Chapter 91

(**Irina**)

After dinner, Sebastion and I went up to our room with the twins. Lenor insisted on putting Jace and Zasha to bed on her own. Because they separated me from my newborns so shortly after they were born, I needed time with them urgently. I gladly gave in to her wishes and let Sebastion lead me to our room.

I relax in the glider near the bassinet with Theo. Sebastion watches while I open my blouse and settle him on my left nipple before he helps me get Oksanna to my right nipple. Feeding them both at the same time will take some getting used to. There is a lot of finesse required in feeding twins.

Even more with these two. I can’t wait to see how they mature. Who they become. Knowing that they, along with their older sister, are gifted with special powers scares me. We will have to protect them. They will also need to be trained on how to use the gifts that they have.

As I glance down at them, all I can see is their sweet faces as they suckle. I will do everything in my power to keep them from the darkness of our world for as long as I can. For now, they are safe right here in my arms.

Anya purrs in my mind as Sebastion’s scent invades our senses. I can smell his clean body as he steps out of the bathroom. A smile tugs at the corner of my lips as he struts to the closet naked. This man loves to drive my hormones crazy.

My arms are full of two sleeping babies as I watch him get into a pair of joggers. I want to tell him to just keep them off, but after being away from Theo and Oksanna for so long, I am not sure I will have the willpower to put them in the bassinet. As much as I would enjoy making love to my mate, I want my babies in my arms more.

“We will have time, my love. Relax. Hold them close. I am going to go check on my family. Then, on the way back, I want to check on Jace and Zasha.”

He lays a light blanket over me as I stop rocking the glider for him. The feather-light kiss he leaves on each of our babies’ heads makes me love him even more. Then he lifts my face to his and presses his lips to mine. He kisses me tenderly, then pulls away all too soon for my liking.

“Sebastion,” I call out softly to him as he walks to the bedroom door.

He glances back at me with a questioning look.

“Thank you for bringing my sister to Redwood.”

“I had that in the works the moment Monroe’s investigation found her location. Your family has suffered enough at the hands of a monster. It was the least I could do for you.”

With one last smile, he opens the door and leaves the room.

I spend the next hour just staring at Theo and Oksanna. Their features are soft, yet I can feel the strength brewing in them. They will be more powerful I imagined they would be. With the combination of mine and Sebastion’s alpha bloodline, I knew they would be strong, but what I am feeling is much more.

Soon I fall asleep with a smile on my face. I am not sure how long I slept, but a soft sound in the bedroom makes me snap my eyes open. Fear is the first emotion that goes through me, but when I catch my sister’s scent, I shake my head at my panic.

“Kat?”

“I didn’t mean to wake you. I am so sorry.”

“Come sit on the bed so I can see you clearly.”

Silently Katarina shuffles to the bed. It was as she was walking to the bed that I noticed her limp. Was she walking like that earlier when we all moved to the dining room for dinner? I was so caught up in having my family together that I can’t remember.

When she eases herself down onto the bed, she lets out a sigh. What did they do to her in that prison camp? Who hurt my baby sister?

“I miss momma, Rinny.”

The way her voice cracks breaks my heart. I call for Natalia through our link. We need her here, too. Our mother was the glue that held us together, but the bond of family runs deep between us sisters.

“I miss her too, Kat.”

Her painful sobs make me want to go to her, but one glance down at the two sleeping babies in my arms lets me know I can’t. My heart breaks further when she sobs harder. The door opens a moment later to reveal Natalia’s frightened face.

She rushes to me to take Oksanna. Together we place both babies in the bassinet, then walk to the bed. Our arms go around Kat, and the three of us cry for our lost mother. I croon the lullaby our mother sung to us.

“Why did she have to be the only one of us to die? Why her and not me?” Kat sobs.

That is a question I have asked myself countless times over the years. Only for me, since I thought I was the only one of my family to live through that day, I asked that question about all of them. I knew the answer to that question.

Vicktor Treadstone was the reason. He was the reason for all my family’s suffering. I can’t wait for him to die. That is the only way I will finally feel free of this nightmare.

“What do you say about going home? I mean, I know it isn’t home anymore, but it is where momma is. Sebastion and I were already planning to go after all this was over. We were going to do a memorial service for our family, the pack we lost, for momma and Gustav. Since he is alive, there is no point doing his memorial service.”

My sisters both nod their heads and squeeze my hands.

“Can we do their memorial services in a few months? I am not ready to go back to Russia right now.” Kat says.

The way her voice trembles makes me glance over at Natalia.

“Kitty, what happened to you? Tell us what they did,” Nat says quietly.

Kat’s body stiffens, but soon her shoulders slump. She lowers her head, then pulls her hands free from our grasps. A ball of dread fills my belly as I recognized her reaction. Tears slip down my cheeks as I mourn the cruel loss of my sister’s innocence.

“After they caught me snooping around the nightclub, the owner called his boss. His boss is an evil man named Killian. He took one look at me and decided my fate.” She takes a deep breath, then lets it out in a shuddering exhale before she continues. “They took me to the Red Lounge, another strip club, but this one served only werewolves. Rogue werewolves. All the dancers there were more than just dancers. They were sex slaves.”

Oh, my goodness. I feel Nat’s hand reach for mine behind Katarina’s back. I grip her hand as I wait for our sister to continue her story. Now I know what she changed the subject earlier after Oleg got angry with her. Now I understand her vehement reaction to his judgement.

She was ashamed. I felt the same way when I told Sebastion and my father about what Vicktor did to me. I felt tainted and unworthy of him because of what happened to me. No matter what happened to Kat, I will do everything I can to make sure she that knows it wasn’t her fault. She is loved and worthy of being loved.

“The first night I was there, they took me to a private room where the owner of the Red Lounge was. He... he... was the first... but he wasn’t the only one in the room.” A broken sob leaves her mouth, then she covers her face with her hands.

“That is enough, Kitty. You are safe. We are all together again and you never have to leave us.”

“I can stay here? Your mate will let me stay?”

Her voice is quiet but hopeful when she asks. She removes her hands from her face, then glances over at me. Seeing her tear-streaked face makes me reach out to brush the tears away.

“Papa, Oleg, and Natalia are already a part of the pack. He will let you join if that is what you want.”

A sob escapes her as she nods her head, signaling that is what she wants. She leans her head onto my shoulder, then Natalia leans her head on to Katarina’s shoulder. I haven’t realized how much I missed my sisters until this moment.

We used to sit just like this so very often. Sharing our secrets, hopes, and dreams. Dreams that we can all try to achieve now.

However, before my nightmare can only end when Treadstone is finally dead.

*The next morning*

After feeding the twins, Sebastion and I take them to where his mother is waiting for us in the atrium. It is my second favorite room in the house. She asked to have them for the morning while we deal with Treadstone.

Today we are going to press him hard to get as much information out of him as we can. I want to just kill him and be done with it. However, Monroe makes a valid point. The more we can get out of Vicktor the better off we will be. Not just Redwood, but all the supernatural world.

The Collectors are a threat to all of us.

If we learn how many of them there are out there in the world, some of their names, we can defend ourselves against them. Take the fight to them before they can eradicate us. First, we need to learn all we can about the man he brought with him. He is dead now, which means his captives need to be saved and set free.

“Are you ready for this?” Sebastion asks.

We are standing at the door to the dungeons with Monroe, Flint, and Justin. He takes my hand in his when I glance at the door. I take a deep breath as I look back at him. All I can do is nod my head as my voice seems to have fled me.

“I had Treadstone moved to the bottom floor of the dungeons. It will be easier with him away from Pavel.”

“How many levels are there?”

“Four. The bottom level has only two cells. We rarely have that many prisoners at once.”

I give him a nod. I am going to need full disclosure of everything down there soon. Today is not the day for that.

“Let’s go force Vicktor to sing like a canary. Then I want to rip his heart out.”

“Irina, I love this side of you, but oh man, you are scary when you are angry.”

With that said, we all head down into the dungeons. Pavel growls at me when I pass his cell. I ignore him and continue walking. By the time we reach the lowest level, I can feel my anger spiking to a new level. Finally, after all this time, Vicktor will face my wrath.

Dr. Greggory greets us as we walk towards the cell Vicktor is in.

“He is stable. I stitched his face and packed the ruined eye with gauze. The morphine will wear off soon enough. I suggest getting all you can out of him while he is high as a kite.”

Sebastion pats him on the back as he walks away. I like Dr. Greggory more now than I did before. He doesn’t go far, only to the small desk in the room's corner. I guess he wants to be here for the interrogation.

A deep chuckle makes me glance back at Vicktor. They chained him to the wall of his cell. The silver cuffs are worthless on him, but they serve their purpose by keeping him confined. I laugh as I find this role reversal ironic. He was my captor once, now I am his. Only I made it out of my prison alive.

He won’t.

“The irony here hasn’t escaped my notice, Irina.”

“Yes. Once it was me chained to a wall with silver chains. Now it is you. I like this turn of events. Karma is finally catching up with you.”

Vicktor laughs.

“Do you think I am afraid of you? An animal who bent to my will. When I said jump, you jumped. When I said go fetch, you did what I told you to. This changes nothing. I own you.”

Sebastion growls so loud it echoes off the walls. He is in the cell with his hand around Vicktor’s throat before I realize he moved from my side. I laugh when I see the fear in Vicktor’s eye. The smell of urine makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust.

“Tell me what I want to know, and I will give you a quick death. Resist, and you will beg me to end your life by the time I am done with you.” Sebastion tells him.

Vicktor smirks.

“You want me to betray my order so you can take them down? The joke is on you. I would rather let you kill me than betray them. Banecroft was a greedy fool, and I used it to my advantage. The others are nothing like him.”

Monroe comes up beside me. His aura almost makes my knees buckle as his anger ripples through the room. It feels like someone is sucking all the air out of the room as his beast surfaces. Knowing who he is to our kind is one thing but feeling it for the first time is another.

“Want to know a secret, Treadstone?” Monroe asks as he walks into the cell.

Sebastion chuckles as he releases Vicktor’s throat and steps away.

“What the fuck is so funny?” Vicktor demands.

“You wanted a strong Alpha to put in a cage. Drakos here is strong and growing stronger as he gathers allies. Powerful allies.”

I watch in complete awe as Monroe transforms into something I have never seen before but have only read about and seen in our history books. He is so much more than the Alpha King. Holy fucking shit, he is much stronger than that.

Monroe is a Lycan.

At his full height, his shoulders reach the ceiling. He has to hunch over because he is too tall for this room. His fur is so black that it looks like it is the darkness itself. The full weight of his aura swirls around the room like an angry maelstrom,

“Powerful allies like me.”

The deep, guttural quality of his voice makes me shiver in fear. Sebastion’s arms around me prevent me from falling to my knees. I can feel his shock at what we are witnessing through our bond. Monroe held his secret tightly in check.

Vicktor’s screams fill the room as Monroe growls at him. I turn away as blood arcs across the walls of the cell. This is what I have wanted for years, but now that it is happening, I feel sick to my stomach.

Yet knowing that sick bastard is getting a death far worse than I would have done makes me smile.

Rot in hell, you evil monster.

*"I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents." ‒ John Steinbeck.*

*Authors Note*
I need to describe the difference between werewolves and Lycans in my world so here it is:
**Lycans:**
1) They are older than werewolves in mythology and are very close to immortal.
2) They can not be killed by silver, are not weak to wolfsbane, and to kill them you must behead them.
3) Lycans are bigger, stronger, and smarter, and more in tune with their beasts than werewolves.
4) Most images you see online or on book covers of werewolves standing on two legs like a man are actually of Lycans. Werewolves don't have a hybrid-man form. Lycans do.
5) They can take 3 forms. Their human form, their wolf form, and then the hybrid upright form you see.
**Werewolves:**
1)They are mortal.
2) Weak to silver and can be killed by it.
3) They only have 2 forms. Their humanoid form and their wolf. Werewolves can not stand upright like a man on their back legs and walk.