The room feels colder to me now, but maybe that's because I feel colder than the walls around me due to treachery. The sensation is like to a stone pressing against my chest, making breathing nearly impossible.In spite of my efforts, I can draw no further away than feel the sensation, the reverberation of their betrayal, and the years it spanned. For all that time, Gerald and Hannah had schemed, spun the web of deceit, and what had I been but the incapable fool to realize it?How could I not have seen it? I think through the incidents repeatedly in my mind and try to find out what aspects of the drama I missed. Gerald had been like a brother to Landen his Beta his right-hand man.And Hannah… she had been my friend, or rather I thought she was a friend. Now, looking back, I am able to identify what were obvious signs of them liking each other behind the scenes – the holes in their masks, the quick diagonal looks they exchanged when they thought no one was looking, the signs that shou
Chapter 83For the past few days, even as the truth has been clear in her heart, Elena has been fighting herself as to whether speaking it out loud comes with consequences, and what these consequences are.She can live with no other feeling, and it hurts. Just thinking of Owen and Anna made her chest clutch. Navian had been looking for them persistently, which only made her secret that much harder to bear.They better be alright or she will not forgive herself. It was late in the evening, Navian having been gone for hours, that Elena started weeping quietly, her frail form shaking in rapture at the fuller embrace of her own sins.She allowed her envy and timidity to dim her sight. The idea that Anna and Owen were in trouble, plagued her mind. How can she be honest with Navian? And how does she say that without losing the relationship they have built?“Now what do I do?” Elena asked with a strangled voice, clutching her pillow even tighter.“How do I tell Navian this without risking e
Navian drove through the empty streets that night with anger, regret, and fear dancing around in his mind. Those words with which, a few moments ago, he heard Elena speak pressed his chest and twisted. He had to get out of that house; he could not look at her, listen to her lame apologies, or hear her begging him to come back.Every word that she had uttered appeared to prick him to the heart with an ice-cold blade.She had worked with Hannah. She had played a part in endangering Anna and Owen’s lives.It was something that instantly made his blood boil. He clenched the wheel with the force of his fingertips whitening. How could she? The woman whom he was to marry—the woman he had trusted so much—had been part of the people who kidnapped them.If anything had happened to Anna or Owen, he wasn’t sure that he could forgive her for that. He did not know if he could ever forgive himself for not realizing the reality much earlier.He brought the car right in front of Mikel’s house and skid
I couldn’t remember how long it had been since they brought us to this place, but time seemed to stretch endlessly. Days? Weeks? I had lost count. Without windows, there was no natural light to indicate the passing of time.My own breathing, the occasional scuffle of rodents, and the voices of our captors reverberating through the corridors were all that were audible to me.Those voices were louder and more furious tonight. Hannah's booming voice was like a razor, slicing through the quiet.“What do you mean, Gerald? Why have you decided to keep them alive until now? We’re being traced, and you can see that! We’ll get in trouble the longer that bitch stays alive!” she shouted, her voice full of frustration and panic.I flinched at her words, clutching Owen tighter to my chest. My son stirred but didn’t wake. I could only hope he’d stay asleep through this. He didn’t need to hear any more of their poisonous words.Gerald’s reply came, calm and unyielding. “I have my own reasons.”“Rea
LANDEN’S POVI snapped my eyes open as a loud noise echoed through the halls of the packhouse. I was out of bed in an instant, every muscle tense, my wolf on high alert.My sharp gaze swept the dimly lit room, ears straining to catch any sound that would explain the disturbance. Footsteps pounded outside my door—hurried and frantic.“Alpha!” A young warrior burst into the room without knocking, his face flushed with panic.“There’s trouble—down by the southern border!”My mind immediately went into overdrive. The southern border? That wasn’t an area where we usually had problems.Something wasn’t right. Throwing on my jacket, I strode forward, every inch the powerful Alpha. I would get to the bottom of this, whatever it was.“Who’s leading the response?” I demanded, already heading for the door.“Beta Gerald, sir,” the warrior stammered, keeping pace with me. “He left with a small unit. Said he’d handle it.”Of course, he did. I frowned, my thoughts turning dark. Gerald had always bee
Anna's PovI could feel the chill of the wall against my back. The sensation of darkness and moisture engulfed the room, and one thin ray of light made its way through a tiny hole in the ceiling.I looked down at Owen beside me - he was curled up in a ball, however, I could see rather than hear that his body was shivering, even in sleep. My heart ached angrily and fearfully.If I didn’t find a clean way out for us shortly, we were as good as dead.The skin of my wrists burned like a fire from the ropes that had been lacerating my skin for a better part of the week. They normally restrained us with their trapping hands.There was only Sufficient food which was enough to keep me going. I rested my eyes on the broken shard of a mirror in my palm. It was not very sharp but it was the only thing I got.I had come across it cut in a mound wrapped in some heap of clothes before. Since then, I’ve done that whenever there’s a chance, gnawing on the ropes.I remember my hands were cold, very col
I tumbled through the cramped opening, struggling to breathe as a gust of cold wind enveloped me. The surroundings were pitch black and the surface was rough on my bare feet. Owen’s grip on me tightened instantly. As I shifted him back, his small build hung limp around my shoulder. we hadn’t eaten for days.“Shhhhhh,” came the ringing in my ear. “Baby, don’t speak. Just move.”The trees stood tall at the very end of the darkness with distorted shadows wiggling and elongating in the moonlight. The distance was limited to what one could see, but again, that was not necessary. It has to be done one step at a time.Owen was breathing quickly and erratically, and I could feel his small heartbeat against me. Although my heart went out to him, I was unable to console him. We haven't quite left the woods yet.I exhaled noisily and began to make my way forward. This time, I made sure I held onto him tight. My body felt like someone had pulled every muscle inside of me, yet I endured the ache.
Landen's PovI was in my working space, looking intently at the stack of documents before me while in reality, my thoughts were somewhere else. Something was amiss—like a flickering ember hiding in the deepest corners of my mind.I couldn’t exactly tell what it was, but the sensation was unsettling enough to make concentrating impossible. There was a clear feeling of discomfort and apprehension in the air, thickening it.Gerald has been acting weird these days. At first, I thought it was due to the pressure that came with dealing with rogue attacks and other dangers straining our territory.He was my Beta, the one whom I held dear and trusted the most. We read each other like open books, spinning out plans, strategies, and even doubts. We had never had any secrets.But now, I wasn’t so sure.A couple of days back, for instance, I was listening in on some idle chatter between two of our warriors. I was not trying to spy on them, but I could not help it when I heard this part of their c