Enemy of my Enemy

𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗

Killer. Monster. Madman.

Grayson liked to think of himself as all those things. The last term, madman, had taken some time to get used to, but he'd grown to fully accept it over time. After all, a person who was perceived as mad by society was simply a revolutionist who was ahead of their time.

Did he regret having murdered his old man? Not in the slightest. Vincent Briare had had it coming. And, seeing as no one seemed to be missing his father at all, Grayson was fully convinced he had done the world a favor.

The important thing was that the murder he'd committed hadn't been a random, impulsive act. Grayson had planned and planned and planned, and had set several of those plans into motion long before he'd actually delivered the killing blow. He'd had to make sure the rest of the pack wouldn't revolt once he forcefully took the crown from his father's head. A peaceful accepting of him as the new alpha had been a vital part of Grayson's scheme, and the fact that everyone already loathed Vincent had been quite helpful in carrying out the assassination.

One year had passed since Vincent had drowned to death. One year of Grayson strengthening his rule and expanding his pack's territory. One year since he'd taken a good look at Lorenzo Blackburn's pack and decided, I want that.

The Blackburn pack was one of the five largest and strongest packs in the country, and was known to be one of the most influential packs in the entire world. Taking Lorenzo Blackburn's place was a seemingly impossible dream, but Grayson lived to disprove the word 'impossible'.

Ambition is going to get you killed. Carved up, more like, was what Bianca Blackburn had said to him last night. She was probably right, but he was going to ignore her for now. The prize that awaited him should he succeed was much too appealing to give up right away.

"He's out."

Grayson snapped out of his thoughts to find an unconscious body by his feet, the body belonging to one of the men who had been guarding the wine cellar last night. The other guard who had been on duty with him was standing a short distance away, gasping and heaving as he fell to the floor.

"Finished already?" Grayson frowned. "Didn't I make it clear I wanted this match to be entertaining?"

What he'd originally had in mind was a fight to the death between the two guards, but having such a game would make their numbers dwindle down drastically, and that was the last thing Grayson needed if he was planning on going up against the Blackburn wolves.

"Either of you want to tell me how two very capable and strong men who were carrying a wide range of weapons managed to get defeated by a seventeen year old girl who was using nothing but her two bare hands?" Grayson asked. It was a rhetorical question, of course- He'd seen the security footage, and to be honest, it was quite amusing. He'd replayed it four times just to see Bianca elbowing Thomas in the face over and over again.

"We're going to get the Blackburn girl back. And once we do, you two are going to make sure she doesn't escape this time. You know why?" Grayson stood up. "Because I'm going to be providing you with incentive. If she gets away again, I'm going to wring both of you by your necks and make furry little coats out of your carcasses, understand?"

It was exhausting, this business of making sure his men stayed down whilst making sure he wasn't pressing down too hard to make them want to revolt. Of course, the fact that his men weren't just men made things considerably easier. It was in wolves' nature to respect their leader, and as long as Grayson maintained his position of alpha, there was no real threat of being stabbed in the back.

Says the boy who killed his own father, spoke the little voice in his head.

Grayson told that voice to shut up.

He boarded the car that was waiting for him outside the estate. Grayson arrived at a hotel an hour later, and when he turned on the television, news coverage of an explosion that had occurred at Hawkins Manor was being broadcasted live. Had Grayson been a single hour off schedule, his body would've been being uncovered amongst the fire and debris.

Grayson checked his watch- Seven hours. Seven hours since Bianca had escaped. In her wolf form, it would have taken her roughly three hours to get back to her home. So in less than four hours, Lorenzo Blackburn had had the house Grayson had been staying in rendered to ash.

I mean nothing to him, was what she had told him.

Fathers didn't have massive estates blown up for daughters who meant nothing to them. Even for a man such as Lorenzo, this little incident that the news was calling a gas explosion must have taken a lot of resources, influence, and money. Grayson couldn't remember the last time his father had done something for him that involved any of the three.

Bianca's escape had been a loss. Part of the blame, he supposed, rested with himself. Grayson hadn't underestimated her, not exactly- He'd placed only two guards on duty because there had been enough wolfsbane in Bianca's system to keep a wolf of her average height and build down for a full day. Grayson still had no idea how she'd managed to get on her feet, much less take down Thomas and Markus like that, but he suspected it had something to do with the rumors of how Lorenzo Blackburn consumed wolfsbane regularly to make himself stronger than most wolves. Unless Grayson was mistaken, and he seldom was, Lorenzo had pressured his tricky habit on his daughter.

"Reyes?" Grayson phoned his right hand enforcer, the man who'd directly helped Grayson bring Vincent down years ago. "Have a talk with the Oake family for me. Offer them a deal, courtesy of me."

Already, a new scheme was forming in Grayson's mind. By the end of the month, he would have everything he could ever want right in the palm of his hand.