Zander's POV. As expected the moment I shoved her room door open she wasn't there, her bed was laid in the way it always was, the corners were tucked in neatly and her scent was so faint that I knew she hadn't been in here for a while.The panic in my chest had mostly faded into a small ache but still it was concerning to even be able to feel that ache, at all.Callum walks into the room behind me, taking note of the pained look on my face. His eyes make a small round around the room and I'm sure he has noticed what I did too and as drawn a pretty simple conclusion. She was gone. I feel anger rise up in my throat searing hot and sharp in my chest. It felt like a new burn that pressure was being applied onto. And I was struggling not to drag out my own hair at how frustrated I was feeling."I'll tell the remaining warriors to scout the area, maybe it was within the mansion grounds," he starts but I stop him with a shale of my head, the panic in my chest changes to a burn and I can f
Laleh's POV. Satisfaction at last.The mansion was mostly quiet following the news of the rogue's attack on the abandoned side of the pack. While many were bothered by the rogue's ability to break through the border and feared that they would launch a full scale attack on the pack soon I was too busy relishing in the feeling of both calm and chaos, while at the same time enjoying the obvious distress Zander was in. I'd spoken to Ryder before they'd taken the wench, she hadn't been able to put up much of a fught and as per my instructions he'd sent one of his most fucked up torture artists to mess with her mind a little bit, taunt her about her mother's death, dangle the truth in front of her then retract it and watch her already fragile mind scatter as she's launched back into grief. And from what I've heard so far it was working, while she was displaying much more fight than expected she had lost it a little bit.I giggle to myself and blow off the bubbles from my arm, smiling at t
Zander's POV.Callum watches me with a calm face then turns back to the map with furrowed brows. "The rogues have been a source of concern for months but why would they go as far as kidnapping Selena?"Naz shakes her head then meets my eyes. "What would they want with her?" "Her healing powers might be something desirable but…""How would they find out about it?" I ask as a passing thought. "Most of the mansion maids don't even know what pack she's from and even if the sick villagers guessed it would they really go out and spill everything to rogues?""Under threats maybe…" Callum starts but Naz frowns deeper as she studies the crossed side of the map. There's a significant space between the abandoned area and rogue territory."Even with the proximity, getting anywhere within our borders would be near impossible, talkless of wrangling a bunch of abandoned and questioning them. How did they even get through the barriers today? yes we've broken down significantly the past two years l,
Selena's POV. My head hurts, bad. Once again I wake up in that small room with high metal walls feeling the chill of the cold floor on my back. I don't remember much and I'm not sure how much time has gone by but judging by how much colder it is it's late at night.I sit up and draw my knees to my chest. All I can remember really is that tall blonde man who said those awful things about my mother. After that I ate, I don't remember what, or even who gave me the food but I ate something, whatever it was it'd been laced with potion or something because I fell asleep not too long after that. I blink slowly as my eyes adjust to the darkness of my prison, even so I could barely see anything and what I could see wasn't much, the empty plate of food, the empty bowl of water - water that had been a little yellow and barely enough to make it down my throat - but I'd drank it either way because the thirst was making me dizzy, and one the other side of the room was the small threadbare blan
Selena's POV. This time I woke up in my room to the sound of people speaking in hused tones about something that sounded extremely important, in the sleepy haze I was in recognized Zander's voice, tight and commanding as he spoke to who I assumed was Callum, my limbs feel heavy and my tongue is limp in my mouth, but at last this time I woke up on a soft bed instead of the cold hard floor.I struggle to open my eyes and when I do it's barely a crack. I squint at the brightness of the room around me, used to opening my eyes to a piercing darkness for the past few days. My head isn't pounding this time but the glare of the light is working up a headache low-key. The voices around me come into more of a focus now and I can hear the distress in Zander's tone. I hold my breath for a minute to enjoy the smooth, easy baritone of his voice. I never thought I'd miss the sound of someone's voice this much, I shift and try to lift myself up but my limbs are too weak and my head is much too heav
Zander's POV. I've never felt such a deep sense of relief before. Watching Selena's eyes flutter open must have been the most comforting thing I've ever seen, because I could have melted at the sight of those lovely brown yes meeting mine again, yes they were hazy, but I'll settle for that after watching her just drop to the floor in a dead faint in that forest and after haring Naz say that she was drugged heavily and make might not wake up for weeks. That was five days ago and she was awake now. I could feel the relief in my bones, even Aziel was calm for the first time in weeks, he was the main reason I wasn't able to fall asleep really. When Naz would pry me away from her bedside and forcee to get some rest all I could har was Aziel's voice in my ear screaming at me to do something or he would himself, and honestly I was much too tired to control him so for once I bent to his will and actually do something. I went to the dungeons and hit that rogue as many times as I could, I tor
Selena's POV. The first few days since I woke up were odd, I spent them walking about the mansion in a haze and trying to regain my bearings, obviously that took a lot of time and Zander was there through it all, holding my hand and muttering encouraging words to me as I sweated out the last of the drugs. But even with my torturously slow recovery I wasn't blind or dumb or weak, I still noticed everything, for example the clear absence of Naz and Callum, Zander's distracted nature and the tension radiating from everyone in the pack I'm guessing it's because the time for the coup was drawing nearer but I don't understand Zander's sudden tension with his friends, not that he'd answer me if I'd asked him about it, rather he'd dodge the question and disappear for hours to 'work', I wasn't buying it I knew something was wrong but I was much too tired to even fight him on this. Instead I bent to his prodding and his gentle touches, I basked in the feelings and sparks that danced about us
Zander's POV. Fucking Tristan. I shift back and tug on a pair of trousers as fast as possible, ignoring the pointed stares that are tossed my way as I run up the stairs in search of my mate. I can't even imagine the state Selena is in and only the goddess knows what he told her. I burst into her room to see her on the floor, her hair is a mess, one side of her face is swollen and very bruised, and her eyes are distant. Horror rushes through me as I remember her last encounter with Tristan, the way she'd pushed me away and shut me out for weeks, she'd barely eaten and was just a teary mess, all because he'd spoken to her, I wonder what he'd said now.I kneel in front of her trying to get her eyes to follow me. But it remains fixed on something very far away, cold and closed off to me. Second only to the time she was kidnapped I've never been so scared in my life. "Selena, Selena please talk to me," I say stroking her face and trying to get her eyes to settle on me.She blinks and