Chapter 67

At once, everyone glanced at each other with a swell of gasps bouncing through the room.

"Dead?" Krey asked, stepping forwards and pushing Sid towards Pip in the process. Krey never touched anyone unless he punched them, or they were Pip, or he really liked their company, which was rare.

Sid got the message and slowly backed away until he was next to Pip by the window.

"Yes. Alpha's orders." The Beta's lopsided smile still pointed to Pip cowering in the back. If he was just after a human, he would be looking at Mark too, but Pip was the easy catch, and the catch with the biggest prize.

"Viktor ordered you to kill him?" Krey asked, counting how many wolves were behind the Beta. Only ten stood in their human form, but he sensed wolf forms too.

"No. My Alpha requested it. The one sitting in your home right now." The Beta wolf was nothing short of arrogant.

Krey growled lowly. "Fucking southern wolves," he muttered. "So you were never Viktor's Beta?"

"No, just how Jordan was never your father's Beta, and how the Shadow Pack's Beta was never Saphine's Beta, and many more in packs all across the North."

Krey felt Victoria's eyes burning the side of his face. The Southern wolves plan was deeper than Krey thought. "You've planted Betas in packs in the North? What the fuck for?"

"For this moment. As we speak, Beta's across the North are turning on their Alpha's. Soon, we'll have the whole North in our hands."

Krey eyed his mother, surrounded by his Omega's. in a protective circle. Francis was right next to Krey, ready to defend him when the moment comes. "Well that's a shit plan." Krey stood tall and took a step towards the Beta whose confidence wavered. "Do you really think the rest of the packs will fall under a traitor Beta's commands? The North will never surrender to this. Do you understand?" Krey's eyes were on the brink of pulsing red.

"Beta's are next in command. The packs have to listen to us."

"No they don't. If Jordan killed me, my Delta would have done everything to get the pack under his control. Nobody would side with a Beta from the South." Krey made eye contact with Sid, and he nodded to assure Krey that if anything happened to him and Francis, he would die protecting the pack too. "So you killed Viktor while the rest of the pack were sleeping. And who are they behind you, wolves that are on your side, or worried to avenge Viktor because of what's yet to come?"

The werewolves behind the Beta were older, mostly in their fifties, but they were fit and experienced fighters. As Krey stared at them, they avoided his eyes. They were scared.

The Beta checked his watch and grinned again. "It's time to put that anger of yours to good use. I hope you've all had your breakfast this morning." The Beta stepped into the room, and Krey held his head higher.

"I killed Jordan, easily. What's stopping all the other Alpha's from killing your traitor Beta's too?" Krey asked.

"Jordan was weak from being away from our Alpha."

"No, Jordan was just weak, and so is your Alpha now that he's lost his wolf."

The Beta wolf didn't like that. His eyes pulsed an unnatural green, illuminating brightly under the dull lights. Claws protruded from his fingers.

"It's pathetic of you to take pride in killing an old man. Viktor trusted you." Krey's eyes were pulsing red. Again, he had no time to turn into his wolf, but he could hear the cracking of bones behind him as his own pack transformed to protect him.

As the Beta stepped closer, a thick line of Omega wolves formed around Krey, all growling, and all with their hackles up.

Krey snuck a peek at Pip. His mate was freaked, pushing himself against the window with wide troubled blue eyes. Krey wasn't sure how many of Viktor's pack would take the Beta's side. He didn't know how many pack members were in the Sea Claw Packhouse. Krey was still missing around 20 of his own pack members. He once heard that Viktor was the biggest pack in the North of England, but not the strongest.

"Pip," Krey said and for a moment, their eyes locked, and the room silenced. "Run."

Krey tore his gaze away when the Beta stepped aside, and wolves charged in. He had no time to check if Pip was gone, but as the wolves dove on each other, drawing blood and ripping out fur, he felt Pip leaving him, and his smell diluted in an air full of musty werewolf scents.

Krey found an opportunity to change to his wolf form when Viktor's wolves struggled against his. When the Beta saw that he was crouching to change, the Beta crouched too, leaving himself vulnerable.

A sudden crowd of Viktor's loyal pack members entered the room and started attacking the traitors, outnumbering them in an instant.

Krey stood tall once more and watched with a smirk as Viktor's loyal werewolves avenged his death by cornering the Beta and ripping him limb from limb.

Krey was glad that Pip wasn't around to see it. He would have passed out.

With the rest of Viktor's pack helping, the fighting settled almost as quickly as it started as Krey and Viktor's pack plunged through those who fought for the south.

A woman Krey recognised as Viktor's mate sliced the Beta wolf's head from his shoulders and held it up to watch it bleed onto the floor. Her mouth turned in disgust, or sorrow, Krey wasn't sure. "This traitor killed my Vikki. My poor Vikki." She crumbled to her knees and some wolves stood closer to comfort her.

Krey looked towards the open window. Pip was gone, and so was Sid. "Shit. Someone get my Delta and my mate back."

A few turned Omega's jumped out of the window. Krey heard snarls almost instantly and sharp claws scraping paving stones.

The fighting wasn't over.

As wolves rushed through the window to help, a younger woman approached Krey. She had black hair, greying at the roots, warm eyes, red lips, and a contagious smile, though it trembled. "I'm Chlo, Viktor's Delta."

Krey stared hard. "Did you suspect your Beta was a traitor?" he asked.

"No. Did you suspect your Beta was a traitor?"

"No."

"I don't think any of the packs will. Victoria darling, phone your mother and make sure she's okay."

Victoria was comforting Mark who had curled into a ball on the floor. She nodded, frantically asking if anyone had a phone.

"Krey, if anything, planting traitors in among packs will motivate packs to come to your aid and help you get your home back. We are certainly helping. This is what Viktor would have wanted." A glint of sadness flashed in her dark eyes. She was trying to keep herself together after dedicated most of her life to Viktor. His death was cruel and unexpected. Viktor's wolves were in shock.

"This is not just about me and my pack now," Krey said bleakly. "This is about taking over England. The rest of the south hate the Bedlam pack, so they're coming after all of us." Krey gripped the front of his hair when wolves still fought outside. "How many live here?"

"Enough to overthrow the traitors." The sound of Viktor's mate sobbing diverted Chlo's attention. She left Krey to comfort her, so Krey hurried to the window to see what was going on.

Wolves clashed and clawed and bit and tore and snarled, though Krey's wolves were winning. Every few minutes a wolf was bitten too deeply on the throat and was left to die in the snow. Krey looked towards the trees. He couldn't smell his mate. Pip felt far away. He assumed that Sid braved the pain of his arm and shifted to his wolf to carry Pip far and fast.

I can't go after him. I can't leave my pack again. Krey looked for his mother, who was nudging Mark with a foot and telling him to get up off the floor before he embarrassed himself. Too late for that.

"Francis," Krey barked. His newly appointed Beta wolf hurried through the room and was by his side in seconds. Krey pulled her to the corner of the room. "Pip and Sid are still running. With the help of Sea Claw pack, we need to get our Packhouse back now, so Pip and Sid have somewhere to return. Phone around the other packs. Let me know who's alive, who's dead, and who's willing to help."

"Yes, Alpha." Francis took three Omega's with her, assuming that Viktor would have Northern Pack contacts in his office.

Once the fighting was over, Krey debated sending wolves after Pip and Sid again. If Pip returned to him, he would have to travel to Crescent Packhouse and fight. If Krey left them running in the wild, Pip had a risk of running into the enemy. Either choice wasn't good, but Krey would rather have Pip far from the fighting.

Krey soon joined Francis in Viktor's office. Viktor's body lay on the ground by the desk. Francis had torn down a thick green curtain to cover him. Krey stepped over Viktor's body and leaned over what Francis had written, trying his best to ignore the smell of death.

Francis had phoned five northern packs. Two didn't answer, one had lost their Alpha to the traitor Beta, and two had overruled the Beta's and killed them before they got to the Alpha. Those two packs were very eager to help Krey get his Packhouse back.

Krey's father was a fond name in the werewolf community. With the truth of the Southern Wolves plan out for everyone to see, Krey was no longer in the limelight, he was no longer painted as a foolish teen, too hungry for power to care about the consequences. Krey was a victim, and a grieving teen who wanted so desperately to cling onto the home his father built.

Francis had taken the time to explain what the southern wolves had done to Krey. After each phone call, the northern wolves all had one common goal; to kill the Alpha of the Bedlam pack. Or even better, destroy the pack completely, along with the wolves in it.