ORLAI squinted as I tried to make sense of where I was. My cheek was pressed against a cold surface, and it was the same for other parts of my body. There was no lighting in the place, so I spent a long time trying to think about where or when I was. I also noticed that my whole body felt very weak, which was probably because I got stabbed with a silver knife. Luckily for me though, when I touched my stomach underneath my shirt, it was dry, athough a bit sensitive. The wound had closed, but hadn’t healed completely.I got up to my knees, and tried to feel around for something—anything that could have given me a clue about where I was, but I found nothing. I couldn't even sense Eva. It was like she wasn't even with me at all. I tried to pull on the bond keeping us together, but it was untouchable. I couldn't feel a thing. It was at this point that panic started to sink in at some point. If I couldn't feel my wolf, then what would I do?In my restlessness, it came to my notice that the

ORLAI'd seen the sun rise and fall five times through the little window of our cell.Every evening, Maverick and I were given two plates of food each every day. At first, I'd been skeptical about the food, because I feared that it would have been laced with something, but I really had no choice as the days went on. It was better to have something in my stomach, than to be weak and sickly when they finally came for us.Maverick had regained most of his strength by now, but had become very much subdued and sad. I had to force him more than once to actually eat, because if he had his way, he would have chosen death. His pride kept him from receiving help from his captors."You can't afford to keep doing this, Maverick," I said to him when he refused yet again to eat.I looked at the meager meal that was left for us, and my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in a while, since I had been trying to keep my intake low to stave off the effects of anything the food might have been laced with, a

AUTHOR'S POVBack at the place where she lived, Makila stormed into her room and uncovered her scrying ball that she usually kept under her bed covers. She slipped off her shoes, undid her braid, and untied the scarf around her neck before hopping onto her bed.To scry, she simply needed to have a clear image of the person she wanted to see, and luckily for her, Marc's face was forever etched into her undying memory.The young man lay sleeping in his tiny room, oblivious to the fact that he was being watched.Her thoughts raced one after the other in her head too fast for her to even comprehend. She had come here seeking answers, but now she found herself questioning her motives.Why was she so drawn to this young man? Why did she feel such a connection to him? Was it merely because of his resemblance to Marc, or was there something more?She took a deep breath, willing herself to calm her racing heart. She needed to focus, to remember why she was watching him though the glass ball. Sh

ORLA Makila had come the day before to take Maverick away. She treated him like he was nothing but a dog, wrapping chains around his neck and dragging him along with her. I tried to hold her off, but there was little I could do without my wolf. I needed her desperately, and I had no idea what had happened to her. Everything kept going from bad to worse and the initial hope I'd held for the future had started to dim into a distant light. I was pondering what to do, and how to make things even remotely better when Makila barged into my cell. "You, come outside. You're finally needed." She pointed a darkly manicured finger at me. Eager to see Maverick, I agreed without question. Since I'd been in the cell, I had no idea how we had come to be in such a dark place, but I had reasons to believe that we were somewhere really down below, because of the way the air carried sound. Everything echoed. Even the littlest footstep reverberated like a thousand drums. The cold metal manacles arou

AUTHOR'S POVAfter Ryker failed to respond to Orla's question, he stormed out of the room in search of the one person he felt would understand his pain.Ophelia hadn't been pulled into the circle as well as he was, and it simply had to do with the fact that Makila and his father weren't so sure if they could trust her yet. Also, they both decided that it would be best if she remained at home to keep up appearances until their plans were carried out. If both children of the Darke family suddenly vanished off the face of the earth, the chaos that had already ensued from Orla's disappearance would have been ten times more.He wasn't surprised that many had started showing their intentions to take Orla's place as clan leader, even though the role rightfully fell to him as her mate. The downside to the whole thing was since he'd marked her in a hurry, and with limited witnesses, no one would take his word for it without proof. Even if he was now an Alpha, Orla's absence had caused more trou