When she was little, sometime around seven years old, sheโd followed a stranger whoโd claimed to be a friend of her fatherโs out of the pack, and heโd taken her down to his cottage, she couldnโt remember much of what happened afterwards, but she did know that Matthias had been the one to carry her back out of the house, much later when she was found. She could still recall the way itโd felt, having the man drag her through the woods, his big hands clasped over hers. It was the same way she felt now, following Killian through the meadow, her hand in his. Her pulse pounded erratically, and she wondered distantly if the alpha could hear the pounding of her heartbeat. If he did, he wasnโt acting like it. They pushed through the large expanse of land, passing nothing but trees on both sides. The contrast of his dark leather gloves against her pale skin sent a shiver down her spine, and for some reason, she was reminded of that nightmare. Killianโs hair had gotten a bit longer, it teas
Everything that could possibly go wrong, had gone wrong, and for the first time in so long, Matthias didnโt know what to do about any of it. He didnโt even know where he was going to start. The air in the study was ripe with tension, thick and heavy, and solid enough to bite into and tear out. His men sat round the dialogue table, all quiet including Silas, who was usually his fatherโs loudest supporter. Matthias stood by the shattered window staring down at the mob below. The anger of his was an alive thing, for the first time in years, the Draven wolves had banded together in anger against their ruling alpha. None of Matthiasโs predecessors had ever experienced such, he didnโt have the facilities on ground to deal with a fallout like this. It was precisely what heโd been avoidingโinfighting. Someone cleared their throat from behind him, and Matthias turned to face the wolf, realizing once again that Malteโs seat was unoccupied. It was a silent move, but one that spoke volumes
Raine was not in the pack house, neither was she in the surrounding area, or the pack proper, or in the woods. It was almost eight pm, and she was not on pack property. Matthias was going half mad with worry. His wolf was making matters worse, restless beneath his skin with the urge to shift and find her, sniffing her out like a bloodhound. Every time he turned and spotted Ronan glancing down at his phone instead of looking for his mate, Matthias fought the urge to pounce on his son and tear his throat out. โSheโs a grown adult, isnโt she?โ Ronan asked after an hour of searching the house and surrounding premises with no luck. โI donโt think we have to be looking for her just because sheโs past curfew.โ โSheโs your mate!โ Matthias spat, as it was the only thing he was allowed to say. โAre you not even worried to have her be absent from your side, even for just one night?โ Ronan shrugged, a muscle ticking in his jaw. โI can count how many times sheโs been in my bed, sleeping by my
Matthias hardly slept and was up before the sun the next morning. As soon as he woke, he spread his senses wide, searching for any signs of Raine. He got nothing. The other side of the bond was still a silent blank wall. He swept out of the room in a blur of urgency and fear. The kitchen was still and quiet when he entered it, a strange, unnatural kind of quiet. Not the peaceful kind that came with the early morning, but the hollow silence of something missing. Matthias stood by the counter, nose perked up as he scented the room. He stood by the threshold, scanning the room like his presence alone could summon the woman he was looking for. But he got nothing. There was no sign of Raine at the table, no half drunk cup of tea left to cool on the table. Just cold air and the faint scent of ash drifting in from the half-burned logs in the fireplace. Raine was not in this house. She probably hadnโt been since yesterday morning. Matthias ran a hand down his face, the stubble scratchi
Selene was disgusted. And that was putting it mildly. Selene stared down her nose at the unmoving body of the woman on Killianโs bed, her hair spread out around her, chest rising and falling with each breath she took. Her lashes fanned shadows across her cheekbones, framing her features in a way that made her seem otherworldly, even as her brows were furrowed slightly, and her lower eye lids were fraught with dark circles. Selene dragged her gaze away from Raine Whitmore to glare at her brother. โKillian, I donโt know about you, but this has gone enough long enough.โ Killian didnโt spare a glance. He stood at the far side of his large room, stripping out of his button down, and switching the shirt for an almost identical one. Selene watched the muscles of her brotherโs back ripple, shifting the various scars and burns that dotted the skin from the planes of his shoulders all the way to his wrists. The sight of his bare, pale skin was a shock to her, as itโd been so long since Se
โI know sheโs here,โ he bellowed, barging into Killianโs study like a man on a mission. โWhere is she?โ Selene glanced up from the couch where she sat, raising her nose from the middle of her book to arch a perfect brow in his direction. โYouโre yelling, Ronan.โ She drawled, wrinkling her nose in distaste. โItโs eight pm, the entire pack is already asleep.โ His anger surged at the casual way she spoke to him, bringing down his ego like he was nothing but a child throwing a tantrum. Ronan growled, his wolf rising to the surface of his skin, wanting to be let out. But he knew just how powerful Selene was. It would be foolish of him to antagonize her so close to the success of the plan. Right where he could feel it about to become a reality. Once she was his Luna, Ronan would find a way to get back at her. For now, he gritted his teeth and stalled his anger, stepping further into the room with a more subdued air. Killian was conveniently absent, that only made Ronanโs suspicions wor
Her head was pounding, and everything felt so groggy. She wasnโt sure what was going on, or if the images in her head were dreams or not. Once she thought she woke and found a strange man next to her, his face blurred as he stroked over her hair and face, but then a pain so sharp had cut through her entire being that sheโd passed out from the intensity. The next and only thing she remembered was a vague dreamlike memory of her wolf nipping at her ear, trying to pull her out a fog of swamp like water, trying to answer the call of another wolf in the distance, but by the time sheโd stumbled out of the swamp, she realized she couldnโt walk, and kept stumbling, falling to knees and forced to watch her wolf grow fainter with each panicked yip it made, until eventually it was gone, and Raine was left alone with nothing but a low throb in her leg. She woke with a gasp, much like that night at the pack after that nightmare, expect this time things were so much worse. Still panting, Rai
Itโd been five days since Raine was last seen in the pack. It was a constant gnawing at Matthiasโs mind, but he hadnโt even been given enough peace of mind to properly torture himself over the matter. Tensions in the pack were worse than over, with several of his solders refusing to follow orders and organizing some kind of strike against his leadership. The unrest in the pack had escalated to full blown protests, with wolves turning violent towards themselves and members of Matthiasโs house. Lyra had to move into the pack house for the main time because many wolves kept targeting her medic building and threatening her if she didnโt misalign herself from Matthias, Silas had once been attacked while on his way to the wards, and has since stopped leaving the house without extra backing, and to make matters worse, the pack house was no longer a hundred percent foolproof. Just the day before, a handful of wolves managed to get past the guards posted around the houseโs compound, and f
According to Lyra, Raineโs bones had refused to heal because someone had used wolfs bane to separate her from her wolf, and had been doing it for so long, that her innate self had retreated so far back. Leaving her without her wolf and all the abilities that came with it. While Lyra said all these, Raine was asleep, having knocked out as soon as her head hit the pillow, so he couldnโt even ask her when sheโd first been exposed to the substance, he and Lyra needed an exact date to be able to determine just how long the poison had been circulating in her system. โWhere did you find her?โ Lyra asked after they sat in silence for twenty minutes. She was writing something at the desk, staring at him from across the small space. She couldnโt use her medic house in the meantime, so she was using this pack house bedroom as a make shift office. Ronan shook his head where he stood, towering over Raine in bed, watching her chest rise and fall with each shallow breath. She looked smaller th
It seemed like the entire world was at a standstill as Matthias watched his sonโs car draw closer and closer until it stopped just by the border. Ronan stepped out and froze, shocked to find everyone there. His gaze snapped to Killianโs briefly, and a flash of something went through his gaze. It looked a little like fear, but it was gone far too soon to be sure. Matthias wasnโt even looking at him long enough to be sure. The only thing he had eyes on was Raine. Itโd been only less than a week, but seeing her in the flesh was a knife to his gut. He hadnโt even realized how much heโd missed her until now. His wolf whined, drawing close and seeking the bond between them, but there was no answering call from her side. Just like it was that first night, Matthias felt like he was calling out to a brick wall. Something was wrong here. She looked like a shadow of her former self, and that was before she stepped out of the car, and he finally saw the cast on her leg and the crutches. Wha
Raine turned briefly to catch Seleneโs gaze and then she asked. โI wanna know what the deal is. With you and Selene. You come all the way over here to see her, and you hate driving. So tell me whatโs so special between you both thatโs git you so invested.โ Selene laughed out loud behind them, throwing her head back. โSuch a simple question. And the answer is very simple, Ronan loves me. You can relate. He hasnโt loved you a day in his life.โ I didnโt care bout the crutches in my hands or the cast on my hand. I growled for the first time in days, and lounged at Selene. Tackling her to the floor from across the room.โ ๏ธโ ๏ธโ ๏ธโ ๏ธโ ๏ธAgainst his better judgement, Matthias found himself leading Killian and the strange boy witch through the pack and into the woods on the territory before they reached the pack borders where the ruined wards were. There was a sinister twinge to the air that morning and it sent a shiver of discomfort down the alpha's spine, and he made sure to keep am eye o
โWhat the fuck?โ Ronan gasped, staggering back into the room as the bedroom door opened wider. He stared at Raine like he wasnโt a hundred percent sure she was even really there. He turned his attention to Selene, and the woman stood tall, her chin high like no one was a threat to her. Which to be fair, was true. โYou told me she wasnโt here.โ He growled, stalking closer to her. โYou swore that you had you had no idea where she was. You lied to me!โ โOh simmer down.โ She hissed, rolling her eyes. โYouโre getting pressed over a woman you claim to have no hold on.โ โThat is not the point.โ He glowered, โLook at her! How am I supposed to take her back to the camp in a cast and crutches? What am I going to tell Matthias?โ โWhat makes you think Killian will let you take her out of here behind his back?โ Ronan growled, his wolf coming to the surface with the force of his anger. Raine staggered, much weaker now in the face of his wolfโs power without her wolf to tamper it. Selene r
On the tenth day of her imprisonment, Raine smelled Ronanโs scent. The days bled into each other, Raine found herself staring for a long time at the bottle of pills Selene dropped next to her, until her gaze had gone unfocused and she stared unseeingly at the distance. The pill bottle had stayed where it was until Killian returned and met it there. At the sight of the plastic yellow bottle, something had flashed in his eyes, and heโd stood next to the bed with a look she couldnโt read in his eyes, staring at her, his eyes bright in the dark as he stood for so long. After what felt like forever, he pulled open the drawer at the bedside table and tossed the bottle of pills inside, away from where she could see it. He didnโt say a word, hadnโt even asked how she managed to get it, and Raine had said nothing as explanation. That night, he slept in his bed, next to her for the first time since heโd brought her there. Raine shut her eyes and pretended she was back in the packhouse, in M
The handshake went on for much longer than Mathias was comfortable with, and when it ended, a shiver ran down Matthiasโs spine and lingered like static under his skin as Killian dropped his hand last, his touch lingering for much longer than was necessary. The other manโs gaze was unreadable, the corners of his lips twitching like he was holding back a burst of laughter. Maybe it was a sneer, or both for that matter. Matthias didnโt know which unsettled him more. โShall we, alpha?โ the Voss alpha said with a mock bow, rolling his hand in the direction of the dining area. โWould you rather we speak here? Or should we take this discussion elsewhere? Maybe with a bit more privacy?โ โNo.โ Matthias snapped, keeping his growl in check. โWe can have the discussion, right here. This discussion will be brief. Iโd hate to keep you waiting longer than youโd have to.โ Killian tilted his head slightly, staring at Mathias with an expression he couldnโt read. โIโd also hate to hate to keep yo
The days bled into each other until Raine wasnโt sure anymore how long itโd been since she last saw her pack. Killian swore there was no wolfsbane in her system, and so did the doctor, but her bones refused to mend themselves, and her senses were as muted as theyโd been when she was a child. She could not smell or sense anything more than the average human, and her wolf was deadly silent. When she told Killian all these, he would look at her with an expression sheโd come to know as fond pity. Like she was a beloved cat who didnโt know it was dying. Raine didnโt feel like she was dying. She couldnโt feel anything much, but she at least would know if her body was giving up on her. She was in bed most days, in his bed to be precise, but at least he didnโt sleep in it as far as she was concerned, and only female helps came to assist her in dressing and cleaning up. Raine had no qualms about being nude in front of strangers, but she was relived beyond doubt that Killian would not be th
Itโd been five days since Raine was last seen in the pack. It was a constant gnawing at Matthiasโs mind, but he hadnโt even been given enough peace of mind to properly torture himself over the matter. Tensions in the pack were worse than over, with several of his solders refusing to follow orders and organizing some kind of strike against his leadership. The unrest in the pack had escalated to full blown protests, with wolves turning violent towards themselves and members of Matthiasโs house. Lyra had to move into the pack house for the main time because many wolves kept targeting her medic building and threatening her if she didnโt misalign herself from Matthias, Silas had once been attacked while on his way to the wards, and has since stopped leaving the house without extra backing, and to make matters worse, the pack house was no longer a hundred percent foolproof. Just the day before, a handful of wolves managed to get past the guards posted around the houseโs compound, and f
Her head was pounding, and everything felt so groggy. She wasnโt sure what was going on, or if the images in her head were dreams or not. Once she thought she woke and found a strange man next to her, his face blurred as he stroked over her hair and face, but then a pain so sharp had cut through her entire being that sheโd passed out from the intensity. The next and only thing she remembered was a vague dreamlike memory of her wolf nipping at her ear, trying to pull her out a fog of swamp like water, trying to answer the call of another wolf in the distance, but by the time sheโd stumbled out of the swamp, she realized she couldnโt walk, and kept stumbling, falling to knees and forced to watch her wolf grow fainter with each panicked yip it made, until eventually it was gone, and Raine was left alone with nothing but a low throb in her leg. She woke with a gasp, much like that night at the pack after that nightmare, expect this time things were so much worse. Still panting, Rai