All Chapters of CHOSEN LAST: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Sage’s POVEverything happened fast after that.Ethan didn’t wait for anyone to ask questions. He shouted orders across the hall and within seconds, Marcus was already moving toward his truck, Beta Grant barking commands to two younger wolves who had been lingering near the entrance. The calm, exhausted atmosphere of the hall shattered instantly, replaced by something sharp and urgent, everyone moving with purpose now, the earlier chaos of gossip and shock turning into something far more serious.“Come on,” Ethan said, grabbing my hand without thinking, pulling me toward the door. “We’re not waiting around.”I didn’t argue. My heart was already pounding too hard to form words, my mind stuck on that single text message. It won’t save the people you love. My parents were at home. My mother, still shaken from everything at the meeting. My father was still processing a truth that had upended his entire understanding of his own family. The thought of anything happening to either of them, o

Sage’s POVFor a moment, none of us breathed.The figure who stepped out of the cabin door moved with familiar ease, someone comfortable enough in this place to walk out into the open morning air without hesitation, without glancing around to check for danger the way someone hiding out here should have. My eyes adjusted slowly to the pale light and when the face finally came into focus, my stomach dropped straight through the forest floor.Mrs. Whitfield.Beside me, I heard Ethan’s sharp intake of breath, the same shock rippling through Marcus a second later. Mrs. Whitfield, the same woman who had stood in that storage closet with Aunt Ruth two days ago, whispering about buried truths and grave secrets, the same woman who had spread the story through the market that very morning, setting off the chain of events that led us straight here to this cabin.“She was never trying to expose him,” I whispered, the pieces falling into place all at once, sharp and sickening. “She was covering fo

Sage’s POVNone of us slept that night.After leaving Aunt Ruth’s house, Ethan drove us straight back to my parent’s place, insisting on personally checking every room before he had let himself relax even slightly. My mother and father were waiting up despite the hour, both of them rising the moment we walked through the door, their faces etched with worry that had clearly been building since we left hours earlier, worry that had probably grown sharper with every passing minute we didn’t call.“What happened?” my father asked immediately. “You’ve been gone all night. We were about to call the pack hall ourselves.”I told them everything or as much as I could manage without my voice breaking apart completely, the cabin, Mrs. Whitfield’s betrayal, Reyes being taken and finally, the devastating truth Aunt Ruth had shared about how Vanessa really died. My mother sank into the nearest chair as I spoke, her hands pressed against her mouth, tears streaming silently down her face by the time

Sage’s POVI stared at the message until the words blurred together, my hands trembling so badly I nearly dropped the phone a second time this week. Ethan noticed the change in my expression instantly, crossing the room in three quick strides.“What is it?”I turned the screen toward him without trusting my voice to explain. I watched his face as he read it, watched the color drain slightly from his cheeks before something harder, colder, replaced it.“He wants you,” Ethan said, his voice flat, controlled in a way that told me he was holding back something much larger underneath.“I gathered that,” I said, trying for lightness and failing completely.Marcus took the phone from Ethan’s hand to read it himself, his jaw tightening. “This isn’t a request. This is a trade. He’s telling you exactly what it’ll take to stop whatever attack he’s planning.”“Then we don’t do it,” Ethan said immediately, firmly, like the matter was already settled. “We’re not handing you over to that man. Not no

Sage’s POVThe car had barely stopped moving before I was out, sprinting toward the porch, my heart hammering so violently I could feel it in my throat. Ethan was right behind me, catching up in a few long strides, grabbing my arm just before I reached the fallen pack member.“Let me check him first,” he said, his voice tight with urgency but firm enough that I forced myself to stop.He knelt beside the man, pressing two fingers against his neck and I held my breath until Ethan’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “He’s alive. Unconscious, but breathing. Looks like he took a hard hit to the head.”Relief flooded through me but it was short-lived, replaced almost instantly by fresh terror as I remembered why we were here in the first place. “My parents,” I said, already moving past him toward the open door.“Sage, wait…”I didn’t wait. I couldn’t. I burst through the front door, my eyes scanning the darkened living room frantically, finding overturned furniture, a shattered lamp, clear signs