Page 62 of Alpha's Claim

A heavy hand lands on my chest, pushing me down with laughable ease. I choke on the numbing scent of cloves. “Rest up, bear man. We’ll have use for you later.”

Paloma

I watch as Darius’ body goes limp. The guy standing over him has to be some sort of shifter. He’s huge, with a scarred face. Big, black sunglasses hide his demon eyes.

He sets down the crossbow he used to shoot Darius and faces me. “Mr. Thompson wants to see you.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “If you think I’m going to do anything he says, you can think again.” Now that I know for sure Wren is alive, all my emotions have turned to rage.

“Suit yourself,” he shrugs. “I’m not the one with a boy bear whose life is on the line.”

“What are you going to do with him?” I ask, in case he’ll gloat and give me more information. I don’t know much about our situation. Thom’s men gave me a tranquilizer to knock me out. I woke up here, in this cold hangar with a concrete floor, lying on a medical table next to Darius. He’s restrained in silver chains, but they’re letting me move about freely. For now.

The big guard doesn’t answer. The door at the end of the large space bangs open, and Thom trots in, followed by a group of guards.

“Paloma,” he shouts in his reedy voice. “What have you done?”

I move, so I’m standing between him and Darius. Thom stomps over to me. He’s supposed to be intimidating with his angry face and the armed guards. But I feel no fear, nothing but hatred. This man kept me and my sister captive. He tried to murder my sister and almost succeeded. He had his troops try to kill my friends.

He deserves what’s coming to him and more.

“You wicked child,” he says. His normally pale skin flushes an unhealthy red. “How dare you target my fund!”

I know why he’s so upset. He’s discovered the trades I made on the flight over here. I spent the whole time making trades that would ensure the downfall of Thompson Capital. I know exactly what Thompson’s holdings are, and how to target them.

“What’s wrong, Thom?” I taunt. “Did someone boost the profits of the companies you were shorting? After a bunch of those deals go through, you’ll get caught…shall we say…short.”

“You bitch.”

“Careful.” I examine my nails. “You’ll give yourself another heart attack. It’s only a few hundred billion.”

“You’ll find a way to make it back. Every penny. Or else–”

“Or else what? You’ll kill an innocent child? I’m done with your threats. You can kill me. But then it’ll be all over. You’ll have nothing. You’ll be nothing. Because that’s what you’re really worth, right? You inherited a fortune, and in a single decade, you ran your family’s companies into the ground.”

“You shut your mouth–” He steps forward to strike me, and I slap his hand away. He’s not used to me being able to fight back.

“You know it’s the truth. The only thing you’ve done was kill my parents and take me and Wren prisoner, so I’d build your fortune. And with a few clicks of a mouse, I took it all away. You’re a failure. And the world will know.”

“You will rebuild all you’ve taken from me. I will chain you here, and you will never see the sun–”

“I willneverwork for you again.” I use my rage as a weapon. I’ve never felt so much power with Thom–I wastoo trapped in his web before. Now that Darius got me free, I’m a new person.

He sputters, unable to speak.

A phone rings, cutting him off. He pulls out his cell and stiffens when he sees the name on the screen.

“Is that one of your investor friends?” I ask. He turns beet red, so I know I must be right. “They can’t be happy with how much money you’ve lost them.”

“Oh, they’ll be happy.” He pockets the phone. He’s breathing heavily, but a tinge of triumph enters his voice. “Because not only will you rebuild my investments, you’ll rebuild theirs. And I have something else to offer them.” He points to Darius. “A shifter to hunt.”

I suck in a breath, feeling like he punched me in the gut. My skin crawls at his smile. Terror seeps back in, bleeding me of the rage and power I felt a moment ago.

“You wouldn’t.”

He chuckles, feeling like he has the upper hand. “Something you never knew about me, daughter. I’m part of an exclusive club. We call ourselves the Venatores. It’s an old Latin word that meanshunters. And guess what sort of creature we like to hunt?”

“No,” I croak. I don’t want to believe this, but it makes sense. The silver chains, the nets, the tranquilizer: Thom’s men were prepared to take shifters down. There was a reason he told me to bring Darius back with me, and it wasn’t for revenge.