CHAPTER FIVE:BAIT FOR AN ALPHA

KIARA’S POV

This trip was never ending. It felt like we had been driving for days and I was getting really tired of it. 

One day was like the other. We would stop at gas stations, drive on highways and stay in motels that smelled like dust. All of this was for one person. Kael.

We almost found Kael two days ago. We were so close I could almost feel it.. Then nothing. The trail just went cold like it never existed. Since then Kael had been moving all the time, slipping through towns like a ghost.

This was driving me crazy. I slammed my fist into the wall of the diner bathroom. The crack was louder than I expected.

"Relax, " Chloe said from behind me, her voice calm as always. "We will find him. It is just taking longer than we thought."

I turned around with my jaw tight. "Why is Kael so hard to find? What is he doing that makes him move to a place every day?"

Chloe studied me carefully, her arms crossed. 

"Whoa, easy. You need to calm down. What is going on with you? You are more hostile than usual,this isn’t good for you either or the babies.”

I breathed out sharply. Dragged a hand through my hair. "It is not me. It is them." I put my hand on my stomach. "These babies... They have turned my emotions into rage. I feel like I could punch through a building."

Chloe snorted. "Noted. Stay away from buildings."

Then her face changed. She looked thoughtful and focused. "I have been tracking Kael's movements, " she said slowly. "Every place Kael has been. There is a pattern."

I gestured impatiently. "And?"

"I read something a while ago, " she continued. 

"As we are tracking him down he’s also tracking down a rogue wolf. He is dangerous. Has been killing across territories. A lot of packs have been trying to hunt him down."

I leaned back against the wall thinking. "Okay... How does that help us find Kael?"

Chloe shrugged. "It does not. Not really. All we can do is keep following and hope Kael stops enough for us to catch up."

I groaned. "Great. What I wanted."

There was a pause.

Then my stomach growled loudly.

Chloe looked at me. "You cannot be serious."

"All this thinking made me hungry, " I said, already heading for the door.

"You just ate five cheeseburgers."

"I’m eating for three Chloe, it didn’t satisfy me.”

" Of course they did not, " she muttered.

I looked back. "Want anything?"

"Fries. Since you ate all of mine."

I smirked. "It's not my fault you eat too slowly."

She flipped me off. I walked to the counter.

When I returned with a tray of food Chloe was not looking at me. She was staring ahead still.

A chill ran down my spine.

"What is wrong?" I asked, setting the tray down.

Her eyes moved to mine. "Your baby's father is headed this way."

My heart skipped a beat.

"What?"

"He's a day away " she continued, her voice quieter now. "He is coming to this town."

A slow dangerous smile spread across my face. "Does that not make things easier for us?"

Chloe did not look sure. "I do not know " she said.. That was when fear crept in.

Chloe did not get scared easily.

"I do not like this, " she said.

Before I could respond it hit me.

A vision slammed into my mind like a punch.

A man.

A knife.

Two women.

Blood.

I sucked in a breath gripping the edge of the table.

"Chloe " I whispered, panic rising fast. "We need to go. Now."

She did not argue.

We were already moving.

The parking lot felt too quiet.

Too empty.

The air was wrong.

We walked faster toward the car, our instincts screaming. I reached for the door handle.

Then everything went black.

When I woke up my head was pounding.

The world rocked beneath me.

Metal. Darkness.

A truck.

I was lying on the floor of a moving vehicle. My wrists... When I looked down I saw why.

Cuffs.

Not just any cuffs.

Anti-magic cuffs.

" Of  course, " I muttered bitterly.

Chloe groaned beside me slowly coming to.

"Morning sunshine " I said.

She looked at me disoriented. "Where are we?"

"I am guessing the back of a murder van " I replied. "Honestly we could be anywhere in the world."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

She closed her eyes, focusing. "Let me try to track where we are going -"

"It will not work " I cut while lifting my wrists. "Anti-magic cuffs. Whoever took us knows what we are."

Her face darkened. "The coven?"

I shook my head. "No. If it were them we would already be back in Mystic Grove locked in a sealed room until I give birth."

There was a pause.

" What?" she asked.

I tilted my head thinking. Then I smiled faintly.

"My best guess?" I said. "A magical serial killer."

She stared at me.

Then I laughed.

"How are you joking now?"

I shrugged. "Coping mechanism. Also... I am thinking."

"About?"

"How to get us out of this alive. Preferably without dying."

The truck suddenly stopped.

Silence fell.

Footsteps.

Heavy.

Getting closer.

The back doors swung open flooding the space with light.

Three massive men stood there.

Muscular. Cold. Not human.

Before we could react they grabbed us.

We fought, kicked, twisted, tried everything... Without magic we were nothing compared to them.

They dragged us out across gravel toward a house that looked like something out of a nightmare.

Dark.

Isolated.

Wrong.

We were thrown into a room like we weighed nothing.

The door slammed shut behind us.

Chloe sat up breathing hard. "Those are not men."

"No, " I said quietly.

I pressed my hand to my stomach again.

"I can feel it."

She frowned. "Feel what?"

"Wolves."

Her eyes widened.

A strange unsettling awareness pulsed through me.

"I think I am going to start picking up wolf traits as this pregnancy progresses."

"Great " Chloe muttered. " What I wanted to hear."

We sat there for what felt like hours.

No windows.

No sound.

Just waiting.

Chloe kept trying to break the cuffs. It was useless.

Eventually exhaustion started creeping in.

Then the door opened.

He walked in.

I blinked.

Because... Wow.

He was beautiful.

Sharp cheekbones. Strong build. Dark hair falling perfectly. Eyes that could ruin lives.

Then I smelled it.

Blood.

A lot of it.

Yeah. Definitely not a good guy.

"Hello, ladies, " he said smoothly.

I tilted my head studying him. "Care to explain why we are here?"

His gaze locked onto me, something calculating flickering beneath the surface.

Then he smiled.

"You, " he said, "are my bait."

A cold chill ran through me.

"For what?" I asked.

His smile widened, dangerous.

"You are going to help me kill an Alpha."

like that...

I knew we were in trouble.