The Pack's Hacker (by Cooper) novel Chapter 21

Stellan

I can smell her. I can smell her and I have to find her. She is mine. She is MINE! I’ll kill the wolf who claimed her, kill his pup and put one of my own in her. She was always mine.

Dolph has taken over our body. I’ve tried to pull him back but the moment he smelled that pup, he’d lost his fucking mind. He was never willing to give Lila up. He always wanted her and Bree, which is why I intended to keep her on the side even though I was going to mark Cyra. That plan had backfired spectacularly. All I needed to do was mark her, order her to accept me, take my place as Alpha of Arden’s pack, and put an heir in her. After that, I could kill her and take Lila as my mate. I had it all planned out but that fucking bitch Cyra ruined everything.

No, not Cyra. Wendy. Wendy Hill. She’s the one who started all of this.

I didn’t know any of that until I ended up in prison with Alpha Arden and some instructor from the Academy, Alpha Leo. He’s the one who told me that all of this started with Wendy. She’s the daughter of Warren and Yara Hill, the sister of Alpha Yorick, who took Cyra as his mate, the sister-in-law of Alpha Quirin who killed my brother Christer, and now, she’s been accepted into the Academy as part of the tech team.

Arden insisted that she’s the weakest of the Hills, the easiest to target in order to get back at them for what they did. I’d nearly had her too. If Dolph hadn’t lost control in Lila’s bedroom, I could have killed that fucking bitch before escaping.

As Dolph races to get to Lila, to reclaim her as ours, I think back to last night when that pup had stared at me, wide-eyed and terrified. It would have been so easy to rip her throat out. Then everyone would have been distracted, and I could have snatched Lila while they weren’t looking. But Dolph had gone mad, crazy, and wild when he’d smelled that our mate had a pup with another man. He’d wanted blood but instead of going for the easy target, he’d gone for the one protecting the pup bitch. Then, we’d run out of fucking time and had to escape.

Leaping into the river was also not my idea, but he refused to be captured. We’d hit the water and it felt like landing on concrete. Then, as we’d tried to catch our breath, the current sucked us under, making it impossible to breathe. I have no idea how we survived, but when I woke up this morning, we were alive and had washed up on the riverbank.

Dolph had been quiet, so I’d taken over again, gotten away from the river, and began to run. However, the moment he’d healed us and come back, he’d forced his way to the front of our consciousness and taken over again. He’s become single- minded in his craziness. Nothing matters except Lila, well that and killing Cyra. He blames Cyra for us losing Lila. If we can kill Wendy, he will, but that’s not one if his priorities. It is, however, one of mine. I told Arden and Leo that I’d get revenge for all of us.

After Dolph took over and pulled the shift, he started running back toward Lila, toward our mate.

‘Mine! She is mine! I will have her!’ Dolph growled, his legs pushing hard to get to his mate.

The moment he crossed into what used to be vacant land, I knew we were doomed. Howls of alarm went up all around us and I heard the sound of paws pounding against the earth headed in our direction.

Dolph turned, ready to evade them, but the sound of paws heading straight for us was coming from behind us too. A moment later, I heard the howl of the hunt, and I realized that there would be no escape for us. We were surrounded by a large group of Alphas.

‘Dolph, retreat! They’ll kill us!’ I scream at my wolf.

‘Lila!’ he howls and I realize it’s not just in my head, it’s also out loud. He’s calling to our mate as if she’ll answer.

Instead, we get a snarl of fury. It must be her mate, that guy from the courtroom who called her mate when I was forced to accept her rejection. The next time I’d seen her, she’d reeked of his scent. She’d been coated in it. Dolph had nearly gone feral right then, but I’d been able to pull him back. Now, however, that wasn’t an option. He was too far gone.

Rather than trying to find a way out of this mess, he is still too focused on finding Lila, forcing his mark on her, and making her his.

As he races to an area where there should be nothing but vacant land, we can smell a large number of wolves. Behind us, I hear the others closing in. Dolph doesn’t care. All he cares about is Lila. His mind is singularly focused on her and nothing else matters; not me, not our escape, not even our life.

‘DAMN IT, DOLPH! You’re going to get us killed!’ I yell.

‘So be it,’ he growls, focusing on the wolves who have placed themselves between him and Lila.

As he leaps to try and get past them, one of the wolves snarls and leaps into the air, colliding with us as his teeth snap against our throat. I recognize the scent instantly and so does Dolph. This is the man who claimed our mate as his, the man whose pup Lila bore, the man who taunted us in court by putting his scent all over our mate.

Dolph immediately loses what’s left of his mind, thrashing and trying to get a hold on the wolf that has his teeth around our throat.

Through Dolph’s eyes, I see the hatred in the other wolf’s eyes a moment before he thrashes his head.

I hear Dolph yelp in my mind, but it takes a moment for me to understand what’s happened.

Dolph collapses on the ground, but from where he is laying, I can see the wolf who attacked him. I watch in horror as he drops the chunk of Dolph’s throat that he tore out of our body and then the darkness closes in.

My last thought before I die is that I hope someone takes out that bitch Wendy. This is all her fault.

Quirin POV

I watch as Landon’s wolf, Osman, stands over Stellan as his body shifts back to his human form. I know the look in his eyes and I know what it feels like to want the blood of the person who threatened your mate.

I shift and slowly approach Osman.

“Hey, Just Landon,” I say, trying to get his attention. I know from my own experience that it’s nearly impossible for anyone to get through to you except the person you love most in the world.

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