บททั้งหมดของ The Dual Claim: บทที่ 141 - บทที่ 150

Elara suggested we meet at her house for the communal soul walk. I asked Halia to join us, but she said she wasn’t ready to visit just in case Landsi was there.While she wanted to know her daughter was safely in the presence of Luna, she wasn’t ready to see her in that state.Understandable. I didn’t press.I practiced putting up the reinforced walls all morning and even during lunch. Gabriel gave me a few arched eyebrow moments, but I just smiled demurely and sipped my soup.I’m sure Zee told him what I was doing. If not, he didn’t need to know everything. I could say that, but the reality was, he did need to know everything.Sid had one of his men drive Maw and me to Sam and Elara’s gingerbread house as I liked to call it. Everyone thought it best that I

“Thanks, Sam,” I said, and hung up the phone. I looked at Bear. “It’s not good.”Our mates left after lunch to do a communal soul walk at Elara’s. Sam had just given me an overview of their journey.“Luna told them the bad times are coming again,” I said grimly.Bear swore under his breath.“They’ll fill us in when they get here, but Sam said they’ve been through an emotional ringer.”“No doubt,” Bear grumbled. “Four hundred years is too soon to deal with another one of these, Gabriel. You have no idea.”“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have a choice.”We heard the women approaching the front door before it opened. Both of us ran toward the entrance to greet our mates.Soree and Maw came through

Bear and I sat for a few minutes absorbing the impact of Luna’s warning. I could see the exhaustion in his face.“I’m not sure I can make it through another one of these, Gabriel,” he admitted.“You’re not going to be alone this time,” I reminded him, but it sounded hollow even as I said it.“In the end, we’re always alone,” he said with sadness. “When you’re the hunted, you don’t know who to trust. Everyone can turn on a dime to save themselves.”I wanted to refute his claim, but I had no foundation in which to do so. I didn’t want to believe that wolves would do that to each other, but on some level, he was right. If it meant you could live or your child spared, you’d give up your neighbor in a heartbeat.

I slammed my keys down on the small table near the door and shuffled my way to the small couch.I was back to being a damned invalid. I couldn’t keep my thoughts away from bringing Vanessa and Selwyn down. The nosebleeds started again, the spasms were debilitating, and the nightmares kept me from any kind of sleep the past two nights.Bina was nowhere to be found. Not that I knew where to look. Even though I paid for the rooms, the front desk couldn’t, or wouldn’t, confirm anything beyond the fact that she’d turned in her key.I drove around, trying to catch her scent, but that came up with nothing. I couldn’t trace her beyond the front desk.Now what was I going to do?I could go back to Silverpine and face the music, but I’d probably end up dead, like Bina said. I

I set my desk phone receiver back on the cradle. Bear talked to Maw, and she was more than ready to leave the cold, but they hadn’t talked to their council yet.I texted Sam while I was on the phone with Bear, asking him to come over. I figured it was better to talk to him alone first. His mate was there for the conversation with Luna, if anyone might be sympathetic to my proposal, it was him.At least I hoped so.I also needed to prep Seith and Nakoa. Toren needed to be in on the loop, but with his proximity further away, his impact wasn’t as immediate as ours.I sent a text to Soraya asking her to talk to Amyra later today and get her assessment on how many kissed she thought the Isles might be harboring.She shot back a kissing emoji.I smiled.She was back downstairs riding the stationary bike again. I know she wasn’t thrilled, but until I knew more about any potential threats, I wasn’t comfortable with her