Chapter Twenty-Five

Sonya drove home in silence, her thoughts enough to keep her busy. Her encounter with Dax the night before left her a little more shaken than she allowed Alec to see. Something was wrong with the Alpha of the European brown bears. He was crazy and it was disturbing her. She had no doubt that Alec could hold his own in a fair fight, but she knew Dax wouldn't fight fair at all.

She needed to do something. If she could help whittle down the number of men Alec might face, that would help. Part of her was fearless. She was not going to sit back and let anything happen to her mate. Dax was cunning, but she had one up on him. Time to do something to tip the scales.

A quick call to the good doctor who had brought her mate back to life and helped her father go comfortably to his final resting spot, and the proof Alec needed was on its way. She left a message with Parik to call her later in the day before parking the car in front of her father's house. The house had been left to her, but she would share it with Cade if he needed a place to live or if she ever decided to sell it.

Where would she and Alec live? Was his place more suitable for them, or was her place? There was no reason to keep both. That was excessive and the money from the sale of one could take care of both of their packs for several years.

Getting out of the car, Sonya paused and took a quick survey of her land, a smile touching her mouth as memories moved into her thoughts. She had been raised there, memories of her mother and father haunting her thoughts as she walked through the place over the last few days.

She walked into the house and moved to her bedroom, pulling at her clothes from the day before. She needed a long shower and a quick meal and then she would be ready to start moving things in the right direction. One of her father's greatest lessons to her had been to not wait around for change, but to become an agent of change.

Sonya stood over her empty plate in the kitchen, licking the last bits of grape jelly from her fingers as her phone buzzed. She picked it up and wiped her hands on a small napkin beside her.

"Morning, princess. I saw you called earlier, but the sun hadn't come up yet. Even your father waited for the sun to rise." Parik's voice was husky and filled with sleep.

"No reason to wait for the sun to start your day if you never slept." She laughed softly.

"This is true. Are you not sleeping?"

"No. I've mated with Alec and he's not interested in me sleeping."

"Okay, no need to go any farther. You're like a daughter to me and killing Alec would be a shame."

"This is true. I'm going to work on a few things today, but I'm sure you felt the shift in our leadership last night when I released the pack to him."

"I did. I think it was a good move on your part and I hope you didn't emotionally suffer too much from the decision."

"It really wasn't a decision. Dad put everything into place perfectly. I simply followed the breadcrumbs he left and ended up right here." She walked to the bedroom and stopped beside her closet.

"Do you need me to get communication out to our people or have you taken care of that already?"

"No. I need you to. That's why I called earlier. Call together an assembly and I'll join you around four this afternoon."

"Will do. See you in a bit, Sonya."

She hung up the phone and pulled on her favorite pair of jeans and a tight black top. Not knowing what she was up against, she strapped a retractable knife to both of her thighs and tucked a Glock in the back of her pants. Shifting and taking out Dax and his boys would be easier, but the chances of that happening were slim. She would need to play by human rules, but she would twist them slightly.

Dax and his bears were holed up in an old house near the edge of town. The lights were off as she approached the building. She parked far enough away and got out, walking quickly through the brush. Something told her that this wouldn't be as easy as she thought in her head, but she was without options. Taking out the three bears wouldn't be the most challenging moment of the day – that would belong to killing Dax.

She shuddered at the thought of him. Pure evil.

A loud grunt caused her to pause, tucking behind a tree as her blood began to push faster through her veins. She needed to keep her head in the game and stop daydreaming if she was going to survive. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she slipped it out, glancing down at the text from Alec.

Alec: What are you doing? I can feel your tension and fear.

Sonya: I love you. Talk later.

It wasn't fair, but she didn't have time to talk. She knelt down and picked up a large rock, throwing it toward the woods and moving fast when the large man standing nearest her jumped and called out.

"Who's there?"

She was on him before he turned around, pulling out her knife and making two quick slashes across his throat. His eyes widened as he fell and she suppressed a sense of accomplishment. He was an easy kill, most likely the smallest of the group. She slunk behind the trees and turned her phone off.

After taking a few deep breaths, she moved toward the house, slipping into the darkness through the back door and pressing her back against one of the walls. She needed to listen for signs of someone being awake but heard nothing.

She could smell Dax, his body potent as the Alpha of the group. She would steer clear of him until the other two were dead. There was no way she could survive if she had to fight more than one of them at a time. She slipped into the last door at the end of the hall, her body numb to the incessant pounding of her heart. She was a killer and could do this. Her instincts blocked anything that might indicate otherwise.

The deep snoring gave her relief. Killing someone in their sleep wasn't respectable by any means, but it worked all the same to further her plans. She carefully slipped onto the bed and pulled her gun from her back, twisting the silencer and pressing it to the back of his head as he woke. She pulled the trigger twice quickly and he fell back down on the mattress below them.

It was too easy.

Sonya got up and walked to the door, listening closely for anyone moving down the hall. Nothing. Was she going to get through this without a fight?

The only other door in the hall that didn't reek of Dax was close to the kitchen. She paused just outside of it and listened for snoring again. Nothing. The sound of a door and voices came from the kitchen area and she paused. Dax and the other man must have been outside while she was.

How had she miscalculated that?

She only had the element of surprise on her side. Time for action. She moved into the kitchen and flung her knife at Dax, catching him square in the chest before she unloaded three bullets into the large man beside him. The guy hit the ground before uttering a word.

"Oh bloody brilliant," Dax laughed as she raised the gun toward him. He pulled the knife from his chest and licked the blood off of it. "You've made a crucial mistake, pretty girl."

"What's that?" Her hand shook slightly. The monster in front of her left her feeling helpless. He was the type of Alpha that all men and women feared, a brutal, restless soul that would work hard to ruin any and everything in his path.

"You should have shot me already." He twisted as she released gunfire, his body lifting her off the ground as he plowed into her. Sonya yelped but tried to remain in control of her fear. She had an additional knife and she would shift shortly if that was her only option.

"Fuck you. You were warned to go back to your people and leave mine alone." She rolled then, mounting him and sitting up as she began to punch him in the face and chest over and over again. He extended his arms out to the side and laughed deep in his chest. She pulled out the knife, not willing to leave anything to chance.

He didn't waste any time slapping the sharp instrument from her hand. He rolled her over, pinned her to the ground and pulled her hands far above her head. "This is going to be fun."

"Get off of me."

"Oh no. You came into my home looking for something. I assume you took out my closest friends, so retribution is mine and you're going to suffer greatly for your actions." He rocked his hips against hers, his erection thick and solid.

"You're disgusting. How can you be turned on by death?" She jerked from him, tugging hard against him.

"It's powerful. Do you know anything more powerful than death? It has yet to be defeated and yet you and I will continue to run from it as hard and fast as we can. In the end, it will get us. How can you not be turned on?" He moved down her body, sucking her nipple through her clothing into his mouth as he pressed his teeth against the soft flesh.

She screamed loudly, jerking again and trying to figure out her options. It didn't seem that there were many, but she was a fighter. Three of the bastards were dead and the Alpha was all that was left. If nothing else, she would tire him out so that Alec could finish him off. Her life meant nothing without freedom and neither did Alec's.

She had to finish this.

"I like a fight, but I have a few things left to do today, so let's put you to sleep. When you wake up, I'll tie you up and fuck you ten ways before lunch." He laughed as she twisted hard, knocking him off for a moment. Something bit the back of her leg and she turned, realizing that he had slipped a needle into her flesh.

Sonya glanced around the room as the world began to fade. His last words were not spoken to her, but to someone on the phone.

"Game's changed. Ball's now in my court."