All Chapters of The Alpha's Hollow Mate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

Nobody said anything for a long time.The rogue lay still on the wet grass. The mist was moving slowly over the lake again, soft and white, like nothing had happened. A bird started singing somewhere in the trees, like the whole world had decided to forget.But I couldn't forget his eyes, or the way he looked at me. Or his words.*He wants the silver girl. He's already inside your house.*"Silver girl," Owen whispered beside me. His freckled face was white. "What does that mean? Why did he look at you like that?""I don't know," I said. And it was true. I didn't.But somewhere deep inside me, in a place I didn't understand, something small and quiet seemed to stir. Like it had heard its name.Kael stood up slowly. He looked down at the dead rogue, then out at the dark trees across the lake, where the archer had been."Mara," he said. "Take Owen home. Then get ten guards out here. I want every inch of that shore searched. Every footprint, every broken branch. Find out where that archer

"My father?"My voice came out as a whisper. Behind me, Owen had gone completely still.Hollis took his hand away from my face. He stepped back slowly, and his white eyes looked at something far away, something I couldn't see."You knew him?" I said. "You knew my father? What was his name? What did he look like? Mom never tells me anything. She just says he's dead, and…""Stop."The old man held up one thin hand."Not here," he said. "Not now.""Please. I've waited my whole life.""Then you can wait a few more days." He turned his head a little to the side, like he was listening to something far away in the trees. "The woods have ears, girl. Some of them are crows, and some of them are not."I looked around. The crows were still sitting in every tree, silent, watching.And for one strange second, I felt something else too. Someone else, out there in the dark between the trunks. Watching."When?" I whispered."The full moon. Five nights from now." Hollis turned and walked back up his p

I didn't sleep at all that night. I just lay in bed and stared at the photo on my phone until the screen went dark, and then I turned it on again and stared some more.Me and Kael on the roof, with his hand on my face. We were so close. If Garrett saw this, he would know everything.In the morning, I found Rhys in the kitchen. He was sitting on the counter in his socks, eating cereal straight out of the box. He looked like he'd slept like a baby."Good morning, little sister," he said with his mouth full. "You look terrible.""Delete it," I said."Delete what?""You know what."He crunched his cereal slowly, smiling at me. "Oh, *that*. The very romantic photo of you and my cousin on the roof? I don't know. It's a really good photo. The moonlight was perfect. I think I might frame it.""Rhys." I walked closer and lowered my voice. "Why are you doing this?"He thought about it. He put the cereal box down."A few reasons," he said. "One. It's going to drive my cousin absolutely crazy, an

Someone knocked on the bathroom door.I jumped so hard that I knocked the soap bottle off the sink. It hit the floor and rolled under the stall."Sienna?" It was my mother's voice. "Sienna, honey, are you in there?"I looked at the mirror again, fast. My eyes were hazel. Normal, boring, hazel. Just like always.*Did I imagine it?*"I'm here," I said. My voice was shaking.The door opened, and Mom came in. She was wearing a pale green dress that Garrett had bought her, and her hair was pinned up with little pearls. She looked at my ruined blue dress, at the red wine soaked all down the front, and her face went soft and sad."Oh, baby," she said. "Oh, that girl. That horrible girl."She came over and took the paper towels out of my hands. She started to dab at the dress, gently, the way she used to wash my face when I was little."Mom," I whispered."Shh. It's okay. We'll get it clean.""Mom, something happened."Her hands slowed down. "What do you mean?""Just now. In the mirror." My v

I couldn't breathe.The howls were everywhere. They came from the left, the right, behind me, in front of me. The dark forest was full of them, high and broken and hungry, bouncing off the huge black trees so I couldn't tell how close they really were.I pressed my back against a tree. My whole body was shaking. My heart was pounding so loud I was sure they could hear it.*Run,* my legs screamed. *RUN.*But where? I couldn't see anything. If I ran, I'd fall. I'd break my ankle. Or I'd run straight into their mouths.*Think, Sienna. You have to think.*I closed my eyes. It didn't matter anyway. Open or closed, it was all the same black.I made myself breathe slowly. In. Out. In. Out.And I listened, the same way I did in the barn this morning, with the blindfold on.At first, there were only the howls. Then, under them, I started to hear other things. Paws on dead leaves, and branches snapping. Heavy, panting breaths.And heartbeats.They were fast and wild, like drums. One was to my l