I opened my jaw and let the guard’s body fall to the steps. He was dead.

The bullet had grazed my shoulder, tearing out a strip of fur and flesh, but it hadn’t been enough to stop me. Nothing would stop me tonight. I’d kept going, leapt straight at him and struck a killing blow. Now he lay motionless beneath me.

I sensed the rest of the pack as they came up behind me, preparing to enter the estate. Marcellus was in there somewhere, and that was what mattered most. We were here to end the complete inhumanity of the omega auctions, but I had a more personal reason to be here tonight.

Marcellus had sold Billy, my beautiful mate, to some scumbag who wanted him for nothing more than breeding purposes. He’d taken Billy away from me, and I never thought I’d see him again. Who could say how many others Marcellus had done the same to? How many other mates had he split up, and how many had never been returned to their loves?

I lurched forward and crashed into the front door, shattering the wood around the latch. It blew apart as I forced my way inside. Two men at the bottom of the stairs whirled around but before they could even process what was going on, Kitchi and Red took them down. I heard the sound of their necks snap.

Two hallways peeled off on either side, but the men had been guarding the steps, so that’s where I went.

I was on the second floor in a flash. The estate was absolutely dripping with wealth. The floor and walls were some sort of white stone that, while beautiful, were also sterile and cold, like a showroom or museum instead of a home.

The hallway twisted and turned as I made my way forward, the rest of the pack at my back. On either side of me, there were doors, and an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach as I realized what they were: holding cells.

One of these rooms is where they had held Billy before the auction.

There didn’t seem to be any guards up here, or at least in the hallway, so I shifted back to human form and stepped up to one of the doors. I heard the others shift behind me.

“Careful,” Tate whispered in my ear. “There could be anything behind that door.”

“They had Billy in one of these,” I hissed, gripping the door handle. The stone floor was cold against my feet. This entire place gave me the creeps. I twisted the knob and pushed the door in.

The room was tiny, lit by a single overhead lamp. At the center of the room was a chair, and in it, an omega, wrists bound with a black bag over his head.

“Son of a bitch!” I growled, snatching the hood from the captive omega.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” he blurted out, shaking his head in fear. He was small, with straight brown hair and a scrawny frame. He couldn’t have been any older than sixteen.

“Quiet!” I whispered, placing a finger over his lips. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to rescue you.”

His eyes snapped to mine and I saw the fear, the skepticism as he questioned what he’d just heard. This could all be a trick. He had no reason to trust us.

“We’re here to end this auction,” I whispered. “This is my pack.”

Kitchi shifted and used his teeth to snap the ropes that bound the omega’s wrists together. All he was wearing was a robe.

Less to remove when he’s put on display, I thought. A fresh wave of disgust washed over me as I pictured Billy sitting in this room, waiting for his turn to go on display for the hungry alphas with their thick wallets, ready to bid on him to buy him like a piece of meat.

I’ll kill them all!

“How many others are there?” Red asked.

“I – I don’t know,” the omega stuttered. “They came into our house and took three of us.”

“Where was your alpha?” Kitchi asked.

“He’d gone out…” the scared omega replied.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Jessie,” he replied softly.

“Okay, Jessie,” I told him. “We don’t have much time. We’re going to go free the others and take care of the sick sons of bitches running this place. Do you know who Marcellus is?”

Jessie shook his head. He was terrified. “I’m s-sorry. No.”

Turning on my heels, I strode from the room and down the hall to the next door. Without hesitation, I shoved it open to find another omega bound to a chair. This time, there was a guard with him.

He turned, but my fist crushed his larynx before he could react. He gasped, clutching his throat as I brought my fist down across his jaw. He hit the floor like a ragdoll.

I passed the rest of my pack on the way out, knowing they would take care of the omega, and continued to the next door.

I kicked it open to find it empty.

“Shit!”

Moving on, I moved down the hall, but stopped when a set of doors appeared on my left, the opposite side of the hall from the omega cells.

This must be the bidding booths, I thought, remembering Billy’s description of the auction. He might be in there…

I heard the footsteps of my pack behind me as they continued down the hall, checking the cells for more omegas to free. But my mind was elsewhere. My mind was focused on only one thing: Marcellus.

Feeling my fangs extend, I gripped the handle of the door and twisted.