Chapter 138: The Light In The WoodsXENOISSilvia reached out and placed her hand on my cheek, a gesture that should have been comforting but somehow felt more like goodbye. My eyes narrowed at her at this. Was something going on?I wanted to open my mouth to ask her more but she stopped me."I'm here now," she said simply. "I'll take Sophia home tonight. You should go.""Go where?""To the woods. To find the truth about what happened to Riley." Her eyes met mine directly for the first time since she'd arrived, and I saw something odd that has never been there before. Almost like she was seeing everything from a new viewpoint."The person who needs you most right now isn't in this hospital, Xenois. Riley needs his father."I felt something cold settle in my stomach at her words. "What do you mean? Riley is... the rogues took him. We don't even know if he's...""Go," she interrupted, her voice gaining strength as she pushed me back with her hand as she continued speaking. "Trust me. G
Chapter 137: The Broken Matriarch XENOISI paced the hospital corridor, frantically like I was a caged wolf, my feet walking up and down the familiar linoleum flour as my mind kept on going and thinking up worst-case scenarios. Every few minutes I'd check my phone, hoping for some miracle update from the search teams , but the screen remained blank which was one of the things frustrating my life at the moment Were all my men incompetent or was this something stranger. There has been absolutely no calls, no texts, no sign that anyone had found even the smallest clue about where Riley might be. This was killing me slowly.Not just that, the silence from Lumina was eating at me. I'd tried calling her three times in the past hour, needing to hear her voice, needing to know if there had been any change in Ollie's condition. I needed her to know that even if I wasn't rushing there quickly because of this Riley situation, my thoughts were still on them and this wasn't a pick who was more
Chapter 136: The Lifeline THORNE "Don't touch it!" Carol snapped, hitting my hand away from his neck, her eyes were wide with panic as she seemed to be figuring what the bright light meant and from her reaction, it was bad news. "Someone on the other end has figured out that Riley has been drawing on a life force that doesn't belong to him. They're cutting the connection." She said, sounding panicked, as she started squashing some herbs together, trying to form a paste.The necklace was glowing brighter now, hot enough that I could feel the heat radiating from it even from several feet away. The metal was actually beginning to melt, drops of molten silver falling onto Riley's chest and hissing against his skin, but it didn't seem to be burning him,and leaving marks, more like drying up quickly in exposed air."What happens if they succeed in cutting it?" I asked, though I had a terrible feeling I already knew the answer.Carol's face was grim as she began pulling ingredients from
Chapter 135: The Race Against The UnknownTHORNE Today was one of the surreal days in my life. Standing in front of a witch and not ripping her to shreds because she claimed to be the only obstacle standing between Riley and certain death.And in as much as I hated to admit it, even to myself. I needed her help because I don't think the hospital would be able to treat this even if I managed to get him to one on time.Xenois was going to have my head for working with a witch but as long as it meant Riley was safe. I was willing to risk my morality.The woman in front of me didn't seem sinister. Aside from the general scent of what witches smelled like, there was no evil aura or dark energy coming from her.And truly she seemed like she didn't want to fight me because if she wanted to, she would have stopped my heart just by mere breathing. That's how terrifying they were.I let go of Carol as she moved back to the boy, checking up on him as I joined her.I crouched beside Carol as she
Chapter 134: The RitualLYNI met his eyes steadily, not flinching away from his anger as I knew I had to take a stand. "Then prove me wrong," I said, my voice strained but clear, this was something that I wasn't going to budge on, irrespective of my personal feelings on the matter. "Empty this hallway and this room of doctors so I can save Ollie's life. Show me that you're willing to risk everything for the right reasons, not just because you're trying to prove something to yourself or to Lumina."For a moment, I thought he might actually crush my windpipe, his hand got a little bit tighter that I had the fear for a moment. The rational part of my mind catalogued how easy it would be for him to kill me right now, how no one would question an Alpha defending his territory against a witch. But I also knew Zade better than that. Underneath all his anger and confusion, he was a good man who wouldn't let a child die if there was something he could do to prevent it. Not even when it mea
Chapter 133: Choose One LYNWas I crazy? Yes....yes I was but I was determined to see this through no matter what.I watched Zade's face change to anger and confusion as Lynn, came back moments later and handed me the bag of herbs and potions, her movements were quick and efficient despite the tension that was building up between us. The familiar weight of my bag which contained my supplies in my hands felt both comforting and terrifying - I hadn't used my abilities for anything this serious in years, not since I'd promised Zade I would keep that part of myself hidden, to try and fit in the narrative he has created for me.The irony wasn't lost on me that here I was, about to break that promise to try and save the life of a child who I had begun to see as mine and also someone who had never liked Zade, in front of a mate who was already questioning whether he'd made the right choice in accepting me."Everyone out," Zade commanded, his Alpha voice echoing through the hospital room, f