MasukBella’s POVThe elder's hand closed around the blade before anyone else in that chamber fully registered what she was doing, and she turned it on herself before I could cross the distance to stop her."No " I screamed, the sound raw and useless as Dravens arm caught me hard around the waist pulling me back from a lunge that would have come late regardless.The blade never reached the chest of the woman. The blade stopped, shaking, an inch from the heart of the woman. The hands of the woman shook violently as the woman tried to hold the blade of finishing the motion."I will not be used " the elder said, voice. Fierce addressing the woman rather than any of us. "Not as leverage, against the woman."Not as a substitute for a ritual that was never meant to touch me. If you want blood tonight, you'll have to take it from someone unwilling to give it freely, and you'll have to live with exactly what that costs you."The womans face was completely empty like she was thinking about something
Draven’s POVChanting meant people, and people meant we were already too late to simply walk in quiet."How voices " I whispered, my voice barely there as I tried to pull the noise apart to count each one." many to take on directly " Thor said, his face grim. "Ten maybe more. This isn't just guards anymore.""They're not guards " my aunt said, her eyes dark, with something deep. Something that had seen much. "Listen to the rhythm. That’s not a circle of defense. That’s a ritual already in motion."The words cut through me like ice. I felt Bella stiffen beside me. The truth hit us all at same moment same breath."They have the elder " Bella said, her voice low but sharp. "They’re not waiting for me. They’ve started without me.""That shouldn’t happen " the operative said, her voice cracking. "The files said the ritual needed your blood—given freely. If they’re going ahead without you—" Her sentence trailed off hanging in the air like smoke.Then either the files were incomplete or the
Bella’s POV"Then we find her," I said, the words leaving me before the full weight of what that meant had even finished settling. "Wherever they took her, we don't leave her out there alone.""We don't have a place " Thor said, not mean just straightforward the way he always was when feelings tried to take over and he needed to stay focused. "We have Jennifers story, about a transfer she didn't see happen two hours ago and no place connected to it.""Then we find one " I said. "Jennifer try. Anything, something that seemed small at the time. Noises, people talking, anything all."Jennifer shut her eyes clearly trying to bring back details that had been trying to leave her mind since they happened. I watched her hands grip the blanket Draven had put on her the effort of trying to remember taking something from her that I knew well from every night I had forced myself to go to things I wanted to forget."There was a vehicle " a woman said slowly. "Not the ones we arrived in originally.
Bella’s POVThe old grounds meant nothing to me, and everything about the way my aunt's face changed when I said it out loud told me it meant considerably more to her."You know it " I said. It was not a question."I know of it." My aunts voice became careful the tone she used whenever a memory cost her more than she was ready to admit. "It is where the organization first started, generations before any of us were born. Before the organization turned into payments and shell companies and quiet coercion the organization was simpler. The organization was a place where the earliest experiments took place back when nobody outside the organization even knew bloodlines, like mine could be tracked all.""How do you know about organization if organization predates your time there?" I asked.Stories. The kind older operatives tell to ones, part warning and part legend until no one really knows which parts are real anymore. My aunts hands had stopped moving in her lap. "I never thought I'd hear
Draven’s POV"We don't move on this," I said, staring at the photo on Bella's screen like it might change if I looked at it long enough. "Not yet. Not until we know it's real.""It could be a trap " Gordon agreed."Numbers we do not recognize, timing that lines up a little conveniently with everything else the woman has thrown at us tonight.""It could also be what it looks like " Bella said, though I heard caution underneath her hope that carefulness of someone who had been burned enough times in one night to stop trusting good news on sight."Jennifer is smiling in that photo. Actually smiling. That is not something anyone forces convincingly not after what Jennifer has been through.""People can be coached " my aunt said quietly."Threatened into performing the expression someone else needs people to perform.""I have seen it done. I have been the one responsible, for arranging it years ago before I understood what I was actually part of."The admission landed heavy in the room. I
Bella’s POVDarkness again, and this time I refused to let it feel familiar.She wants panic I said, low and steady pushing the words out before fear could fill the space. We don't give it to her. Not this time."Copy that " Thors voice came from near the door, tight but calm. "No ones panicking. Just breathing loud in the dark like the rest of us."Dravens hand found my shoulder in the black, firm and sure his thumb brushing once along my collarbone—the signal we'd made up weeks ago a wordless check that meant only one thing: still here. I pressed my hand over his in reply sending back the quiet reassurance.A low laugh floated from, down the hallway. Then the woman’s voice followed, smooth and unhurried like she was used to the dark she had so carefully built.You've gotten better at this she said. Composure under pressure. I'll admit I didn't expect that growth from you. Not after watching you at the tournament. Still learning which parts of yourself were even worth trusting.Where
Bella's POVThe rain was incessant as it destroyed all the dishes and cakes I had made for our night dining with Ronan.He hadn't come for the hotel reservation I made for the both of us, wanting to celebrate our anniversary.And I wasn't ready to give up celebrating it because of the bad incidents
Bella's POVToday was my fourth anniversary with my mate Ronan, the alpha prince of Moonstone pack, but instead of happiness, I had mixed feelings.I held the test strip in my hands as I hid myself in the crowd, watching the bikers on track racing."You're infetile, luna Bella" the doctor's voice e
Bella's POV I began to run as fast as my legs could carry me, even though I was wolfless. I was agile and had always secretly trained myself to be strong, even though I had no wolf. A Luna was supposed to have strength to defend the pack alongside her Alpha. I had done all these so that I coul
Bella's POVRonan almost fell to the floor as he coughed up blood, his body folding in on itself as if he were weakly—no, even weaker than I was ever supposed to be.“How dare you, Bella?” He snapped, his voice hoarse yet filled with disbelief. As if the idea of me rejecting him first was something







