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CHAPTER 046

Author: Kat.E
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-30 23:59:57
LUCIAN

As I watched Ingrid storm off the training field and disappear into the house, I felt something heavy in my chest.

With a frustrated sigh, I grab my shirt from the ground, slip it back on, and button it up one by one.

I feel the weight of the pack’s stares before I even lift my head.

Irritation flares in my chest, and I turn. “What the hell are you looking at?” I growl, my voice sharp and heavy.

They scramble, diverting their gazes as if they weren’t just openly gawking at me.

“Go back to training. Now!” I bark.

The murmurs die down, and the clanking of fists against flesh and grunts of exertion fill the space again.

I exhale, rolling my shoulders.

Should I go after her and make sure I didn’t hurt her? I think to myself, but something inside me pushes the thought away immediately.

She’s a fighter. She doesn’t need me running after her like some desperate fool.

Instead, I decide to focus on something productive, but after just a few steps, I run into Victoria.

I see the anger bef
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    INGRID"It's time," I mutter to myself, my eyes scanning the alley behind the bakery one last time to ensure the coast is clear.Without hesitation, I bolt toward the vent exit nestled between a row of broken crates and garbage bins.I drop to my knees, pull out the pocket knife from my jacket, and begin unscrewing the rusty bolts one by one.Each twist of the blade sends a metallic groan into the air, and I freeze every time, holding my breath, listening if someone is coming.“Come on Ingrid… come on…” I whisper to myself.Finally, the last screw gives way. I slip the metal cover off, squeeze myself into the narrow shaft, and after one final look behind me, I pull the grate back into place.“Ingrid… you smell that?” Kira whispers faintly in the back of my mind.I pause, and inhale slowly. My nose twitches, and my stomach tightens at the bitter, choking scent.“Wolfsbane,” I mutter, reaching for my pocket quickly and grabbing a folded handkerchief. I use it to cover my nose and mouth.

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    INGRIDI stay hidden in the abandoned house for the rest of the day, thanks to the supplies I had packed before we left the compound. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to keep me going.The hours crawl by, the silence stretching thick and tense. I pace, sit, then pace again my thoughts circling endlessly, as I try to figure out where Lucian might have been taken.They left no clues, or scent trails hence I have nothing to work with.I think of all the places they could have taken him over and over again and frustratingly, my instincts keep bringing me back to one place. My bakery.When I think why? It’s close to this abandoned house and it’s also the last place anyone would think to look.“Ingrid, I think you should’ve gone back with them,” Kira’s voice echoes softly in my head, her tone tight with concern. “This is too dangerous. Remember what happened the last time you went back to that bakery?”I finish the last bite of tuna, swallowing hard. “Yeah… I remember. Logan found me and almos

  • THE WOLF WITHIN:CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA   CHAPTER 070

    INGRIDEveryone gathers in the room Lucian had been kept in and I can feel the air thickening with tension and quiet desperation.The bloodstain on the floor feels like a wound to my chest which made me freeze the second I saw it.Around me, the others begin to use their wolf senses, sniffing the air, trying to pick up a trail.“I can’t get anything,” one of them mutters, frustration clear in his voice.“Me neither,” another adds.Ezra’s eyes flick to me, then back to them. “Find something. Anything,” he commands.They hesitate, clearly discouraged, but obey and begin scouring the rest of the house.“Are you just going to stand there, or are you actually going to help?” Victoria snaps from behind me.Before I can react, I see Ezra give her a glare so deadly that she immediately backs off.She’s right though. I can’t just stand here. Not while everyone else is searching for a trace of him.Kira, I whisper in my head, please help me find something. Anything.She hums softly in response,

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