LAMIA I slipped on my black spaghetti-strapped dress, decorated with red vine flowers, and a pair of black short heels. The king had wanted us to dress semi-formally, for a family dinner. I had just finished putting on mascara when Zane came up behind me wrapping his arms around my waist and holding me flush against his chest. He was looking dashing in a pair of black jeans and a light blue button-up, the color of the shirt making his eyes look even paler and his piercing giving him an edgy look. Moving my hair to the side, he planted a kiss on my mark, a small moan escaping my lips as I felt the pleasure of sparks ignite through my neck and down my arms. “You look gorgeous doll, as always.” He murmured into my neck, planting small kisses up and down. I bit my bottom lip and smiled at him through the mirror, “those are my lips to bite” he growled and spun me around to face him, his lips finding mine and nibbling on them. I reached up and snaked my arms around his neck, pulling away

ZANE The pack had been notified of the challenge and the bleachers surrounding the arena filled up fast. I stood to the side with my mate waiting for Jody’s dumb fucking ass to come out. Just as I thought it, she came walking into the arena dressed in tight black cycle shorts and a sports bra. Bret was trailing behind her. He had linked me that he tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn’t budge. Her fucking choice, I had replied to him. Jody is a good-looking woman, hot, but standing next to my mate she was nothing. Her looks paled next to Lamia’s tall athletic figure and emerald green eyes that have me lost every time I connect with them. I was not worried at all, knowing Lamia’s strength and power, I did feel sorry for Jody, just a smidgeon though, she had no idea what she was doing and was too fucking stupid to realize she had just challenged a wolf that holds an Alpha status. I squeezed Lamia’s hand as she and Bret approached. Bret lifted his hands up in a show of ‘I tried an

LAMIA Since Jody’s stupid challenge last week I hadn’t seen or heard about her. I asked Zane if he had banished her or thrown her in the dungeons, but he hadn’t. It wasn’t like me to care, but for some reason, I had a concern for her. Maybe I felt a little sorry for her stupidity and how she was shamed, but this past week I had grown closer to Bret and Cyrus, who have shared childhood memories and a lot of them included her. Even Halley and Luna Juniper have said she wasn’t a bad person, just a little misguided, and had truly fallen for Zane. I had been busying myself with Hunji and Tawny, weapons training. Hunji had been training Tawny and, I have to say, I was impressed with her skills and how easily she took to the training. So much better than when I was sparing with her, weaponry was definitely her forte. I had even given Chris his sparing match. I beat him easily but his swordsmanship skills were good, almost as good as Travis’. The great thing about having Hunji here with us

ZANE 2 WEEKS LATER “Two fucking weeks! Two fucking weeks, Kellen! And not a single fucking lead! Where the fuck is she?” I pounded my fist into the wall of my office, stopping mid-pace, I couldn’t control it, the anger. The insanity of not knowing where she was, I was out of control, my wolf was out of control. I was losing it. I felt empty, enraged, saddened, infuriated, lost… Every emotion was wracking through me all at once. The fuckers had come out of nowhere, somehow sneaking past our border security. They took her, they fucking took her. I failed. I failed to protect my mate, our Luna, our Queen. Guilt riddled me, eating me up from the inside out. It had only been hours before that I promised I would protect her. I could feel the sting of unshed tears welling up in my eyes. I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t control it when the single drop slipped down my cheek. I slumped onto the couch, throwing my head in my hands, and letting my hair fall to my forehead, I started to

KELLEN We have been at Crescent Moon for five days now. It had been 3 weeks since Lamia had been taken. Every day I felt the pain of her torture and I know Zane did too. With the aid of Alpha Eric, his son Greg and their warriors, we have been out searching every day. We still have trackers in the field now. We were currently sitting in the dining hall of the pack house; Mike was out searching a location with some of our warriors and Alpha Eric’s, as they knew the terrain much better. Tawny was in her room and I sat there watching Zane push food around his plate. He didn’t look good. Thankfully, they had not violated Lamia since we had arrived here, but that did not take from the fact that they were still torturing her every day. Conri and I could feel each slash of the whip, every cut they made, and each broken rib. I knew if I felt it, so could Zane. At random times of the day, one or both of us would feel the pain, sometimes it was sharp, and other times it came as a dull ache.