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ARREN. She was screaming. I could hear her screaming my name but my body wouldn't move. My legs were dead weight. My arms hung useless at my sides. The man had her by the hair. Dragging her backward into the trees. She was clawing at his hands and fighting with everything she had but he was too strong. "Arren!" Her voice was raw. Desperate. "Arren please!" I tried to run to her but my feet wouldn't cooperate. Tried to call out but my throat had closed up. The man looked at me over her shoulder and grinned. Then he pressed a knife to her throat. I watched the blade bite into her skin. Blood ran down her neck in a thin stream. "No—" The word finally tore out of me but it was too late. He dragged the knife across. Her scream cut off. Her eyes went wide and found mine. Stayed there while the life drained out of them. I jolted awake. My whole body jerked and pain exploded through my side. I gasped and my eyes flew open. Darkness surrounded me. Dense and heavy. I blinked har

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52.

ELLARIA.They dragged me through the forest for what felt like hours.My arms hurt from where they gripped me. My legs were shaking from exhaustion and fear and the effort of keeping up with their pace.Every time I stumbled one of them would yank me upright without slowing down.The sun had set completely now and darkness pressed in from all sides. I could barely see where I was stepping. Tree roots caught my feet and I went down hard twice before they started being more careful about pulling me along.Not because they cared if I was hurt but because it was slowing them down.I listened to them talk as we walked.They were discussing routes and timing and whether anyone would have found the Alpha yet. Whether he was still alive or if he'd bled out in that cave.My stomach turned every time they mentioned him.I didn't know if Arren was still alive.These bastards wanted to use me as ransom but they didn't even let me make sure the man they wanted to negotiate with was still breathing

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53.

ELLARIA. I ran until my lungs felt like they were going to burst. Ran until the sound of gunfire faded behind me and all I could hear was my own ragged breathing and the pounding of my feet against the forest floor. Then I stopped. My legs gave out and I stumbled forward and caught myself against a tree. My whole body was shaking. My hands. My legs. Everything. I listened with bated breath. Silence. The commotion from the clearing was gone. Too far away to hear anymore or finished completely. I didn't know which. Where was Arren? Was he out of there? If he got out… were any of them on his tail? The questions spiraled through my head and I couldn't answer any of them. I was a wreck. My chest was heaving and my throat was raw and I couldn't stop shaking no matter how hard I tried. I needed to move. Needed to find the attackers' vehicle. They had to have driven here which meant there was a car or van somewhere nearby. If I could find it I could get out of here. I pushed a

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54.

ELLARIA.I woke up slowly.My head felt heavy and my thoughts were fuzzy and disconnected. Everything hurt but in a distant way like the pain was happening to someone else.I blinked and tried to focus on the ceiling above me.Where was I?I turned my head slowly and the room came into view. A bedroom. Soft light filtering through curtains. Furniture I didn’t recognize.Everything clicked slowly until I realized where I was.Then I saw them.Caden was sitting in a chair near the window. Mirela was beside the bed holding my hand.I tried to sit up and my whole body protested. A groan escaped before I could stop it.“Easy.” Mirela’s hand pressed gently against my shoulder. “Don’t try to move too fast.”I looked at her and then at Caden and tried to make sense of what was happening.How did I get here? Where was here?Caden got up from his chair and crossed to the bedside table. He picked up a glass of water and brought it to me.“Here,” he said. His voice was quiet and steady. “Small si

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55.

ARREN.I was in the foulest mood I’d been in for years.My hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough that my knuckles had gone white an hour ago and hadn’t changed since.I hadn’t been seen by any doctors despite every single one of my enforcers and seconds wanting it handled. They’d tried to corner me this morning before I left. Tried to insist I get looked at.I’d told them all to fuck off.I’d driven away from the Eastern Sector at first light and I hadn’t looked back.After the night before when I’d finally gotten Ellaria back to the faction after hours of stumbling through that goddamn forest looking for a way out I wasn’t in the mood to function around people.My hands curled into fists against the wheel.The gunshot to her leg.The image wouldn’t leave my head. Her body dropping. The blood spreading across her jeans. The way she’d looked at me when I’d reached her.She’d been bleeding out and weak when I’d finally had her in my arms and I blamed myself entirely.How hadn’t I

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