Nathan POV My wolves slowly emerge from the bunker; Alec squeals with delight when he sees Jackson; he was running so fast I thought he would face plant the ground. When he reached his father and wrapped his little arms around his knees, Jackson picked him, swinging him in the air. Nicole chuckled as Marian whispered something in her ear, her face reddening slightly. I decided to give him some time to reunite with his family. I think there is more going on than we know about; we still don't understand why the mutt brought Nicole to our territory. As soon as Amy sees Drew, she runs toward him, jumping into his arms, knocking him off balance. He falls, taking her to the ground with him, laughing as she smothers him with kisses. Drew gets to his feet and offers Amy his hand, pulling her up and wrapping his arms around her protectively. I can feel the tension coming off him; he is still pissed that we have unknown warriors on my land. Layla hasn't come out of the bunkers yet; I don't thi
Nicole POV Nathan's words keep replaying in my mind, increasing my anger by the second. “How would you know, Nicole? You haven't been a proper mother to Layla for years; you are a pathetic excuse for a mother.” Who the fuck does Nathan think he is? And how dare he do that to my daughter? Layla has already been through so much in her young life. Then the one person supposed to love and protect her turns his back on her discarding her like a piece of garbage. Fucking Alpha’s, right now; I could kill the lot of them. I stop at the edge of Nathan's border and flip him the bird. “Fuck you, Nathan.” Jackson's eyes widen in shock as he says, “That won't help Layla, Nicole.” I turn on him, whispering, so Alec doesn't get upset, “Now is not the time to push my fucking buttons, Jackson.” He holds his hands up in surrender, “I wasn't trying to piss you off when we get home, and I make sure our pack is ok. I will organize some of our scouts and warriors to search for Layla.” I hand
Layla POV The shock from ice-cold water hitting my face wakes me up, I jerk backward, smashing my head against the stone wall behind me, and my ears ring as pain flows from my head to my shoulders. Rough hands grab me, pulling me to my feet; pins and needles run through my arms and legs as my circulation returns—Isaac grunts when my legs give out from under me. Sasha growls as she helps him attach the shackles around my wrists to the silver pin in the roof. My arms are stretched above my head; my feet can't touch the ground. My wrists burn, my elbows hurt, and the muscle in my shoulders scream for mercy as they support all my weight. The pounding in my head gets louder; my breathing is shallow, and my broken ribs grind against each other when I try to breathe. Wolfsbane mixes with the damp stagnant air that fills the cave. Sasha slaps my face sharply; the sound echoes in the confined space. “Wakey, wakey sis.” As soon as I hear her nasal voice, flashes of what happened last night
Nicole POV I snarl at the male wolf, “Where is my daughter?” He looked at me with a smug smile on his face and said. “You won't hurt me.” The boy is young, maybe a year older than Layla, but he is wrong. I don't want to hurt him, but I will. “What is your name, and what pack are you from?” “Joseph from the Silver Moon pack” “You are a scout?” “Yes” “Is my daughter alive?” He shrugs his shoulders; the little fucker couldn't care less whether Layla was alive. I kneel before him, looking him in his eyes, so he knows I am serious. “I will hurt you, Joseph, if you don't start talking.” He laughs and spits in my face. After I wipe his saliva off me, I look at him, and all I can see is Michael's face. His eyes widen with shock when my fist connects with his nose. All the pent-up hurt, frustration, and anger I have inside me I unleash onto him. My knuckles are swollen and bleeding when I walk out of the room. Diana shakes her head as she rips a cloth in half and wraps my h
Layla POVIt is so dark I don't know if it's day or night or how much time has elapsed since Sasha and Isaac left. Silent tears run down my face; I want the pain to stop. Drifting in and out of consciousness, I don't hear when my tormenters return. Sasha slaps my face, “Wake up, Layla.” Opening my eyes slowly, I mumble,“Kill me and get it over with, Sasha.” She steps back, her face filled with contempt, and snarls, “I am so disappointed in you, Layla; I thought you would put up more of a fight. But then you always were weak, weren't you?” My heart and mind are numb; I don't care anymore. Sasha picks up a bottle containing wolfsbane. Isaac holds my head tightly; Sasha lifts the bottle to my mouth, laughing as she pours the liquid down my throat. I don't fight them, choking and sputtering; I swallow the burning liquid. She snorts in disgust and screams. "Your fucking pathetic, Layla.” Then storms from the room; Isaac chases after her, “You can't just leave her there, babe.” Sh
Nicole POVWe reach the outskirts of Michael's territory late in the afternoon. We have been dodging rogues all day; it didn't take the bastards long to sense there wasn't an Alpha in this area anymore. Monique, Simone, and two of the Jackson warriors separate from our group; they must get as close to the town center as they can without being seen. Marian Diana, myself, and the last two warriors continue toward the mountain.When we stop at the mountain's base, Marian turns to Diana and me and says,“We need to reach the top of the mountain before dark.” The plan is to reach the top before nightfall to give us a better view if anyone approaches the cave. We need to be cautious if Sasha and Isaac see us; the general census is that they won't hesitate to kill Layla before we can reach her. We haven't stopped running all morning; it's so hot; sweat runs down my face stinging my eyes; our clothes cling to our skin. When we come across a small stream, we stop for five minutes, washing ou
Layla POV Stashing the syringes in my pocket, I picked up the wolfsbane bucket and waited patiently as they got closer; when Sasha and Isaac entered the room, I threw the contents in their faces. Their screams echoed through the cave as they fell to the ground, trying desperately to wipe the wolfsbane off their skin. I smile down at them; this is only a tiny amount of pain that they deserve; a chuckle escapes me as I watch them writhing in agony; Lea’s voice whispering in my mind jerks me out of my trance, “Get him first, Layla.” I take my time as I sink slowly onto Isaac’s chest; his eyes widen in fear as I smirk and push the syringe full of wolfsbane into his heart. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sasha as she stumbled to her feet; when her legs gave out, she started to crawl on her hands and knees, trying to escape. I stayed where I was, relishing in the feeling of power that rippled through me as the light left Isaac's eyes; he was dead. I rose to my feet, whispering t
Leon POVI had just arrived at Michael's territory when Jackson's mind linked to mine, “We are on our way down.”I growl through the link,“You rescued the girl.’ He was silent for a few minutes before he answered,“We didn't need to. Laya saved herself before we could get to her.” Lucian is standing on the porch of the packhouse questioning two young warriors,“Where is my fucking son?” They put their heads down, whimpering, as he raises his voice. “I won't ask again, Tate, where is the worthless prick.” Tate's voice trembles with fear as he answers,“Sasha and Isaac left this morning. He said he had something to take care of.”Lucian growls, punching the boy in the face as he screams,“I told you to keep him away from that fucking whore. Get the fuck out of my sight.” The two warriors scramble to their feet, running away from Lucian. I mind link Jackson back, “Lucian’s barely controlling his rage down here; what the fuck is taking you so long?””Just do what I say, Leon, and