The Imperial Wolf Series Books 1-3
Chapter 39

Erick POV

I storm off of the porch. Alexander is a snide little fucker, and he pisses me off. The two vampire bitches with him pissed me the hell off too. I know I need to calm down. I keep telling myself that I need to calm myself. They do not realize where I am coming from or how I feel about Kate. My wife is missing. I have lived without her by my side for six months. Now I find out she is pregnant. I only want to bring her home. Don't they get that?

I do not want to storm into a wolf compound, killing innocent wolves, risking the life of my wife and unborn child. Killing another wolf for following the orders of their Alpha, how can I do that? I do not care about Macon and Angie; they can both die, but the wolves in Macon's pack. They are only following his lead. They may not even agree with him and be stuck in the situation. I had seen firsthand wolves following their Alpha even when they knew it was wrong. The wolves in his pack may not have a choice in the matter, or they could be unaware of the situation. Macon is a ruthless leader and a real son of a bitch.

"Erick," I hear Shawn calling for me from behind me. I stand silent. My mind is going a million places. I finally turn around to face him. I know Shawn means well, but he has no idea what is going on with Alexander. I do not care if his father knew Alexander. There is more to Lester and Alexander falling out than a love affair. I just know it has to be.

"What?" I ask him. Shawn stands beside me. I can see his mind trying to decide if he should get to the point or offer some words of encouragement. He knows I am not happy about this situation.

"Alexander is sending Desire to get vampires together. We need to be ready to go soon," Shawn says.

I kick the ground to release some of my anger. "You have to keep a cool head in all of this, Alpha," Shawn says.

He is right. I know he is correct, but it does not make it any easier for me. I do not trust Alexander with Kate and my child. Alexander has a motive. I know he does, and when I find out what it is, there will be hell to pay for all of this. "Shawn, you could have come to me; why were you working with Alexander?" I ask him.

"I wanted to make sure the person who killed my father paid for what he did, and I wanted my Alpha to get his wife back. I knew you had a lot on you. You took on my pack, and your pack lost their Luna. I only want to help," Shawn says. "I do not trust him. Something tells me not to trust him with Kate or the baby. Alexander is up to something," I say.

"I can understand that completely and when we have her, then you can voice that opinion, but for now, we need to trust him and get her and your child out of that compound and safely back to the pack. You need her, and the pack needs her, so let's do this," Shawn says.

"I need her more than you will ever understand, Shawn. I want her home when the baby comes. I do not want her to do this alone, and I damn sure do not want Macon to get his hands on our child," I say.

The thought of Macon having his grubby little hands on my child or my wife makes my skin crawl. Angie, that stupid bitch, I want her dead. I thought she was a good wolf. All the while, this bitch was in bed with Macon. Not only in bed with him, but she is also his wife. How and when did that happen?

"Erick, you got to focus. The only thing you need to worry about is getting Kate. Let everything else go, for now," Shawn says.

"I got it. I will not give Alexander any grief, for now," I say.

"Good, I do not want to be in the middle of you two. I will always side with my Alpha, but we need him for this. We cannot go in there alone. We do not even know where the compound is at; we need Alexander and the vampires to take us," Shawn says. John and Trip come up to us to see if we are going with the vampires. "Everything good?" John asks.

"Yeah, we will do as Alexander asks. We will go in with the vampires, but our priority is Kate," I say.

"I am going to kill Macon," Shawn says.

"I know you are, and I do not blame you. Kill him. Have your revenge for your father, but do not let your revenge get you killed, Shawn. Your father would not want that for you," I say.

The four of us walk back to the house. There are a lot of vampires waiting with Alexander. Something about this doesn't seem right as we walk up; the vampires hiss at us. Alexander shuts them up quickly. Desire comes to meet us. "Don't mind them. They are young and hot-headed. You can relate to that, can't you, Erick?" Desire says.

"Yeah, I can," I growl back at her.

"Save the animosity for tonight," Shawn says to both of us. John and Trip stand behind me, ready to back me up if needed. Shawn tries to keep the peace.

"It will be dark soon, and we should get ready to go," Shawn says.

"Shawn is right. What do you need us to do, Alexander?" I ask.

Alexander looks down at me from his perch on the porch. He smiles. He thinks he has got me, but he does not. I will not be one of his followers. I am the Alpha of my pack, but only long enough to get my wife back will I follow his orders.

"That is more like it, my little wolf son-in-law," Alexander says. His tone infuriates me, but I keep my mouth shut. Enjoy it, Alexander. Have your moment while you can, vampire. As soon as I have Kate, we are out of here.