Alpha Draven

Chapter Three

Draven.

"f**k!" I tossed the cell phone to the pavement, sending it bouncing once into the air before it dropped back down again and shattered to pieces.

"Shhh!" Axel pressed a finger to his lips. "The hell are you doing, man? The guards will hear us."

"Carter f*****g Marin," I gritted out, balling my shaking hands into fists on either side of me. "Him and his lackeys just blew up warehouse thirty-three."

Axel's eyes bulged. "Shit."

"I'm going to destroy him. Mark my words."

Axel peered past me toward the giant, wrought iron gates coated with gold. I followed his gaze, grinding my teeth at the plaque in the center of the gate, embellished with more gold and framed with diamonds. In the center of the plaque, 'Court Blake' was engraved in fancy lettering.

The times people attempted to break off the plaque and steal it and not once be successful didn't come as a surprise. My father had cameras and guards—and not to mention trying to bypass the strength of gold was next to impossible.

Though that plaque alone was worth nearly a million, it wasn't the gold or the diamonds on it that made it expensive. It was the name on it.

"Looks like they got the guards distracted," Axel carried on. "Ben's got the surveillance deactivated."

"Let's get it over with." I rubbed my eyes, sighing. "So I can get home and deal with Marin."

Axel nodded in agreement. "Hey, look. If you get those papers, daddy's going down. Marin won't stand a chance for what's coming for him, then."

That thought alone kept my temper in check so we could go through with this and not screw it up.

The thing was, I could walk through those gates with ease, and no one would stop me. I was the son of the alpha—I was the future alpha if this went according to plan—and this was my childhood home. But I didn't want to leave proof that I was the one who stole those documents, giving him a 'heads-up,' and he framed me instead. Those documents would incriminate my father and expose him for what he was.

He had held control over me my whole life. Who I was allowed to love. What I did with my money. My time. Who I was allowed to work for.

And who I f*****g married.

I had a few weeks to play out this plan to bring him down before my fate was sealed, and I'd be tied for life to a woman I didn't want, solely because my father wanted in on a rival pack's money and resources.

Money and power were all he wanted. He didn't care about our pack's well-being, much less his only son's well-being. Do not get me started on how he was treating my mother.

Fucking foul piece of s**t.

"Draven? Are you all right?" Axel nudged me with the side of his hand holding a gun—a cold reminder of how real stuff was about to get. "Are we going in?"

I inclined my head. "Let's go."

Everything moved smoothly. The surveillance was off, and the guards were out cold, courtesy of some tranquilizer darts Nial was responsible for.

It was all good and dandy until Nial met up with us as we made our way onto the back porch for the door. "We have a problem."

"What now?" I peered at the door, expecting to find a new security measure preventing us from getting in. "I thought you checked all the security and locks and—"

Nial shook his head, pointing at an upstairs window. "We've got company."

"For hell sakes," I hissed in a low voice. "He's supposed to be out of town."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Nial shifted. "It's not him. It's a woman. Young. Too young to be with a wrinkly old ball sack like him, but you'd be surprised what some would do for money."

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "That shouldn't be a problem. We can sneak past her. If she's a problem, tranquilize her."

Nial nodded. "On it."

While Nial snuck inside, Axel and I stayed behind to sort out the keypad responsible for the main security system, then slipped inside the back door.

Axel went toward the pool area opposite me while I headed upstairs toward my father's bedroom. I made a few steps in the dark hallway before almost tripping over something big.

I cursed under my breath, peering down to find Nial out cold on the carpet. "Crap sakes. Nial?" I kicked his side, noting the tranquilizer dart sticking out of his neck. "Are you f*****g serious?"

I crouched to pull out the dart, cussing out Nial in all the colorful words of the rainbow, thinking the i***t had darted himself. Only to have a large object swing straight into my face, followed by the crack of bone and getting knocked on my ass. "You motherf—"

The object swung my way again, which turned out to be a damned frying pan. This time I managed to dodge it, rolling over onto my side before springing onto my feet.

I was about to launch a fist straight at this shithead attacking me when my fist froze inches from a face that was branded in my memory. It was the face that haunted my dreams—and nightmares. The same face, when the last time I saw it, was ridden with pure hate and stained with tears by the pain I had caused.

"Lilah?" Though my voice was a whisper, it sounded like a wail of despair. Her name tasted bitter on my tongue and echoed inside my ears.

It was too loud.

I was suddenly overcome with the need to reach out, grab her into my arms and hold her, never letting her go again.

Pang!

The sound reverberated through my skull before I felt the pain. I was struck so stupidly that it took me a moment to process that she was hitting me, and was about to swing the pan at my face again.