A Howling Heart
Chapter sixty-seven

What lies ahead of me amplifies the voice in my head, screaming that trouble is in the very near future. Our issues with the Amoux pack have always led us to their outposts but never to the main building where the most esteemed in the pack lives. Not without the Alpha's permission could we have ever found or broken into this kind of fortress before me. The expansive mansion is a sight to behold, with its towering columns, sweeping staircase, and numerous balconies overlooking the rolling hills. Each window has the flickering light of a candle, but some rooms are illuminated more than others. A wall of wolves surrounds the building at high alert.

I'm in utter disbelief that just beside us, this has been deep in the recesses of their territory, hidden from anyone without clearance to perceive it. Not even Esai mentioned something such as this, and he has had a negative, although extensive, history with Amoux.

"Is this the lodging for your wolves?" I scan the building, frowning as some of it disappears underground.

This is insane. This territory is vast enough to be considered a country. Amoux has way too much power for my liking. Something must be done about it.

"Yes," Austin calls over his shoulder. He commands one of the wolves beside him, and then in the wall of wolves before us, four widen their stances enough for us to move past their barrier.

If my daughter and Mariah are here, it will take more than me to secure their location and get back to our territory. Without reinforcements, I don't know how I will make it out of here alive. I don't know how I will be able to be the man I've vowed to be for Fae: her savior, her Alpha, the protector of our family.

'FAE, I WILL DO WHATEVER I CAN. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS WILL MEAN LIFE WITHOUT ME, MY LOVE.'

The thought is a crushing blow to my ego and the cause of my jealousy's stirring. Just the thought of her being widowed at the hands of Austin's pack makes my blood boil.

I clench my hands into fists, surveying what is before us as we are led down steps to the left side of the mansion, a good one hundred yards from the front of the lodging. I frown as the scent of the earth reaches my nose as we descend into what seems to be its core.

Stone steps lead us down a dimly candle-lit path to a thick metal gate. A camera in both corners of the doorway blinks red to show that someone is watching our every move.

Austin looks at the camera on the right, and the groan of locks coming undone and metal moving upward follows as the gate begins ascending to allow us passage.

"Where are we going?" I demand, not wanting to step forward if I'm just going to be imprisoned on the other side. I might as well fight now and try my luck breaking that barrier of wolves.

Austin doesn't answer but steps through the threshold into what I would classify as a basement.

"I'm not stepping one more foot forward until you answer me, Austin. Where are we going?"

Austin stops, his shoulders high with tension. He whips around, his eyes a piercing yellow, as if he will turn into his wolf out of pure rage any second, but the shaking in his limbs dies down as he is interrupted by the strained cry of a newborn. "She's down here! You kept my daughter locked in this damn basement! I outta' kill you!"

"Enough!" He snarls. "You will understand my purpose in a minute, Matias. Don't jump ahead and prematurely kill yourself. Follow me. Now!"

Anger is like a drug in my veins, willing me to tear Austin's head off, but the promising cry of my daughter forces me in line.

I follow him, biting my tongue to keep from spitting at him for this level of terrorism.

What kind of sick, twisted individual locks a newborn down in the basement? Is Mariah locked down here, too? I'm genuinely contemplating whether she was kidnapped or had an active part in this. I don't know what to believe anymore. We walk down a corridor lined with many doors. They aren't as beaten up as I assumed a basement area would be. It is a dungeon, the way old castles tend to be unless he's hiding one of those somewhere down here. Either way, I don't give a crap. This is wrong on so many levels. Austin deserves to die just for kidnapping my daughter alone.

We stop at the door, and Austin twists around to look at me with his hand remaining on the knob. "I want you to understand something, Matias."

I cross my arms and glare at him. "I think I have a pretty good understanding that you and this entire pack are a bunch of no-good waste of breath." Austin shakes his head, and a deranged smile comes over his face. "You are still not getting it." He pushes open the door and steps into the room.

Another cry blasts loudly from the room. I hurry inside, squinting at the darkness. At the far wall is candlelight, a rocking chair with a side table that houses a bottle, and Mariah, sitting in the chair, rocking a very upset baby. My baby.

I step forward, arm outstretched for the baby.

"Matias," Austin begins, grabbing my attention. Positioned off to the right side of the room, leaning against the wall with a disapproving shake of his head.

"What?" I snarl as I take a step toward my daughter, unsure of what will happen next.

Austin straightens, a bitterness curling his lip as he continues. "There are only two sides in this world, Matias. Good and Evil. God and the Devil."

I scoff. Austin is clearly on the side of evil.

I step forward, and that's when I hear a distorted hiss. It's seconds before I'm attacked by something that moves so fast in the shadows I have no time to get my bearings and protect myself.