An Alpha's Pride [tribal bonds 2] (14 page)

“Very good, Electus.” Sadiki started laughing lightly but didn’t move. Daniel wasn’t even sure he breathed. “I wondered if you would figure it out.”

“Where is my anamchara?” Daniel growled as he pressed the barrel of the dart gun harder against Sadiki’s throat.
“He is safe,” Sadiki said, “and he will stay that way as long as you do as you’re told.”
“Tell me where he is, or I will kill you.”
“With a dart gun?” Sadiki chuckled as he pushed the barrel of the gun away from his throat with his finger and stepped away, turning to smirk at Daniel. “I hardly think so.”
Daniel flicked out his claws and curled up his lip to show the corner of one gleaming white fang. “I don’t need a dart gun to kill you.”
“True.” Sadiki nodded. He looked so self-confident that Daniel wanted to puke. “But if you ever want to see your anamchara alive again, you’ll do exactly as you are told. My men have orders to kill him if I do not report in every hour, on the hour. My failure to do so will immediately get your pretty little wolf’s head removed from his shoulders.”
Daniel growled, his muscles tensing as white-hot rage filled him. Sadiki’s derisive grin was not to be tolerated. Daniel was furious at the vulnerability Sadiki’s words brought him. He knew he couldn’t kill the man, not until he knew where Carlton was.
“What do you want, Sadiki?” Luca asked.
Daniel didn’t care.
Sadiki was going to die.
“Everything, of course.” Sadiki laughed as he turned to look at Luca. “I want it all. Your tribe, Daniel’s tribe, the wolf pack, your hotels. I want every damn thing you have.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Daniel growled as his shock at Sadiki’s demands quickly turned to rage. Carlton would never forgive him if he sacrificed their people for him. One man’s life for so many others. No one could expect that.
An insipid snarl spread across Sadiki’s lips as he spun around. All amusement seemed to be gone from his features as he stared contemptuously at Daniel. “Oh, it will, Electus, or your anamchara dies.”
Daniel’s gaze flickered to the clock on the wall. Just as quickly, it flickered back to Sadiki. Was there enough time to save Carlton and still get justice? When Sadiki’s eyebrow arched up in a clear challenge, Daniel knew he had no choice.
“Then he dies,” Daniel said. Just as quickly as Sadiki’s features changed to surprise, Daniel shoved his hand through the man’s chest and ripped out his heart. He held it up in front of Sadiki’s still standing body. “But you will die first.”
A small croak came from Sadiki, and then the man dropped to the floor in a puddle of his own blood and guts. Daniel held the heart in his hand for a moment longer, squeezing it until his fingers ripped through the soft tissue, and then he dropped it on top of Sadiki’s body.
“Oh my gods, Daniel,” Rowan whispered as he walked around Luca and stared down at Sadiki in horror. “What have you done?”
Daniel glanced up at the clock on the wall again, wincing when he saw what time it was. “We have forty-five minutes to figure out where my anamchara is being held, or he dies.”
“How did you know Sadiki was the traitor, Daniel?” Luca asked.
“Sadiki came to me and told me he saw Roman and a vampire from your tribe sneaking off to speak alone. He said he followed them and listened in. They were supposedly discussing eliminating the wolf that was being held. I told him I wanted him to point out the vampire he had seen.”
“But he pointed to me,” Naheem insisted.
“And that’s when I knew the traitor was Sadiki.”
“How?” Naheem asked. “It could have very well have been me.”
“But it wasn’t.” Daniel shrugged. “Besides, you saved my anamchara’s life. I do not believe you would have done that if you meant to take it from him.”
“So you killed your second-in-command on that alone?” Luca’s voice was filled with astonishment.
“I
accused
my second-in-command on that alone. I only killed him after he confessed.” Daniel waved his hand down at the mess that used to be a man he trusted. “If the stupid idiot had kept his mouth shut, I probably could have been convinced that I was wrong.”
“Very impressive, Electus Everson,” Roman said as he stood to his feet and walked to the middle of the room. He gave Sadiki’s body a small kick as if to make sure the man was dead. “Eliminating those that threaten innocent people is what the hunters are all about. You’d make a good one.”
“I’m not interested.”
“No, I didn’t think you would be.” Roman chuckled lightly then clapped his hands together. “So, any idea where we should start looking for your anamchara?”
Daniel felt his stomach roll as he shook his head. He didn’t have a fucking clue where to look for Carlton. He probably should have stuck to the dart gun, but Sadiki’s evil words had created a rage inside of him that he hadn’t been able to control.
He knew, even if it meant Carlton’s death, his anamchara wouldn’t have wanted to be traded for the tribes and wolf pack. Being an alpha or an electus meant he put his life on the line for his people. Carlton wouldn’t sacrifice them to save himself, and he wouldn’t want Daniel to do it either.
“I say we hit every damn location at the same time,” Luca said as he walked over to the maps again. “We know of several places where they might be holding Carlton. Let’s get all of our soldiers together and hit them all.”
Daniel swallowed past the lump of misery threatening to overwhelm him. “Do you think it would work?”
Luca shrugged. “It can’t hurt. He’s got to be out there somewhere.”

Carlton’s fingers were worn and bleeding, but it didn’t stop him from digging at the wood of the door, trying to get it open. He had ripped off the door handle ages ago. Now, after prying a metal strip off the base of the bed frame, he was trying to force the door open.

He needed to escape.
He needed to warn Daniel.
He needed to rip Sadiki’s fucking head off.
Carlton growled low in his throat as he thought about his mate’s

second-in-command. It had taken him a few minutes to figure out exactly where he knew the guy, but once he did, panic and anger had ruled him.

The bottom of the door suddenly gave way, the wood cracking and splintering. Carlton flew backward and crashed to the floor, the shattered wood still gripped in his hands.

He tossed the wood to the floor and sat up, brushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes. He wasn’t surprised when his hand came away bloody. He was a mess. Even if he was able to escape, he had serious doubts he would make it very far. He just needed to make it to a phone or something so he could contact Daniel.

Once Daniel was aware of the trap waiting for him, Carlton didn’t much care what happened to him. He was tired—tired of fighting bigots that didn’t believe a wolf and a vampire should be together. Tired of fighting those that would betray them. But mostly he was tired of fighting for what was his right to have—his mate.

He was suddenly able to appreciate why Rowan had fought him so hard. Having a true mate was unlike anything Carlton had ever experienced. Daniel meant more to him than his very life. He would have been miserable if he had forced Rowan to mate with him, and so would Rowan.

Carlton needed a mate that made his alpha pride insignificant, one that tied him down to a bed and fucked him into oblivion. He needed a mate that stood by his side, not behind him. He needed a mate that loved him despite himself.

He needed Daniel.
Carlton suddenly froze, too afraid to move. He could feel a soft whispering begin in his head, like white noise on the television, and the volume was slowly being turned up. Was he hoping too much? It was impossible to steady his erratic pulse as the noise in his head started to clear and the sweetest voice in the world came through.
“Daniel!”
he shouted silently.
“Anamchara?”
“Yes!”
Carlton shouted as tears of gratitude started to stream down his face. He would be able to warn his mate after all.
“It’s a trap, Daniel. Sadiki is setting a trap for you.”
“Angel, Sadiki is dead.”
Carlton’s jaw dropped.
“He’s dead?”
“Yes. He can’t hurt either of us ever again.”
“How?”
“It doesn’t matter, Carlton,”
Daniel said.
“What does matter is finding you. Sadiki has people coming to kill you. I need to know where you are.”
Carlton glanced around the room he was being held in. Nothing stood out.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I was moved somewhere after Sadiki shot me with a dart. This doesn’t seem like the abandoned building at the first location.”
“You need to give me some clue, Carlton. What do you see? Where are you being held? What do you hear? Anything will be helpful. We have a shitload of people out searching for you right now.”
“Uh…”
Carlton glanced around again. He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the window. He might not be able to escape through the window, but he could certainly look out of it.
“I’m in a building on the second floor, I think. There’s a dry cleaners across the street. Memory Cleaners.”
“Okay, hold on.”
Carlton ran back over to the door while he waited on Daniel. He had already broken one piece off of the door. If he could just get one more piece to break off, he might be able to slip out through the hole. He needed to do something to minimize the danger to Daniel because he knew his mate was coming for him.
“We have a pretty good idea of where you are, Carlton. You’re actually only a few blocks from us, which explains how Sadiki was able to come and go so easily. You’re practically around the corner. We’re on our way now.”
“We?”
“We have several groups out looking for you. Luca came up with the idea of simultaneous attacks with the hope that at least one of the groups would hit the right hunter hangout and find you.”
Carlton paused.
“Daniel, this had nothing to do with the hunters. This was all Sadiki.”
“What?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,”
Carlton said.
“This had nothing to do with the hunters. This was all a plan worked up by Sadiki.”
“How do you—”
Daniel fell silent for a moment. “
He told you, didn’t he?”
Carlton growled
. “He did, the self-righteous little prick.”
“Did he also mention where he was holding Annie and the vampires?”
“No, but it has to be some place that Sadiki knows well. My bet would be your hotel.”
“Why my hotel?”
“Sadiki didn’t think his plan would fail. He fully expected to return to your hotel as electus of your tribe
.”
“So not happening,”
Daniel growled.
Carlton chuckled.
“I didn’t think it was.”
“We’re almost there, anamchara. How much resistance do you think we will run into? Do you know how many guards there are or what kind of firepower they might have?”
Carlton considered Daniel’s questions carefully before he answered, and the more he thought about it, the more he believed that Sadiki had played everyone for fools.
“Actually, I don’t think there are any guards, Daniel. Sadiki hired some local thugs to kidnap me. I killed them before I was shot with a dart. Which reminds me, there’s a mess behind the abandoned building at the first location that needs to be dealt with before any humans discover it.”
“Uh…I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Sadiki set off a bomb and blew up the entire thing. There’s nothing left of the place, Carlton.”
“Damn.”
Carlton leaned back on his arms and tilted his head back to stare up at the ceiling. That was seriously fucked. Just how psychotic was Sadiki? What other devious plans had he put into play that they didn’t know about?
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Just some scrapes and scratches. We were just about to hit the building, but something felt off. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was until I smelled the explosives. I was able to get everyone back before the building blew.”
“Thank the gods,”
Carlton whispered.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt, mate.”
“Me, too.”
“I’m still going to paddle your ass.”
Dead silence. Carlton wondered for a moment if he had gone too far with the powerful electus until he heard the slight breathlessness in Daniel’s voice when he replied.
“Promise?”
“Oh yeah.”
Carlton chuckled.
“I’m going to tie your sexy ass down to our bed and paddle it red before fucking you so hard that no one ever questions who tops in this relationship.”
Carlton wasn’t actually sure he could do that, but he sure enjoyed the soft whimper that he heard in his head. Maybe his electus wasn’t so against giving up control as he had thought.
“Are you going to forgive me?”
There was so much hope in Daniel’s whispered words that Carlton’s heart ached for the pain his mate must be going through.
Carlton had no doubt what Daniel was talking about, and truthfully, he couldn’t exactly blame Daniel for wanting to protect him. He probably would have done the same thing if he had been able to. But that still didn’t mean he was happy about it.
“Eventually,”
he replied honestly
, “but it’s going to take a lot of groveling from my mate before I do, along with a promise from you to never, ever, try and drain me again.”
“I promise, Carlton.”
“You’d better, Daniel, if you ever hope to get any blood out of my veins ever again.”
Although, with the way his fingers were bleeding and the scrapes and scratches he had from fighting Sadiki, Carlton couldn’t help but wonder if there would be any blood left. He felt like crap.
“I understand.”
“Good.”
Carlton grinned despite the pain he was in. He couldn’t wait to see Daniel.
“Now come get me. I’m tired of this damn place.”
“I’m almost there, anamchara. I promise.”

Even if he was beat up and bleeding, Carlton had no intention of meeting his rescue party sitting on his butt. He was an alpha after all. Gritting his teeth through the pain, Carlton pushed himself to his feet then walked over to the door again.

The hole he had created might just be big enough for him to fit through. Before squeezing his body through, Carlton stuck his head out of the hole and looked down both directions of the hallway. When he didn’t see any sign of movement, he proceeded to wiggle his way through until he fell onto the cold hallway floor.

Carlton just laid there on the cold concrete and stared up at the ceiling for several moments, trying to catch his breath. He really needed to think about exercising a bit more. His butt was getting big.