Alexander Malcom MacCord, one of John Coffee's Hays First Mounted Rifles on an errant for General Zachery Taylor finds a new route in Mexico near Monterrey for his sick troops. During a battle he is wounded and dives into a hole that he thinks holds a corpse, but the man is still alive and says his name is William Roundtree who'd been at Point Isabel before getting caught in the war. Roundtree shows MacCord a packet telling him it is for his daughter, Becky, who was taken as a child by Indians. MacCord takes him to a field hospital. The next day, MacCord watches as a Ranger, J.J. Sutton slaughters two boys for a horse before deserting his unit. MacCord, shocked at his brutality, vows to find him and cut his heart out. After the war MacCord rides for Matamoros, stopping in Santa Eulalia and meets Bushy Pounds. When a brutal group of men ride down the street, Pounds tells MacCord they are scalpers and have come to sell their scalps and how they are honored and loved by the people. MacCord can't help but notice the necklaces of dried ears and human teeth with tanned human skin for bridles on their horses. Riding in the group is J.J. Sutton. Pounds points to their leader, John Ephraim Davis telling MacCord every man riding with him is nothing but vicious sonsofbitches and all come to town every month since Davis has a contract with Trias, the Mexican Governor. MacCord disgusted rides for Matamoros where he stays with a half Navajo, half Mexico girl and tries to forget the war. While MacCord is out hunting, Nizoni is alone and is attacked, murdered, and scalped by Davis's group looking for more scalps. MacCord returns to find Nizoni horrendously murdered furiously promising to hunt down and kill them all. The intervention of a small wolf cub with a broken leg stops him for a short while and in the process of caring for the cub he begins to let go of his guilt over Nizoni, but not his vengeance. He rescues a woman and an Indian boy both captives, learns the woman is Rebecca Roundtree and the boy an orphan. He brings them both along on his quest to kill. Rebecca falls in love with him, her knight in shining armor, but he can't let go of his hatred. MacCord leaves Rebecca with a father she hates, and the boy with a friend before joining Davis's group as a Judas killing them one by one. He is left gravely wounded. The wolf leaves and finds Rebecca, leading her to MacCord where she is able save his life but more importantly from a culture of blood money and scalps.