The Puppet Master

Beta Maverick was panting heavily as he morphed into his human form and bowed slightly at his Alpha King.

"She really did call you over," Hunter chuckled in spite of himself.

"Alpha, what's wrong? Luna sounded worried through the pack bond," Maverick said. He took one look at Hunter and saw that he was perfectly fine. So why had Luna called him over with such urgency?

"Nora was worried about me?" Hunter couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "How many times have I warned you not to call her that in front of me?"

Maverick bowed once again. "I'm sorry, Your Highness."

"Always apologizing. I just can't get through to you." Hunter shook his head in irritation as he turned to grip the terrace railings, his fingers so tight his knuckles turned white.

"I can feel the emotions from our mate. Leah's heart is shattered," Magnus whimpered.

"Get over it, Magnus. The fact that their hearts are hurt doesn't mean they will ever accept us."

At this point, Hunter was getting pissed at his wolf.

He had other things to worry about. One of them being figuring out what Lisa was up to.

"Did Lisa return to the pack house?" Hunter's jaw clenched. "No — find Lisa, Maverick. I need the trackers. Now."

Nora had called Maverick over because the Alpha had passed out. But clearly, Hunter's concern wasn't about his condition — it was about that witch.

"Find Lisa," Hunter commanded, his Alpha authority crackling through the words like electricity.

---

The rain was relentless. The weather was still heavily laced with cold and wind as occasional lightning and thunder rumbled overhead. Maverick was drenched when he returned with the trackers. After brief instructions from Hunter, they shifted into their wolf forms, their paws making ferocious holes in the wet ground as they sped back toward the palace.

Hunter ran alongside them, his mind churning about Lisa's whereabouts. This couldn't possibly be linked to the beast, like Nora had mentioned. Although he didn't trust Nora completely, he still had this fear gnawing deep in his gut.

He just needed to get to the palace and find Lisa.

---

An abandoned temple stood in the middle of nowhere, shrouded in mist and decay. It looked dark and decrepit, and no one would have ever imagined that someone was staying inside. The walls wept with age. Ancient, malevolent symbols were carved into the stone, glowing faintly with an otherworldly light.

Two figures moved within the shadows.

"Why do you insist that I go back to the palace? How many times do I have to tell you that I have been caught?" Lisa's voice echoed off the stone walls, desperate and raw with frustration. She stomped her foot on the floor as if that would persuade the dark figure before her. "The freaking plan is over, old man. My cover is blown. If I go back there, they will execute me — or worse, torture the truth out of me."

Her hands flew in wild gestures, her eyes wide with panic. This wasn't the composed mistress Hunter knew. This was a she-wolf cornered and trapped.

"I don't need to tell you what would happen if we fail on this mission, woman," a man's voice rang out.

The voice belonged to a figure wrapped in a black cloak from head to toe, his face completely hidden from view. He was ancient — Lisa could feel it in the weight of his words, in the way the air bent around him. In her five years working for him, she'd never seen his face. Every time she tried to catch a glimpse, he'd outmaneuver her with a flick of his wrist.

All she had was his voice. A voice that echoed like death itself through these ancient walls.

"She saw me," Lisa said, her voice cracking now. "Nora, the Luna. She saw me disappear. She knows something is wrong."

"Then she's more intelligent than I gave her credit for," the man said calmly. "But that changes nothing."

"It changes everything!" Lisa was screaming now, her desperation palpable. "They're looking for me right now. Hunter is probably turning the entire kingdom upside down. And when they find me —"

"They won't," the man cut her off, and suddenly the temperature in the temple dropped so severely that Lisa's breath became visible as white mist. "Because you're going back to the palace."

Lisa shook her head violently. "No. No, I can't. I won't. Find someone else to —"

"You made a deal, Lisa," the man's voice turned lethal. "Do you remember that night? When you were bleeding in the forest after those wolves tore into you? When no one came to help? When you thought you would die alone and unmourned?"

Lisa flinched. She remembered. She'd tried to block out those memories, but they clawed their way back every night in her dreams.

"I came to you," he continued, his tone almost gentle now and mocking at the same time. "I saved your life. I gave you beauty. I gave you power. I gave you Hunter's heart." He paused. "And all I asked for was his blood."

"You asked for his blood," Lisa whispered, her voice hollow. "But what you really want is to wake the beast."

The man tilted his head, and even hidden in shadow, Lisa could feel his cold and predatory stare.

"The blood you've brought me so far is not enough," he said simply. "His Alpha essence runs deep. It will take more. Much more."

"How about you just go do it yourself?" Lisa cut in, biting her lip so hard she tasted copper. "You're so powerful. You're so ancient. Why do you need me?"

For a moment, there was silence. Then the man laughed, a sound like bones breaking in a grave.

"Do not interrupt me again," he said, his voice low but awfully calm. The kind of calm that preceded storms. "Or I will make you understand what real suffering looks like."

Lisa went quiet, her hands turning into fists so tight her nails drew blood from her palms.

"Go back to the palace," the man commanded. "Regain their trust. Find a way to get close to him again. And when I call, you will bring me more blood. Enough to shatter the seals."

"And if I refuse?" Lisa asked quietly.

The man moved toward her, and the shadows seemed to follow him like a living thing. He raised his hand, and Lisa felt invisible chains wrap around her throat.

"You can't refuse," he whispered against her ear, though he stood ten feet away. "You're mine, Lisa. You were mine the moment I saved you. Your life, your devotion, your very existence — it all belongs to me now."

With a gesture, the air cracked like thunder.

Lisa found herself standing in the palace courtyard, soaking wet, gasping for breath. The rain hammered down on her skin, cold and merciless. Above, lightning fractured the sky, and for one terrifying moment, she wished it would just strike her down. It would be better to die than to continue with this dangerous mission.

But she had no choice. Not when she could hear the wolves' paws thundering just a few feet away from the palace.

Hunter and Maverick arrived at the palace, and the first thing that caught their attention was Lisa's scent.

They had already dispatched the trackers into the kingdom while they returned to check the palace first.

"Alpha, I have her scent," Maverick reported through the mind-link. "I think it's coming from the courtyard."

"I sense it too," Hunter replied, excitement in his voice as he dashed toward the source of the scent.

"There," Maverick whispered, his eyes widening in shock.

Lisa was on the ground in the rain, soaking wet.

"What happened to you?" Hunter demanded, moving toward her.

He quickly morphed into his human form, picking her up into his arms — to Maverick's surprise.

"Get Nora to meet me at the pack hospital," he instructed before bolting away with Lisa in his arms.

Maverick stood frozen, watching his Alpha disappear into the darkness with the woman who'd just vanished minutes before.

Something was very wrong.

And the look of raw concern on Hunter's face as he carried Lisa?

That wasn't the face of a man merely infatuated with a mistress.

That was the face of a man fighting for his life.