(Katelyn's POV)I heard Harlan's footsteps echoing as he retreated down the hallway, and to my relief, I felt like I could breathe again.It only lasted a moment though, and was quickly overshadowed by a crushing wave of defeat as my eyes darted around the room for the millionth time, desperately searching for an escape route I might have somehow missed.Of course, there was nothing. No magical doors had suddenly appeared, none of the windows opened up onto lush green fields where I could disappear into the distance, there was no forgotten cell phone waiting on a desk that would allow me to call for help.For a second, I clung to the hope that Tyler and Ryder would come bursting through the door at any moment. But deep down, I knew I was just setting myself up for disappointment.They had no way of finding me. The harsh truth crushed me beneath its weight. I realized that if I ever wanted to see them again, I was going to have to figure this out on my own.The admission felt like a ki
He halted for a moment, giving me an opportunity to continue, but he didn't release my wrist and I was certain it was going to snap if I so much as breathed too hard.In that split second, an idea formed in my mind. He was so set on me being his. He was possessive and jealous. If I could use that to my advantage..."Please," I begged as tears rolled down my cheeks. "It's just... I've been waiting for my Mating Celebration," I falsely confessed. The tears in my eyes now served a new purpose. Besides being a clear indication of my pain, they also helped me look more weak and vulnerable.Harlan released my hand immediately, but suspicion still clouded his features. "Bullshit!" he spat, though I could see the tiniest hint of doubt beginning to form in his eyes.I rubbed my aching wrist as I shrugged awkwardly, not knowing how to further sell the lie and hoping my silence might be more convincing than words.Wiping the tears from my eyes, I looked down at my feet, avoiding his searching ga
The words left a bitter taste in my mouth.There was a moment of silence, and I wondered if Harlan hadn't maybe already fallen asleep. But then I felt him shift, his arm tightening around me."What do you mean?" he asked, his voice a low rumble against my ear.I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to do. For the lies I was about to tell. I didn't want to do it, but I knew I had to play this game if I wanted any chance of escape."From the River Gorge Pack," I elaborated, forcing a tremor into my voice. "I... I never wanted two mates..." I went on, once again trying to mix the lies with the truth to make my story more believable.Harlan's hand stilled on my arm, and I could practically feel his curious eyes on me."I... It's just hard, you know? The mate bond... I guess it makes you kind of crazy," I explained, figuring he probably had no idea what I meant because he had never felt it before."It's disgusting," he stated, the revulsion clear in his voice.
(Tyler's POV)The aroma of grilled meat and roasted vegetables filled the air as we sat around Alpha Jack's rustic dining table. My stomach growled, reminding me just how long it had been since we'd eaten a proper meal.The exhaustion from hours awake and the stress of trying to track down Kate weighed me down, but the smell of food seemed to give me a spike of energy.Takoda grabbed extra plates and cutlery from the kitchen, setting them in front of Ryder and I before heading back to the kitchen and returning with a large roasting dish between two oven mitts.Alpha Jack gave him a nod and I wondered where the Luna might be, but it felt wrong to ask."Go ahead," Jack smiled, gesturing to the food on the table as Takoda took his place."Thank you," Ryder and I said gratefully. helping ourselves to the delicious-looking roast with vegetables.As we ate, Takoda leaned forward, his dark eyes curious. "So, what's your plan?" he asked, looking between Ryder and me. "How are you going to get
(Jenna's POV)I stood frozen in my living room, Ryder’s voice still echoing through my mind even after I had hung up the phone.Harlan had kidnapped Kate...My heart pounded in my chest, and a cold sweat clung to my skin as I considered the gravity of the situation. This was Harlan we were talking about. The new Alpha of my pack. The same guy who had nearly gotten Kate exiled because his fragile ego couldn't handle rejection.Harlan had always been a self-serving and manipulative bastard, and if he had her, there was no way it could be good.I sank onto the couch, my mind spinning. I couldn't believe this was happening. Kate had seemed so happy. Her mates were great and she told me that she was starting to feel like she finally belonged, then that piece of shit had gone and ripped it all away. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. I would need to come up with some kind of plan. I would need some way of confronting Harlan to g
(Ryder's POV)I'm pretty sure Tyler had been on the verge of throwing a punch in my direction, but when he heard that I was speaking to Jenna, he seemed to deflate, the tension suddenly leaving his body in a slow exhale.“What did she say?” he asked after I had ended the call, his voice filled with a mixture of hope and exhaustion.I sighed deeply before replying. “She said she’d try, but she’s not exactly close with Harlan. So I guess the chances of him opening up and sharing all the details of how he kidnapped her best friend probably aren't all that high,” I replied, feeling a gnawing disappointment settle over my chest.Tyler gave a small nod, his shoulders slumping slightly. “It was a good idea,” he admitted, his voice soft. “Let’s hope she can help.”He clapped me on the back, a gesture of solidarity that I hadn't realized I needed right now. Then he turned, leading the way back to Alpha Jack’s house. I followed, my mind still racing with all kinds of plans and plots to get her
(Ryder's POV)The pain in my chest was relentless, a constant ache that I couldn’t seem to shake. Every breath felt like a struggle, every heartbeat a reminder that Kate was out there, somewhere, in the clutches of that monster.My mind raced with thoughts of Kate and her capture, each one darker than the last. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Harlan couldn’t win. It wasn’t fair.“I’m not giving up,” Tyler’s voice broke through the haze of my thoughts, pulling me back to the present.His tone was firm and resolute, but there was an underlying desperation in it that I could relate to.I nodded in agreement, the power of speech momentarily eluding me as my chest cramped again.I wasn’t giving up either, but it was hard to ignore the incessant voice in the back of my head that said we were running out of time, that the odds weren't on our side.Tyler likely had the same nagging voice in his head, because he continued, his voice firm, as if he were trying to
(Katelyn's POV)I settled back into the bed beside Harlan, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he'd hear it. To my immense relief, he seemed to be fast asleep. No wandering hands, no intense stares, just the steady rise and fall of his chest. I let out a breath of relief and stared up at the ceiling, trying to focus.Okay, Kate, I thought to myself. You've got a handle on the visions. That's something. But now we need to figure out how this dream thing works.So far, it had been completely random. But I really needed it to work now. I needed to figure this out so that I could somehow slip into Harlan's dream. Maybe I could convince him to show me where he'd hidden the key for the door. Or better yet, maybe I could just convince him to let me go.I looked over at Harlan's sleeping form. If he were awake, I might've been able to peek into his memories to see where he'd put the key. But there was no way in hell I was going to try and pry his eyes open now to get a glimpse. I wanted to g
I adjusted my grip on the tiny, squirming bundle in my arms and smiled as a chorus of laughter echoed through the Valentine house."Could you hold her for a sec?" I asked Ryder, shifting Ava into a more comfortable position. "I forgot my phone downstairs.""Absolutely," he replied, his face lighting up as he took her from me.I had to admit, Ryder had surprised me. I’d always known Tyler would step up to fatherhood like it was his destiny, but Ryder… I thought he might need a little more coaxing along the way.To my relief, and, I'll be honest, surprise, that hadn’t been the case at all.Ryder had embraced fatherhood like a natural. Late-night feeds? He was right there with me. Diapers? No problem. Making sure I ate? He was relentless. And the way he loved our daughter, with every fiber of his being... God, it melted my heart daily.Tyler, on the other hand, was exactly the dad I’d known he’d be. He was steady, dependable, and endlessly patient. Where Ryder brought the energy and fun,
(Katelyn's POV)I nodded slowly, processing it all as I tried to picture it in my mind's eye."Oh! And get this!" Ryder piped up with an excited grin. "Michael, the guy you wrapped around the pillar? He's Simon's cousin!""What?! How do you know that?" I asked, confused.Tyler replied this time, "Well, when we were leaving, we bumped into Simon in one of those long, winding corridors. He started going off at us asking where we were going and if we had permission to leave, blah blah blah... But Helen shut him down. She told him that the decision had been made and instead of giving us a hard time he should probably go and check on his cousin because the last time she saw him, he didn't look so good.""You should have seen his face," Ryder smirked, chuckling to himself. "He just stood there for a moment, still blocking our path, but then I think something clicked in his head. He probably saw that we were all covered in blood and shit and realized that something was wrong and he practicall
(Katelyn's POV)The first thing I registered was the sound of hushed voices and the faint smell of lavender.My eyelids felt like they’d been superglued shut, but after what felt like an Olympic-level effort, I finally managed to pry them open.My vision swam, the room around me looking like a watercolor painting that someone had left out in the rain.Where was I? WHO was I? It felt like I had been asleep for a hundred years.I blinked repeatedly, willing my vision to focus, but when it finally did, nothing seemed familiar.It was dark, from what I could tell, and the only light was coming from a lamp somewhere on the other side of the room.I shifted onto my elbow, trying to sit up, but I instantly regretted it. Pain throbbed in my skull, my head spinning like I’d spent hours on some rotating carnival ride. A groan escaped me, and the low murmurs nearby stopped immediately.“Kate?” A voice cut through the haze... Familiar, warm, desperate.My gaze darted toward the sound, and there t
(Katelyn's POV)She was furious, but not with me. I could feel her... like a storm raging inside me, raw and untamed. I waited in the quiet shelter of my own mind, nothing more than an observer as I watched her wrath unfold. It was like witnessing a hurricane from the safety of a bunker, awe and terror warring inside me."We... We didn't know!" the iron-haired woman’s voice quivered, her arms raised defensively, as if they could shield her from the Goddess's divine fury."You didn't know?! You didn't know that you were exploiting them? Or you didn't know that I would care?" the Moon Goddes spoke through my lips, her words flowing like liquid thunder."I... We..." the woman stammered, her eyes darting around desperately, searching for someone, ANYONE, to come to her rescue. But no one did. No one dared to move. They were all frozen like statues in the face of the storm."You will—" the words spilled from my mouth, but I somehow managed to cut them off abruptly when I heard Tyler's angu
(Tyler's POV)"I don't know what to do," Kate whispered, her voice filled with helplessness as she looked up at me while I struggled against the attendants who held me in place."Let him go," she ordered, authority resonating through her voice in a way I'd never heard before.When they hesitated, she glanced toward the man she'd just sent flying through the air like a puppet as some kind of silent warning of her power.That seemed like enough for them to release me.The second I was free, I fell down beside her, desperate to stop the blood that was pouring from Ryder's neck. It was coming out so fast it was clear that they must have gotten an artery, the blood pulsating out of the wound in steady throbs."What do we do?" she whispered, looking to me for answers I didn't have.I reached out, holding my hand over hers in some futile attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was like trying to hold back a flood with a fucking paper towel.His neck was a mangled wreck. The flesh was torn open t
(Katelyn's POV)Tyler’s hand trembled as he held it in place over mine, trying desperately to stop the blood that continued to pulse out, albeit at a much slower pace now.His voice was a whisper and it wavered with desperation. "You’re going to be okay, Ryder. You hear me? Just hang on. Just—" he broke off, choking back a sob as his other hand found its way to Ryder’s blood-matted fur as he rubbed him affectionately.He looked at me, his face pale and his eyes swimming with tears that he tried uselessly to blink away.“Kate...” His voice cracked, barely audible above the rapid, shallow breaths of his brother. “The bleeding... it’s too much. He’s not healing fast enough.”His words struck me like a dagger to the chest. I'd thought it, but hearing him say it out loud made it real.“What are you saying?!” I cried, my voice raw and broken as I gripped Ryder’s limp paw, shaking it in hopes of some kind of reaction. My vision blurred as I let the tears spill down my cheeks. “Is he going to
(Katelyn's POV)Through a blur of tears, I found myself face to face with the broad-shouldered Elder, Michael."You're an abomination!" he snarled, his hands gripping my arms with a ferocity that promised bruises. "You're a curse! A witch! A temptress! Do you know how my family has suffered because of you?!" he spat as he shook me violently, his eyes filled with absolute rage."But... I..." I stammered, trying to form words into sentences, but my brain couldn't do it.All I could do was stare at him, still reeling from the fact that one second I had been kneeling beside Ryder, trying to help him, and the next, I was being violently shaken by a man who seemed to have gone full psycho."Katelyn?!" Tyler called out, realizing I was no longer at his side.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him struggling against about three or four attendants who tried to hold him back.Suddenly, pain shot through my cheek and the world around me fell into a darkness that seemed to ebb and flow like the t
(Katelyn's POV)For a moment, the entire room froze and my ears rang with the word exterminated."We're leaving," Tyler said, his voice low as he snatched me by the wrist and tugged me toward the door.The attendants remained though, none of them making any move to unblock our path. Instead, they all looked toward the iron-haired woman as if waiting for her to give them some instruction."Move," Tyler demanded sharply as Ryder appeared on my other side."We aren't finished here," the iron-haired woman called out as three more attendants appeared to block our exit."She wants to leave," Ryder replied, his voice filled with venom as he turned to address her."We aren't finished," she repeated, her voice cold and sharp as steel."I thought you said this was a hearing," I shot back, glaring at her. "Was there some line in the invitation about being held against my will? Because if there was, I must’ve missed that part," I spat, trying to hide my growing fear with sarcasm.The room fell si
(Katelyn's POV)The iron-haired woman watched me, her grip on her notes tightening once more. Her restraint was evident as she took a deep breath before finally replying. “You have already been told, Miss Grey, that this meeting is for us to ascertain—”I cut her off, my own patience now unraveling fast. “God, you can’t even give me a straight answer! What are the potential outcomes here?!” I demanded. "Even criminals on trial know what potential penalties they'll be facing! Why can't I be afforded the same courtesy?! Are you going to impose some kind of limitations on me and my abilities? Or do you plan to lock me in a prison cell? Or maybe a tower in the middle of nowhere? Are you going to kill me? Seriously, what options are on the table here?!" I pressed, annoyed by how fucking evasive she was being.It felt like they had already made up their minds here. While a few of them did seem to be on my side, it's clear that many of them were not. And those who sat on the fence would likel