back, and we’ll be out of your fur.” He doesn’t answer, only glowers at me with an uncomfortable intensity. I try my luck and take the next step.

“Who do you work for?” The question takes me by surprise, and now it’s my turn not to answer. “You work for the same person, right? Who is he?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say flatly.

“Oh, I think it does. I think he forces Vixen to do his dirty work. I think he forces submission through punishment and nonconsensual drug use. I think she’s treated like a damn errand dog,” he says coolly, and all I can do is grind my teeth together.

“Why do you care? Just mind your f*****g business. You don’t know what you're sticking your nose in,” the Alpha snorts at me.

“It became my business when my Gamma was targeted,” as infuriating as this man is, he's got a point.

"Just let me take her back," I try, but his brows pinch together and his scowl grows.

"No. She's terrified. She asked for death over going back to that place," my heart aches at his words. If I could get her away from Silas, I would in a heartbeat.

"I know," my voice is a low whisper.

"Then why are you trying to take her back? You obviously care about her," the Alpha is too observant for his own good.

"It's complicated," is all I say before lunging forward towards him.