All Chapters of Mated To My Captor: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The Silvercrest compound looked like a fortress pretending to be a corporate headquarters. Thirty floors of gleaming glass and steel in the heart of the Spire district, where property values started at "obscene" and climbed from there. The bottom fifteen floors housed legitimate businesses, Silvercrest Holdings owned half the development projects in Callahan City. The top fifteen floors were pack territory, closed to humans and wolves alike without explicit permission.They took me to the top floor.The elevator ride felt like ascending to my own execution. The female enforcer, she'd introduced herself as Cassidy, head of security, kept her hand on my shoulder the entire way up. Not painfully, but firm enough that I couldn't mistake it for anything but a restraint."Nervous?" she asked, and I couldn't tell if it was mockery or actual curiosity."Terrified," I answered honestly. No point in lying when they could smell the fear sweat beading on my skin."Good. You should be. Alpha Silve

I read Sage's notes cover to cover twice before Cassidy came to collect me. The journal was full of cramped handwriting, sketches of ancient symbols, and highlighted passages about Blood Heir abilities. Some of it was fascinating. Most of it was terrifying.Apparently, a fully awakened Blood Heir could not only absorb abilities but also memories, emotions, even fragments of personality. The strongest Blood Heirs in history had been able to command other wolves simply by understanding them completely—knowing their fears, their desires, their weaknesses.No wonder the packs had tried to wipe them out.The ritual chamber was in the sub-basement of the compound, far below the gleaming corporate facade. The walls down here were stone, old stone, the kind that had probably been part of Callahan City's original foundation. Candles burned in iron sconces, casting flickering shadows that made the carved symbols on the walls seem to move.About twenty wolves had gathered in a circle around a ra

The other wolves backed up, forming a loose circle. I could feel their anticipation, their curiosity. Most of them probably expected me to fail spectacularly.Vera didn't give me time to prepare. She came at me fast, a testing strike that I barely dodged. My wolf surged, wanting to shift, wanting to meet the threat with teeth and claws. But I shoved her down, relying on human reflexes instead.Bad move. Vera's next strike caught me in the ribs, pulling the blow at the last second but still hitting hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. I staggered back, and she followed up with a leg sweep that should have taken me down.Should have. But years of foster care had taught me how to fall, and I rolled with it, using the momentum to create distance. When Vera came at me again, I was ready. I couldn't match her strength or training, but I could be unpredictable.I went low when she expected high, slipped past her guard, and landed a solid hit to her kidney. Not enough to hurt her but e

The silence stretched between us like a chasm opening in the earth. Dante's eyes had gone flat and cold, all the vulnerability from moments before locked away behind walls I could feel him building through the bond. Brick by brick, he was shutting me out."Say that again." His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was something lethal coiled beneath it.I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs. "The knife. The one used to kill Adrian. I saw it in your memories through the bond. It's the same knife that was used to kill your mother.""Get out of my head." Each word came out clipped."I'm not trying to...""Liar." He stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor with a sound that made me flinch. "You're in there right now, pawing through my memories like they're yours to take. Violating the one place I have left that's supposed to be mine."Through the bond, I felt the roiling storm of his emotions: rage, yes, but underneath it, a terror so visceral it made my s

"That's insane," I said. "We wouldn't…""I know that. You know that. But Kastor is grieving and angry, and grief makes wolves irrational." My father's expression was carved from stone. "Which is why I'm sending you both to the crime scene. You'll investigate, you'll use Kira's abilities to access Marcus's final moments, and you'll find me something concrete to give Kastor before he starts a war."Kira shifted behind me. "Sir, I'm still learning how to control the memory access. What if I can't…""Then you'll try harder." Dominic's voice brooked no argument. "This is why you're alive, Miss Volkov. This is your purpose. So I suggest you figure out how to make your abilities work, because the alternative is a pack war that will expose us all to human authorities."The threat hung in the air like smoke. I could feel Kira's. She wasn't going to back down, even though my father had basically told her to perform on command or face execution."We