Chapter 107

Dane

One of the wolves surrounding us approached. She was large for a female, and her movements suggested a powerful opponent. When she was still several feet away, she crouched down and shifted back into a human.

“Alpha Montague,” she said. “I’ve been searching for you. I know where Aurora DeVere is.”

All around us, the other wolves shifted as well. There were twelve of them, all women, of all ages, races, shapes, and sizes. The leader had medium brown skin and eyes so dark they were almost black. Her hair fell in long, dark brown curls down her back, and she spoke with a slight Spanish accent.

Her words felt like a punch to the gut. I shifted toward her, remaining in my wolf form. “Where?”

“Not here,” said another woman. “She’s north, hidden in the mountains in neutral territory.”

Evelyn crowded close to me. What the hell is going on? How do they know who we are? How did they find us? Who are they?

None of those were questions I could answer. But to my surprise, the women looked at Evelyn as if they could hear her. Evelyn was neither Alpha nor Luna. She shouldn’t be able to speak to wolves outside her pack while in wolf form.

But the leader spoke as if they had heard her. “You will know us soon enough, Evelyn Barclay.”

“Why would I trust you?” I asked. Too many strange things have happened lately. Maybe you’re just here to throw us off Aurora’s scent.

“Strange things are happening,” said the woman. “Dark forces move. Forces that you are called to fight. Take this as proof.”

She lifted her palm. It glowed, and a small beam of light shone upward into the night. It resembled the light Evelyn could control since being revealed as the goddess’s chosen. As the light shone, some clouds cleared, bathing the woman in moonlight, as if the goddess herself created a spotlight. A feeling of warmth and comfort washed over me.

Goosebumps rose on my skin. I was used to the cold darkness of the shadows, and I did pray to the goddess. But praying to such a being and feeling, for even a moment, like she was standing right beside you, were two very different things.

“Dane… I believe her,” Evelyn whispered. “I don’t know why, but I feel connected to her. To all of them.”

I didn’t feel that connection, but the strange warmth remained in my chest. I nodded. “We have nothing better to go on. Evelyn and I will follow you. My pack will continue to search here.”

“The place is remote. You can’t get close by car. It will take you a day or more,” said the woman.

“I don’t care,” I said. “I have to find her.”

Aurora

The first night, I was terrified Holden would use his power over me to force me to sleep with him. He didn’t, and I despised him for making me grateful for that. He did, however, take me to a cell-like room. It had a bed and was lit by several lamps, though I have no idea how they got electricity down there. It had a small bed piled with blankets, which was good because it was cold below ground.

He placed my book on a table, then turned toward me and rubbed both my arms as if trying to warm me. I pulled away, and he growled, “Stand still.”

I closed my eyes against the burn of tears as his Alpha powers took control of my body. I stood still while he rubbed my arms and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

I hadn’t been controlled by an Alpha like this since I was young, and Waylon Reed was my Alpha. Even when we were married, Dane had never tried. Not having a wolf meant I couldn’t be controlled as thoroughly as pack members who did… usually. It had been one dubious benefit of being wolfless.

But whatever Holden had done to bind me to him also gave him power over me like I was a weak-willed cub. If I tried to disobey, I suddenly couldn’t breathe.

I hated him. Every time he touched me, revulsion squirmed in my belly like a giant worm. “You will sleep,” he said. “Then tomorrow you will work on translating the book.”

“What if I don’t?” I muttered.

He smiled and grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing until it hurt. I cried out in pain, but I was still gripped in his magic, and I couldn’t pull away. “Then, like I said, you’ll never see your children again.”

He leaned down until his lips brushed my ear and whispered, “I would rather watch you strangle and die trying to disobey me than allow Dane Montague to possess you ever again.”

He bent and kissed my neck. More tears trickled down my cheeks, but I wouldn’t break in front of him again. Holden might think he had me, but he had no idea who he was messing with.

I had survived too much, gone through too many hells, to break because of this. No matter what he did to me, I would survive. And one day, I would kill him.

Then I heard his next words. “Now, Aurora, darling, once you’ve found the answers to certain things I need to know, I’m going to let you go. You are going to walk straight to Dane. And when you find him, this is exactly what you’re going to do…”