GINAIt was 4:45 AM when I got back to the pack house, and casually made my way down the hall hoping to run into Karli before Silas or Quinten found me. The elixir had worn off about 45 minutes ago, so I thought my tracks were pretty well covered.A few wolves passed me in the hall, but no one gave me any extra attention or second glances. The halls were pretty quiet and most of those that I passed by were headed out for a run or early morning training. I appreciated the peaceful atmosphere, but I still remained on edge due to my circumstances.After wandering the halls for about an hour, with no sign of Karli, I headed back to my room to shower and get ready for training. I briefly considered knocking on her door, but I was too worried that Silas or Quinten would see me.A cold shower was refreshing and helped to wake me up a bit more. Since I was out all night, I didn’t get any sleep and it was starting to catch up with me. I’m going to have to find time to take a few naps dur

JERICHOAfter fighting with the two patrol wolves so that my mate could escape the night she came to visit, they called for backup and decided to make me pay for my disrespect. They beat me up pretty severely and then gave me a small dose of wolfsbane so that I wouldn’t heal as quickly as normal.My nose was broken, but that was the least of my worries. I also received a few broken ribs, some deep cuts on my face that probably should have gotten stiches, and a fractured pelvis. Since I had more severe injuries that needed to be dealt with, my once straight nose healed a little crooked. It wasn’t worth rebreaking to straighten it, so I left it as it was.By the time I saw Giovanna again, the worst of my injuries were healed well enough, but I still had quite a few bruises. Silas allowed his men to come at me occasionally with a few jabs just to keep me in my place. I think they also wanted to make sure that I looked rough when my mate saw me. It probably had something to do with

GINAThere are a few seconds of silence before a soft whisper on the other end of the line says my name.“Gina? Are you there?”“Yes, I’m here. Who is this?”“It’s Karli. I only have a few minutes before the security guard comes back.”“Karli?! Are you alright? Silas didn’t hurt your for helping me, did he?”“No, I’m fine, he just kept an extra close eye on me for a couple years, but he’s finally loosened up a bit.” She laughed but her tone didn’t hold an ounce of humor, “Listen, Silas and Quinten have gone a little crazy since you’ve been locked up. They have expanded our pack and done some things that look really good to everyone else, but I have a bad feeling about the direction we’re headed.”“Let me guess, everyone is so pleased with the pack growth that they remain willfully ignorant to the shady things that are happening?”“Exactly!” She shouts.“Why are you telling ME about all this? I can’t do anything to stop him. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still locked up like

JERICHOWhen Karli first reached out to me, through another wolf named Matthias, wanting to help after Giovanna had been locked up, I didn’t trust her. I thought she had betrayed us and that was part of why I’d lost my mate again. I’d convinced myself that she was trying to win back her alpha’s trust by further betraying me and my mate, but she was persistent and kept working to prove her loyalty to us.Unfortunately, Silas had removed her from the patrols, and was keeping a close eye on her after her previous betrayal. She promised me that she had found a couple others who wanted to help, but I still didn’t trust her.Everything changed after I saw Silas hit Rieka.There was a new desperation and sense of urgency to get my mate away from this monster, and since I hadn’t been making any progress on my own, I finally decided to take a chance and trust Karli. We set up a new drop location for passing messages back and forth. Matthias was one of the patrols that passed by my house a

GINA The room cleared out quickly and I was immediately flanked by my guards, Perry and Samuel, as they ushered me back into the stairwell that led to my gilded cage. Surprisingly, we didn’t ascend the stairs, but just stood in the stairwell like we were waiting for something. I roll my eyes at the guards, “What are we doing here?” but they don’t respond. They are definitely the muscle without the brains. It seems like they are just the ‘yes men’ who do as they are told without question. The slip of paper hidden under the waistband of my leggings feels like a burning piece of coal against my skin, and my fingers are itching to pull it out and read it, but I won’t risk letting these two buffoons see it or take it from me. “I need to use the bathroom,” I twist my hands together nervously in front of me to help sell the lie. Neither guard looks at me, but one of them grunts in annoyance. “Are you going to let me use the toilet, or do I need to squat right here in the stairwell?”