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With that, the alpha left the cabin.
Chapter twenty-two
Royce
“We will find him and destroy him!”
His wolf snarled a list of gruesome tortures and deaths he wanted to inflict on Gage Prescot. While Royce agreed with most of them, he wasn’t about to encourage his wolf’s fantasies. He was still livid at the furry bastard for trying to bite Theo.
“If I had thumbs, I would use rusty hedge clippers to remove his head. Oh, I know! I can bite out his hamstrings. Once he’s down, you can use your thumbs on the rusty hedge clippers. Then we can display his severed head on a pike in front of the cabin as a warning to all who wish our mate harm.”
Royce had parked at the enforcers’ office by now. He’d called Argus while he was driving. As luck would have it, Elk Cove’s head alpha was there for a meeting with Lucy, head of the enforcers’ office.
“Royce,” Amelia called. “Where the hell have you been?”
His co-worker jogged up to him in the parking lot and accompanied him into the building.
“Five days ago, Buford shows up, covered in blood, saying you need an extended leave of absence. No explanation, nothing. What the hell happened?”
Before he had the chance to answer, or invite her to his meeting, their enforcer trainees caught up to them.
The young alphas were being boisterous and talking in detail about another group of omegas that had moved to Elk Cove. While Royce was always annoyed by this type of banter, today his fuse was nonexistent.
“That one, Cecille, is a piece of work,” Nick said. “She smelled like fucking croissants.”
“You know what fucking a pastry smells like?” Matt quipped.
“Warm, buttery, and slippery—just the way I like it.”
Matt snorted while Nick continued to detail the different omegas he preferred and their various assets.
Royce growled. Amelia put a hand on his arm and stopped their group.
“Boys, be quiet,” she commanded.
Either they didn’t hear her, or they didn’t care because they continued in the same manner. Then Matt said something that made Royce’s stomach drop out and his blood turn to ice.
“Those new ones still got nothing on Doc. Have you met the vet? He’s got the tightest little—”
Royce grabbed the boy by the neck and slammed him into the nearest wall.
“Royce!”
“What the?!”
All around him, shouts erupted, and hands grabbed at him, but Royce ignored them. His hand flexed around Matt’s neck, his teeth elongated as he snarled.
The blood drained from Matt’s face, his eyes blew wide, and he was quick to splutter apologies. The only problem was Royce had already heard his crude thoughts and knew where they were going, and Royce’s hand was currently cutting off Matt’s air supply, successfully ending his hollow placations.
Royce’s vision was laser-focused, watching the young alpha’s face contort as he paled, then turned red. Matt’s eyes bulged, and his mouth gaped, desperate for air. His wolf growled in satisfaction.
Somewhere in the haze, several pairs of hands gripped him and yanked him back while others wrapped around his fingers and pried them open. He snarled unintelligibly as a group strong-armed him down the hall.
Something slammed into his chest, and he was knocked backward into a bright room. The door banging shut cut off his visual connection with the alpha who was talking about Theo. In an instant, Royce slumped over, bracing his hands on his knees, panting. He was winded and covered in a cold sweat; his fingers trembled as he stumbled into a wall for support.
“You better?” Amelia asked.
“What? What the fuck just happened?”
