Cora's POV As I fling the door to Alpha Thomas's office open the scent of pine fills my senses. My mouth waters and my knees go weak. My wolf is howling in my mind, begging me to go to my mate, but I can't think of anything more humiliating than being mated to a Beta. I knew from the moment that I saw him at my sister's matchmaking party. His fresh scent of pine filled my senses and I wasn't able to take my eyes off of him. But with an Alpha on my arm, I had to pretend like he didn't exist. Lucky for me, Dylan wants even less to do with me than what I want to do with him. He blocks the door of the office and furrows his eyebrows curiously. A small smirk plays on his lips but he hides it quickly before Alpha Thomas sees. I shake my head in frustration and clear my throat. Dylan finally moves out of my way and I hurry passed him. The door slams behind me and I take in a deep breath. But the hallway reeks of Dylan's scent and I am unable to clear my head. I have got to get
Mia's POV My lips are dry and are beginning to crack painfully. I try to lick my lips to moisten them but even my tongue is dry. I can't remember the last time I had food or water. Time is passing too slowly, or too quickly. It is hard to tell down here in the cellar. Each time Alpha Richard or the rogue comes down to see me, I am met with a barrage of questions and beatings. The days and nights are all starting to blur together. Alpha Richard has refused to release me from the chair. Blood, vomit, and urine have made my once beautiful green evening gown stiff. The dress crinkles loudly as I try to move my legs but the silver wire around my ankles bites into my skin. If I wasn't so dehydrated, tears would be falling from my eyes. I spend most of my time praying to the Moon Goddess for help. Praying that Alpha Thomas will burst through the cellar door and release me from my bonds. I fantasize that he scoops me into his arms and brushes my matted hair out of my face and confesses
Thomas's POV My anger is close to boiling over the edge as I enter the hospital. I storm through the doors and everyone in the room immediately bares their necks to me in submission. I try to wrangle in my Alpha Aura but my anticipation is only feeding it to grow stronger. In just a few moments I will find out who was behind Mia's kidnapping. I push the doors to the lab open so roughly that they hit the walls on the other side. All of the lab technicians look up with terrified expressions on their faces and they shrink back against the walls. The lead technician, Jacob, rifles through the papers on his desk and pulls out several pages. His hands are shaking as he hands me the lab results from the syringe. Reading over the contents of the syringe my hands begin to shake worse than Jacob's. I flip through the pages and look for a name that matches the fingerprints but the page is missing. My eyes dart up to meet Jacob's and I notice that his whole body is shaking. "Where are
Thomas's POV I don't waste any time getting back to the pack house after Jacob confirms that Cora's fingerprint is the only possible match. I take the stairs four at a time, racing up them as fast as I possibly can. Stopping outside of the guest room where Cora is staying, I try to cool my temper. My wolf is ready to charge inside and rip her to pieces but if we do that we may never find Mia's location. Plus, there is no doubt in my mind that Cora is just an expendable player in this game. I do not doubt that Cora injected Mia with the drug concoction but I am sure that her parents and Alpha Richard put her up to it. The scent of lavender comes through the door and I am sure that she is in the room, but there is another scent mixed with hers. One that is familiar. Dylan. I try to twist the door knob but it is locked. I swear on the Moon Goddess, if he fucking her I will kill them both. Bracing my hands against the doorway, I kick her door off the hinges and it lands loudly
Mia's POV My eyelids flutter wildly against the bright lights of the hospital. Or at least I think that is where I am. That is where the rogue said he was taking me. I attempt to lift my head but the pain in my neck is too intense. Focusing on the noises around me, I strain to hear the muffled voices that are speaking. "What the fuck, Alpha," someone says. "Who did this to her?" "Remember how we were promised a place among the packs if I completed a task," a familiar voice says. "She was the task." "Please tell me you didn't do this, Donovan," a woman's voice gasps. "I didn't do this," the familiar voice responds. He must be Donovan. "But I also didn't stop it from happening either." "I don't understand," the woman speaks again. "Why isn't her wolf healing her?" "Apparently she doesn't have one," Donovan, says. "A lot of these wounds will not have healed on their own even if she had a wolf," the first man says. "I can't believe you stood by and let this happen." "We
Mia's POV It has been a week and Alpha Donovan hasn't called Thomas yet. I don't know if I feel relieved or disappointed. Each morning I wake up in the hospital I swear I smell his sandalwood scent and a feeling of excitement washes over me, but it always turns out to be a figment of my imagination. Thomas isn't here and he isn't coming for me. I only have myself to blame. Alpha Donovan, on the other hand, has been attentive and sweet. He comes to the hospital several times a day to check on my progress. While I enjoy the attention, I am sure that he is only coming because he feels guilty for standing by while Alpha Richard tortured me. My cuts and bruises are healing quickly but my bones are not and without a wolf to heal me I could be in this hospital for months. Doctor James is studying my chart as he makes his morning rounds. He rarely speaks to me and when he does it is in short choppy sentences. He has made it very clear that he doesn't approve of my being here. "When d
Thomas's POV Sitting down at my desk I groan as I look at the mounds of paperwork that has been piling up since Mia went missing. I have been neglecting my duties as an Alpha in order to look for my mate. Luckily for me, I have a Beta who owes me a giant favor. Grabbing a handful of paperwork I slide it across the desk to Dylan. As much as I wanted to force him to step down from his position of Beta, I just couldn't ask him to do so. Not only was he only trying to protect his mate, he is the closest thing that I have had to a brother. I know better than anyone that when your mate is in danger it makes you do crazy things. But that doesn't mean that our relationship is not strained. I once thought of him like a brother but now I am unsure if I can trust him. Where will his allegiance lie when Cora comes back into the picture? Unfortunately for both of us, Cora managed to slip through my warriors before I was able to send out the mind link to stop her. None of my warriors knew he
Mia's POV Sitting in the back of the car with Donovan makes me more uncomfortable than I would like to admit. I used to pride myself on my ability to hide my emotions. It is a trick that I learned growing up with my father and Madison. If they didn't know how terrible I was feeling then they couldn't use it against me. But it would seem that ability has flown out the window. I am sure the car reeks of my fear. "There is no reason for you to fear me," Donovan says gently. "I do not plan to hurt you." Yep, I was right. The scent of my fear is heavy in the air. But I play it off like I am not afraid. "I do not fear you," I snap back at Donovan. "I simply wish to return to the hospital. I am not feeling well." Donovan scoots closer to me on the back seat and the hairs begin to prickle on the back of my neck. He lays a hand on my leg and leaves it there as we drive along the streets of the small rogue town. As I look out of the window of the car, I try to ignore the fact that he i