CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 100: RENDEZVOUS AT THE PACKHOUSE

Rage flooded Levi’s system. With a snarl, he slammed the vampire’s head against the pavement, knocking him unconscious.

Annie had nearly reached the end of the street. Levi sprinted after her, catching her easily. He grabbed her arm, spun her around, and slammed her against the brick wall.

“You’re going to tell me everything,” he hissed, his face inches from hers. “Where is Hazel? What does the Vox Solis want with her?”

Even trapped and at his mercy, Annie’s smirk remained. “You’re too late, Levi. She’s long gone.”

“What does that mean?” His grip tightened on her arms. “Is she dead?”

The words nearly choked him. If they had done anything to her, he would burn them to ashes.

Annie laughed. “No, but by the time you find her, she won’t be yours anymore.”

Levi’s wolf howled with rage, and his eyes saw red. His hand moved to Annie’s throat, fingers tightening just enough to make her eyes widen with fear.

“Tell me everything. Now.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” She managed to look smug despite the fear in her eyes. “Then you’ll never find her.”

Levi fought against his instinct to crush her windpipe. “No, I won’t kill you. But there are worse things than death, Annie. And I’ll make sure you experience all of them if you don’t start talking.”

Fear finally flickered in Annie’s eyes. Her confidence wavered. “Your threats don’t scare me.”

“They should.” Levi leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Because I’m going to take you back to the pack, and we have ways of making people talk. Painful ways.”

He saw the moment her bravado cracked. “The Vox Solis will come for me.”

Levi snorted. “Sure they will.”

In one swift movement, Levi struck Annie at the base of her skull, catching her unconscious form before she could hit the ground.

With Annie draped over his shoulder, he mindlinked Callum.

‘I found Annie. She made some new vampire friends.’

‘You alright?’ Callum’s response was immediate.

‘Of course,’ Levi answered. He walked past the street where the vampires were. Their injuries had rendered them unconscious for a while. Sadly, not dead. Vampires typically recovered fast enough, and would be up and about in no time. ‘I’m bringing Annie back to the pack for questioning. She knows something about Hazel.’

‘Copy,’ Callum replied. ‘We’ll prepare a high security cell for her and her friends and family. Consider it her homecoming gift.’

Levi made his way back to his car, depositing Annie in the trunk after binding her wrists and ankles. He wasn’t taking any chances with her.

As he pulled into the packhouse driveway, he spotted Lucas and Liam getting out of Lucas’s SUV. Sitting in the backseat was an elderly man Levi didn’t recognize.

Levi parked and stepped out, noting how his brothers’ expressions changed when they saw him soaking wet and bruised.

“What happened?” Lucas demanded, striding over.

“You cut off all of a sudden,” Liam said.

“Ran into some Vox Solis vampires, but I caught Annie. She’s in the trunk.” Levi gestured behind him.

Liam’s lips twisted. “Perfect,” he said. “Thanks for bringing her back. I’ll get the knife.”

“She needs to be alive for questioning,” Lucas reminded, though his lips twitched into a small smirk of amusement.

“Unfortunate,” Liam grumbled under his breath.

Levi then turned his attention to the old man. Something about the stranger made Levi pause.

“Who’s this?” he asked, unable to tear his gaze away.

“This is Percival Hunt,” Liam explained. “Hazel’s grandfather.”

Levi stared at the elderly man climbing out of the car. Despite his age, Percival moved with surprising grace. His hair was pure white, but thick and well-kept. And his eyes—Levi felt a jolt of recognition. They were the exact same shade of hazel as their mate’s.

“Are you sure?” Levi asked, though he already knew the answer. The resemblance was unmistakable.

Lucas and Liam merely gave Levi a pointed look, and the latter shrugged.

Percival stepped forward, his keen eyes assessing Levi. “You must be the third triplet. You look just like your brothers.”

“And you look just like Hazel,” Levi said bluntly.

The old man’s face softened at the mention of her name. “Unfortunately, I have not had the luxury to meet my granddaughter yet.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed. “Convenient timing, isn’t it? Showing up right when Hazel’s missing.”

“Levi,” Lucas warned.

“It’s alright,” Percival said, raising a weathered hand. “Skepticism is healthy. Especially when it comes to protecting someone you love.” His gaze sharpened. “And you do love her, don’t you? All three of you.”

Levi didn’t answer, but his silence was confirmation enough.

Lucas cleared his throat. “I’m taking Percival to Ironhound. They have a base right off the territory. It could be where they’re holding Hazel.”

“And I’m staying here to help with Annie,” Liam added. “She might respond better to me.”

“By ‘respond better,’ do you mean ‘break down crying and begging for forgiveness’?” Levi asked drily. “Because that’s definitely what she’ll do when she sees you.”

“Which we can use to our advantage,” Liam pointed out. “You know, before we send her and her traitorous father to hell.”

Levi popped the trunk open. “Then let’s get her inside before she wakes up. She’s heavier than she looks.”

Annie lay in the back trunk, completely still. Her hands and feet were bent at an awkward angle from being cramped in the back, and her hair was a mess.

“Ropes?” Liam commented. “Doesn’t look too sturdy.”

“I didn’t have anything else with me that I could use,” Levi replied. “It would have to do.”

“We need to get her in a set of silver cuffs before she wakes up,” Liam said as he moved closer to her. He leaned down, prepared to drag her out of the car. “We might need to get some holy water as well, especially if the Vox Solis has vampires working for them—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Liam’s eyes widened with shock. He stepped back, dodging right as Annie jabbed her hand outwards. Something in her hand caught the light and sparkled.

Liam cursed, immediately swatting the item out of her grip as she hissed in pain. Levi stepped in as well, quickly subduing her before she could leap out of the trunk.

“What the hell?!” Liam yelled as Levi pressed her back down, preventing her from moving.

“She had managed to work the ropes loose,” Levi spat.

“Told you the ropes aren’t good enough,” Liam muttered.

Annie’s face contorted with rage and frustration as she missed her target. She scrambled, attempting to push Levi’s weight off her, but failed.

“Get off me!” she barked.

‘Callum!’ Levi called out via the pack link. ‘Get a set of silver cuffs and meet me at the packhouse driveway. Now.’

‘On it, Alpha,’ came Callum’s reply.

Liam looked at the ground. Bending down, he carefully picked up the weapon that Annie had dropped.

Only, it wasn’t a weapon. It was a syringe, filled with an unknown liquid.