Chapter 12

Willow’s POV

I watched in horror as they began talking about how to move me, whether I could walk, how long the journey would take. They spoke about me the way you spoke about cargo.

“She’ll need restraints,” Alpha Kelvin said.

“She’s injured,” one of the Blood Moon men replied. “She won’t get far.”

Kelvin’s beta snorted. “You’ll be surprised.”

I stared at them in disbelief.

They were talking about me like I wasn’t even there.

Fear pressed harder against my chest.

I lay there, listening as I tried to breathe evenly and think.

There had to be something. There had to be some angle I hadn’t thought of, some opportunity, maybe when their attention was not on me.

The door opened again.

One of Kelvin’s warriors leaned in. “Noah’s coming.”

Something changed in my chest.

It cracked open and warmth flooded through me. A feeling I had not felt since seeing him at the clinic yesterday morning.

He was coming.

Noah was coming to check on me, which meant he would see this. He would see these people, and he would see his father, and whatever lies Kelvin had been planning to tell would fall apart.

Noah had made the wrong choices. He had hurt me in ways I was not sure I would ever heal. But he loved me. His father had even confirmed it. And Noah, even with everything, would not stand in a doorway and watch me be handed over to Alpha Mordecai. He wouldn’t.

Alpha Kelvin’s jaw tightened slightly. He grunted in irritation, then he moved to the clinic door and closed it slightly behind him as he stepped into the corridor.

I could hear them through the opening.

“Dad?” Noah’s voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Kelvin replied calmly.

“I came to check on Willow. Someone said she was brought in after she fell—”

“She is resting.” Kelvin cut in. “The healer wants her undisturbed. She took a hard blow to the head. Visitors are not the best option for her now.”

“I’m not a visitor, I—”

“Noah.” Alpha Kelvin’s voice was firm and final. “She is being taken care of, come back tomorrow.”

This was my chance! I needed to let Noah know what was going on.

I opened my mouth, ready to yell out for him, when a hand slammed over it.

It was Kelvin’s beta.

The hand pressed so tightly against my lips and nose that my yell died before it could leave my throat. His grip was iron, holding my mouth shut.

I thrashed and struggled.

I fought him with all the strength I had left, which wasn’t much. My nails dragged along his forearm. My body twisted, fighting against his hold, even as the pain from my back and shoulder screamed at me to stop.

I didn’t stop. I kicked at the bed, at anything I could reach, trying to make noise, trying to make something loud enough that Noah would hear.

The beta made an annoyed sound. His grip slipped slightly. It was enough.

I turned my head and bit down on his hand as hard as I could.

He yelped and his grip broke.

I took in a deep breath quickly and opened my mouth ready to yell at the top of my voice—

The woman from Blood Moon moved instantly.

The hilt of her blade slammed hard against my temple.

She hadn’t rushed to do it. She had just stepped forward, assessed the situation, and resolved it.

Pain burst through my skull violently. The world went white for a brief moment and my ears began ringing.

I was barely conscious, my vision was darkening at the edges. But I could still hear the corridor.

I heard Noah say something I couldn’t make out.

I heard Kelvin say: “She needs rest. Come tomorrow. I’ll take you to see her myself.”

A pause, then footsteps moving away.

My heart shattered.

No please.

The fight went out of me.

My body stopped struggling. The ringing increased and my vision got darker.

The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness entirely was Alpha Kelvin stepping back into the room.

He looked at me on the bed and he smiled in cold satisfaction.

The smile of a man whose plan had gone exactly as expected.

Then the darkness came, and I let it.