Albwin woke suddenly to the sounds of commotion outside his room. He jumped out of bed glad that he always slept fully dressed when he was away, call it professional awareness, or just thinking ahead. He made his way to the door and listened carefully trying to figure out the cause of the amount of noise in the hallway. He got a bad feeling as he pressed his ear against the hardwood. “That’s the scout's room, collect him and bring him to me.” He heard a gruff and angry voice call out. Albwin double-checked the door’s locks and backed away quietly. He snatched up his pack which he always kept ready and threw it over his shoulder as he made his way to the window. He paused only a moment as he listened. The wolves banged on his door loudly calling for him to answer. He knew they wouldn’t wait long before getting the keys to unlock it, or simply just breaking it down. He opened the window quietly and slipped out. He had already scouted a quick exit when he first got assigned his room a

Ember growled in frustration as she broke another nail, biting back a curse she stuck her finger in her mouth. Ember had spent the last few hours scouring over every nook and cranny in this goddess-forsaken hut. All she had been able to find out is that she was stuck in a one-room shack since she could hear forest noises outside every wall. She started trying to find a loose floorboard or a nail anything she could use to help her escape. Artemis had been pacing and growling in her head trying to burn through the wolfsbane. Ember had finally found a nail sticking up just a tiny bit and was slowly trying to work it out of the floorboard. If she could get it out she was hoping she could use it to break the lock or use it to loosen up a floorboard, or even just as something sharp to stab an enemy with, but even after an hour she had only managed to lift it the tiniest bit and she had broken two nails and made the tips of her fingers bruised and bloody for the effort. Scowling she gave up,

“My Darling, you smell divine. What has you so — aroused.” His eyes flashed again and she saw his fangs gleam as he grinned staring at her as he took another step toward her. She took a step back for every step forward he made. The chase only made his eyes glow deeper and his smile widen. Ember felt like her heart would beat out of her chest.“Not you, trust me on that. I was just thinking about how my True Mate would rip you to pieces.” Ember growled out the last part, she hoped to sound intimidating but apparently, he only found it amusing as he threw his head back and laughed. “Darling, you bare no mating mark, and you do not smell of another. You aren’t mates yet. Which means you can survive a new bond. I was supposed to trade you back, but the more time I spend with you, the more I want you for my own. You know, it only hurts at first.” He moved in a flash and slammed

It didn’t take long for Archie and Albwin to clear out and mess up the tracks. Albwin even added some masking spray to some areas to hide that they had already been there, to add to the confusion. They were only there for twenty minutes at most even though it felt like a lifetime before they were on their way again. Callum was a lot more talkative than his twin and he asked Torin about the Fae Realm and how he liked being in the human realm. They made easy conversation and Torin knew Callum was trying to help distract him, which he was thankful for. Callum told him the ruins were four hours for a wolf so that meant it could take them eight to ten hours at their current speed. He was glad they were moving at a quick jog through the forest this time, only stopping occasionally to check a mark Albwin would point out through the speech spell.They travelled easily for four hours before they agreed to take a short stop for water and regroup. Archie caught up to them and Albwin came back. A

Quiten winked and walked toward the door, he stopped in the doorway and turned to her once more as if he had forgotten to say something, “I expect you to be dressed and ready for our meal in one hour, Liam will escort you to the private dining room.” And with that, he walked out slamming the door behind him, a soft click was heard as he locked it once more. Ember sat on the ground and put her head in her hands trying to calm the storm of emotions. Deep breaths, calming slow deep breaths. Let’s look around to see if there is anything we can use for our escape, Artemis suggested trying to snap Ember out of her thoughts. Ember nodded and took a few more calming breaths before standing again and taking in the room more carefully. There was a plush lounge chair in the corner beside the curtains with a small table beside it and a lamp, and a small bookshelf lined with books beside that. In the other corner was a dark wooden desk and a comfortable-looking chair in front of it. Ember went to