Chapter 183
HANNAH'S POV
They clapped, cheered, and waved banners on both sides of the road leading to the estate. At some points, the people were so close, barely leaving enough room for the cars to pass that the vehicles had to slow to a crawl.
Some of the guards had to get out to help control the crowd. The people barely paid them any attention. Their focus was on Alpha Wallace, his family, and maybe me. Technically, I was part of that family now.
Pure joy was on every face that I could see. It was now obvious how much everyone had hated Dawson's rule though they had been too scared to say anything about it.
I almost wished Dawson was alive to see his 'subjects cheering for his enemy. Almost.
I turned to look at Willa. She was grinning, her face pressed to the glass. Once she wound down the glass of the Jeep and waved. The moment they saw her, the crowd went wild, most of them stomping their feet and letting out a cheer that must have echoed throughout the pack.
The convoy stopped at the massive iron-wrought gates of the Dawson mansion, waiting for it to open. When it did a few moments later, the cars cruised up to its front door.
Alpha Wallace was riding in the car in front. He got out, limping a little. His wounds hadn't all healed yet but at least they had been cleaned.
"I've got to stamp Dawson out completely, and now is the time," he had said the moment we had come out of the arena.
Several guards got out with him. They leaned close as he spoke to them. Then they nodded and dispersed to carry out whatever orders he had given them. Some went into the grounds. Some into the house. Some into the other buildings on the estate.
I knew what some of those orders were. The Alpha was set on finding and dealing with all of Dawson's allies. As for those who had helped Dawson plot and murder the former Alpha Keith, he planned to arrest them and have them face their own trials.
I had a brief but satisfying image of those council members with Dawson at the warehouse, facing their own death, knowing it would be their lives on the line. Not mine.
A guard opened the door of the car I was in, and stepped aside. Willa was already out.
Jace was waiting. While Chase and Cade went ahead, he took my hand. I clutched it tightly, reminding myself that Dawson and Asher didn't live here anymore.
"Nervous?" he said, reading my expression. "You don't have to be. You're safe now. No one is coming after you anymore."
I smiled, knowing it was true.
Dawson was gone. Most of the threats hanging over me had gone with him. Finally, I was free. I didn't feel completely free though. I supposed that feeling would come in time.
I followed the others in but hung back a little. I couldn't seem to help it.
when I entered the house, it was like going on a trip back in time. Alone I wandered the halls, the corridors, the rooms. They all had unpleasant associations with me.
I remembered walking these floors, head bowed, dressed in clothes little better than rags, working like a maid. Being beaten, sworn at, punished, trying to avoid Asher and Julia at the same time. An almost impossible task. And all the while feeling trapped, knowing I couldn't escape. That I would die if I tried.
The memories made my breath seize up. I turned and ran back to the others.
In the hallway, off the living room, Alpha Wallace's guards had gotten hold of Dawson's guards and were forcing them on their knees. Most of Dawson's guards were sporting injuries.
"Stay down, asshole," growled one of the guards, aiming a kick at one of Dawson's guards who was still struggling.
The man went down with a grunt of pain. From somewhere within the house, there was the sound of a brief scuffle, and then more of Dawson's guards were marched in, shoved mercilessly down.
"How many more of you are here?" one of the Alpha's guards barked.
He made a threatening gesture when the prisoners refused to answer. Just then, Wallace's guards brought in about half a dozen more men. They were stripped of their arms which were thrown on the floor.
"Start talking or one of you gets to lose an eye, how about that?" Alpha Wallace's guard threatened.
One of Dawson's guards with a split bloody lip swollen to twice its size said sullenly, "You've gotten all of us now."
"You sure?" The Alpha's guard, making sure the wounded guard was looking, fingered the sharp-looking silver dagger hanging on his belt. "If I find out you're lying to me..."
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