The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 100

ETHAN

I tied Principal Clandestine to a chair in my room, ignoring him as he complained about the blood circulation being cut off by the tightness of the ropes. I could care less if he was in any pain. "We can make this simple or we can make this painful, but in the end, you will tell me where and who took Juniper," I said.

"You can do whatever you want to me, but it's not going to make me talk," he said.

I looked over my choice of weapons on the bed, wondering which one looked the most menacing. "I doubt that, Charles." I decided to go with a simple dagger. I knew his kind of alpha. He acted impenetrable because he was an alpha. The bloodline of an alpha didn't give him a spine, though. "You're a weak man. I'm sure you'll break easily."

His eyes went directly to the blade in my hand. He squirmed as he looked at the thin, sharp metal. He audibly swallowed. "When Beta Burrell hears about this, you'll lose any chance of taking over the beta position."

I ignored his threat. Even if we failed to stop my father, I would never take a position by his side. "Do you really think he cares about what happens to you? He's only using you to get what he wants. What did he even promise you to betray Alpha Williams like this? You already have power and money."

"He told me he wants me to be his personal advisor. Of course, he cares about me. He needs me to help him convince the rest of the werewolves he's the rightful leader and to do what is right." Charles was clearly blinded by the promise of power to truly understand what kind of devil he made a deal with.

I pressed the blade against his neck. I wanted to carve him into shreds for attacking Juniper and distracting me while his associate took her. The only thing stopping me was knowing he had knowledge I needed.

"My father didn't care when his actions killed his own son. I'm sure you heard about that horrible accident that killed Beta Burrell's second oldest son. It was all over the news years ago. If that didn't phase my father, why would he care about someone like you?" Charles was sweating now, and his confidence from before was gone. He was a weak alpha, and he stood no chance against me. He knew that, too.

"He needs me," the principal muttered, but it wasn't a convincing statement.

"Does he? Because I bet I could stab you through the heart, and no one would care. My father would probably praise me for doing his dirty work to get rid of you." I used the power of my beta wolf to make sure Charles felt just how real my threat was. He shrank in response, and he was on the verge of breaking. "Don't hurt me. I... I'll do whatever you want."

"Tell me who took Juniper and where she was taken," I demanded.

"I don't know."

"If you don't know, then I have no reason to keep you alive." I moved the blade over his heart and started to pierce his skin.

"Wait! No! No! Don't. I was lying. I'll tell you everything." The smell of urine mixed with his tears. He broke even faster than I anticipated.

"Tell me everything you know. Now." I kept the blade where it was, and a small trickle of blood stained the principal's shirt.

"It was Craig, my brother, who took her. He sent me in first, saying that I could convince her to come peacefully because of my position. He told me he'd step in if I failed." Charles blubbered as he spoke. If he hadn't just attacked my mate, I might have felt sorry for him. He was pathetic and didn't deserve his title as alpha.

"Where is he taking her?" I didn't hold back any of my power now. I was desperate to find Juniper, and I didn't want to play any games. The sooner I knew Juniper's whereabouts, the sooner I could get my mate back.

"Where is he taking her?" I didn't hold back any of my power now. I was desperate to find Juniper, and I didn't want to play any games. The sooner I knew Juniper's whereabouts, the sooner I could get my mate back. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me anything."

I pressed the knife a little harder, increasing the stream of blood coming out of the principal's chest. "Where is she?"

"I swear I don't know!" Charles was fully sobbing now. "He didn't trust me with that information. He said I always mess everything up."

I believed he was telling the truth, and it made me want to plunge the knife into his heart for not being able to tell me where Juniper was taken. I knew my father wanted her dead, and it was only a matter of time before she was killed-if she wasn't dead already. No. She couldn't be dead. She was my mate, and I would have felt it if she had died.

"Is he planning on killing Juniper?" I asked, keeping my wits about me. Even if he didn't have all of the answers I wanted, he would still be useful.

"No, at least not right away. He wants to use her as collateral against you and your brothers to get you to do what he wants. Please just let me go. I've told you everything I know."

I was about to ask him another question, but footsteps nearing my apartment door drew my attention away. I shoved a sock into the principal's mouth and whispered, "Don't make a sound, or I won't hesitate to plunge that knife into your heart. Got it?" He shook his head fervently, and I knew he was too scared to do anything against me. I kept the knife in my hand, in case it was someone else coming to clean up the principal's mess. I reached the front door just as a knock came from the other side. I glanced through the peephole, knowing a hunter wouldn't have bothered to knock.

My jaw nearly dropped when I saw who was standing on the other side of the door. I set the knife to the side and opened the door. Moira stood outside, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. She was the last person I expected to see outside of my apartment.

***

ASHER

Asher didn't hesitate to lunge towards me as soon as the gun went off. His eyes were wild, and even though he swung at me, his movements were controlled. Every hit he tried to make was easy to block. Even a novice trainee would've been able to dodge Axel's movements. However, from the outside, I knew it looked like proper sparing. Axel's grunts added to the atmosphere, and the woman watched us with a gleam in her eyes.

"I thought that might help convince you," she laughed. There was something wrong with this woman; she was actually enjoying this fight between brothers right after shooting our other brother.

I tried not to think about the blood Nathan was losing every second Asher and I sparred. As long as the bullet wasn't laced with silver and no vital organs had been pierced, he would be fine. If it was a silver bullet, we needed to remove it from his body as soon as possible to allow his werewolf abilities to kick in and keep him alive.

I was starting to get anxious about how long Axel was taking to reveal his plan, but we were moving closer and closer to the woman and Nathan with each wild attack and dodge. Axel swung his knife towards my face, but his movement was slow and clumsy. Even though Axel hadn't had much warrior training, he was still skilled at street fighting. He would never have given someone the opening he gave me without a reason.

I caught his arm mid-swing, stopping him before his blade pierced my skin. He leaned into me and whispered, "Tag. You're it." He winked and started rotating his body, giving me the perfect opening towards the woman.

I moved in perfect sync with him and lunged for the woman. Her eyes widened at the last second as she realized what was happening. I slashed her chest with my blade, leaving a deep gouge in its wake.

She raised her gun towards me, but I was prepared for her attack. Her use of a gun made it clear she lacked skill in hand-to-hand combat. She preferred hiding behind her distance-based attacks, which gave me the advantage at close range. I twisted her arm before she could aim properly.

The gun went off, but the bullet went straight into the air. I continued twisting her arm until I heard a snap. She screamed and dropped the gun. I picked it up and aimed it at her. I pulled the trigger without thinking. She tried to kill my brother. She didn't deserve to live.

Her body seized from the sudden wound, and she fell to her knees, pressing her hands against her bleeding chest wound.

"Fools," she muttered, immediately coughing up blood after. "Your father could've given you anything you wanted, and now you will all die."

"Asher!" Axel shouted. He was standing by Nathan's side.

I felt for any other weapons on her person to make sure she wouldn't pull out another gun the moment I turned my back. "You're the fool if you think my father would have actually given you anything you wanted. He's skilled at using people to get what he wants and then discarding them."

"Asher!" Axel shouted again, and I knew he needed me. Nathan needed medical attention immediately if we wanted to save his life.

I turned my full attention to Axel and paused, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Axel had pulled the burlap sack off Nathan's head, only it wasn't Nathan. It was someone with the same skin tone and body build but it wasn't Nathan's face. "Who is that?" I asked, moving closer to get a better look.

Axel shook his head. "I don't know. He's not from our pack. He was dead before we got here, too. His body is already cold."

Part of me was relieved the man in front of us wasn't Nathan, but I also hated that this random guy was sucked into this because he looked like Nathan. "Why would they kill a look-a-like Nathan?"

"To lure us here maybe?" Axel looked just as unhappy as I felt.

I rushed back to the woman's side. Her breathing was labored, but she was still conscious. "Where's Nathan?" I demanded.

She smiled, blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth. "He's with my brother. Don't worry. He's still alive-For now. That might be more than you can say in a few minutes."

"Who's your brother?"

"Asher," Axel called out.

The hair on the back of my neck rose, and I didn't have to look around the room to know we weren't alone. A moment later, five men and women emerged from the shadows, all holding blades made of silver. This was definitely a trap