Semua Bab The Mate Hunt: Bab 131 - Bab 140

MaeveDinner was fucking painful. Not because the food was bad. Gemma had apparently taken Lyra calling our home old and musty as a personal declaration of war, because the dining table looked like she had decided to prove Caine could feed royalty. Roasted venison sat in the center beside herb covered potatoes, glazed vegetables, fresh bread, two different sauces, and enough side dishes to make me wonder how many wolves had been sacrificed to the kitchen today.No. The food wasn't the problem. The silence was.Lyra hadn't said a single word since we sat down. Not one. She sat beside Theron with her spine perfectly straight, cutting her venison into tiny pieces with considerably more aggression than the meat deserved.Across from her, I took another drink of wine. Her eyes lifted. Met mine. I raised an eyebrow. Her gaze dropped immediately back to her plate.Progress.Beside me, Ronan's amusement slid through the bond. Don't.I said nothing.You don't have to anymore.That only amused

RonanMaeve didn't say a word on the way upstairs. That was how I knew something was wrong. Not the bond. Not her scent. Not the tension still clinging to her shoulders after an entire fucking day of problems being placed at her feet. The silence. Maeve always had something to say. About the stairs. About dinner. About Lyra. About my clothes. About the fact that the Alpha residence apparently required too much walking for a building supposedly designed for convenience.Tonight? Nothing. She walked beside me with one hand loosely holding mine and stared ahead.We passed two warriors near the upper corridor. "Alpha. Luna."Maeve smiled. Small. Polite. She even asked one whether his shoulder was healing properly after yesterday. He assured her it was. She told him Elowen would skin him if he tore it open again. He laughed. Maeve laughed too.Then we reached our door. I closed it behind us. The smile disappeared. Just like that.Maeve walked farther into the room and stopped. I watched he

MaeveTheron showed up twenty minutes after breakfast ended. Alone. I noticed that immediately.Ronan and I were still in the dining room with Cassian and Torin, going through tomorrow's security plans while Soren and Maris had disappeared to do whatever terrifyingly efficient things they did whenever the rest of us were busy talking.The doors opened. Theron walked in. No Lyra. No Tyson. No Corina. Just him.I leaned back in my chair. "Did you kill her?"Theron stopped. Cassian choked on his coffee. Ronan slowly looked at me. "What?"I shrugged. "Lyra. She's missing. You're here. It seemed like a reasonable question."Theron's mouth twitched. "No.""Shame.""Maeve." Ronan's voice carried warning."What? I'm being hospitable.""You threatened to magically silence my mate yesterday," Theron said as he approached the table. "I don't think hospitality is the word I'd use.""She insulted my pack.""She did."That stopped me.Theron pulled out the chair across from us. "She'll remain at th

MaeveRonan stopped beside me. For the first time since I'd known him, shock punched clean through our bond.Cassian whispered, "What the fuck?"Torin looked like someone had struck him. Ruan stared.The head messenger. Falon. The wolf responsible for information moving across Caine territory. The man who knew virtually everything before half the pack did.My stomach dropped. "I felt him." Ronan looked at me. My eyes stayed on Falon. "This whole fucking time."Of course I had. He wasn't missing from the bond. He wasn't foreign. He wasn't hidden. He was Caine.Ruan understood. "The masking hid his scent.""But not his pack thread," I whispered.Ronan's expression went deadly. "No."The realization hit harder. When I'd frozen the entire territory, Falon had frozen with everyone else. I had felt him. One familiar Caine presence among hundreds. Why would I have looked twice?My wolf snarled. The cub. Right.I stepped forward. "Don't release him," Ronan said."I know."I focused on the chi

RonanCassian and Torin had barely gotten Falon to the door when something clicked into place."Wait."They stopped. Falon did too. Not willingly. His silver restraints rattled as Torin turned him back toward me.Maeve looked up. "What?"I stared at Falon. Five years. Five years of quiet betrayal. Five years of collecting information, passing schedules, spreading weakness through neighboring territories. He had survived all of that without exposing himself.Then this afternoon he grabbed a four year old and ran into the fucking woods.Too reckless. Too visible. Too stupid. Falon wasn't stupid."Why the cub?"His face changed. Barely. But I saw it. Maeve did too.Cassian frowned. "We already know he took him.""I know." I stepped closer. "What I don't know is why."Falon said nothing. The truth circle beneath him was still active. Convenient."Was the cub supposed to be leverage against his mother?""No."Truth."Against Maeve?""No.""Against me?""No.""Was he supposed to die?"Falon'